Does Kilpatrick’s Tattered Legacy Include Murder Coverup?
Allegations of sex and violence have resurfaced in a crime that lawyer Norman Yatooma connects to one of the most disgraced political figures in Detroit’s history.
Police recently announced that they’ll re-assign the investigation of Tamara Greene’s murder, which has long been linked to a rumored event by ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. A team of FBI, Michigan State Police and Detroit cops will commit new resources to investigating the death, says Chief Warren Evans, who adds that no “logical reason” explains why it wasn’t fully pursued.
Greene was shot in a drive-by early on April 30, 2003. An exotic dancer, Greene’s murder would probably never have become Detroit’s best-known unsolved case except for one fact – she was said to have stripped at a party hosted by Kilpatrick early in the first term of his tenure.
“It never happened. It never happened. It never happened,” Kilpatrick told media in a major news conference after widespread rumors about the party. Later, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox even backed Kilpatrick’s denial, following what many call a superficial investigation. Cox described the so-called “Manoogian Mansion party” as an urban legend.
But growing numbers of people familiar with the case, like Yatooma, who filed a $150 million lawsuit on behalf of Greene’s son, say a major cover-up has hindered justice until now.
“The mayor has, for whatever his reasons, killed that investigation and fired the officers connected to the investigation,” Yatooma told Fox 2 News last year. Among the factors that he and others say suggest Kilpatrick’s interference:
The murder was given “cold-case” status, meaning that it would no longer be actively investigated, after a year, instead of the standard two years.
Both former police and emergency medical staff have publicly stated that the subject of Greene was treated with unusual responses and secrecy by higher-ups.
Kilpatrick’s manipulation of police investigations is publicly known since he resigned in 2008, after pleading guilty to obstructing justice in another case.
Theories suggest that Greene’s alleged injury at the party, after an alleged confrontation, likely would have exposed the event, damaging the mayor’s image. The new investigation brings further attention to the tattered legacy of Kilpatrick and his impact on the city that he still claims to love.
