Off-Duty Homicides 1974-1977

Opening paragraph

Map of 17 Identified Homicides by Police Officers, in Detroit's Racial Geography (1970 and 1980 Census)

Key Findings

Categorization of 17 off-duty homicides, 1974-1977

Off-Duty Homicides by Category: Questionable Cases/Personal Conflict

This section profiles 4 homicides that all occurred late at night and involved white off-duty officers who shot and killed young white males in personal conflict situations that escalated. Most involved alcohol, questionable claims of self-defense by the officer, and questionable allegations that the deceased was armed and/or dangerous (none with guns).  

Larry Winstead, dead at 21

Larry Winstead (Oct. 24, 1974). Winstead, a 21-year-old white male and gas station attendant, was shot and killed by Officer Lindsay Joker in a restaurant parking lot around 3:00 am in an off-duty incident. Joker had been drinking alcohol with other policemen at a 4th Precinct party, but the investigating officers did not give him a breathalyzer test that night; Winstead was inebriated according to the autopsy report. Joker and Officer Eugene Napora both claimed that Winstead almost hit them with his car and then jumped out and came toward them “menacingly brandishing a razor.” Both stated that they identified themselves as police officers and drew their guns; Joker then shot and killed Winstead with a 9 mm revolver. There were no other witnesses. Winstead’s family filed a $12 million wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Detroit, arguing that Joker should have been suspended and unable to carry a firearm because of his pending trial on charges for felonious assault of another man in a high-profile incident. The lawsuit also said the shooting was “willful, malicious, and without cause.” The Detroit Free Press located multiple people who said that Officer Joker had previously harassed and threatened Winstead (Joker denied knowing him) and that they told the Homicide Bureau that the razor Winstead owned was not the one that Joker produced at the scene. Commissioner Tannian docked Joker 20 days pay for the Winstead shooting. (Visit this in-focus page for more on Lindsay Joker).

Thomas Stokes (June 19, 1975). Stokes, a 22-year-old white male, was shot and killed by off-duty officer Dennis Moran during an encounter around 2:45 am outside a restaurant on the far West Side. Moran and another off-duty officer said that they were at a drive-in window when a car with four occupants drove up and began “calling them names.” Moran said that Stokes exited the car with a bottle in a paper bag and swung the bottle at Moran, who identified himself as a police officer and “eventually was compelled to shoot.” The officers arrested two other men in the car for “investigation of aggravated assault” although there is no evidence they did anything threatening. The archival record is sparse but the incident is questionable regarding whether the officer needed to use fatal force in self-defense in such a situation. It is likely but not confirmed that all participants were white. 

Kim Crowell and Keith Crowell (May 10, 1976). Kim and Keith Crowell, both 19-year-old white males and fraternal twins, were shot and killed by off-duty white Officer James Murphy after the unarmed pair allegedly attacked Murphy after midnight in a public park in Northwest Detroit. The twins had been drinking beer in Stoepel Park with two friends, who left before the incident. Murphy said that the twins began shouting obscenities at him while he was walking his German shepherd and then, after he identified himself as a police officer, began “scuffling” with him. Murphy claimed that he fired his .44 caliber magnum revolver after one twin reached for his gun and the other grabbed his dog. Kim was hit two times and Keith three times. Before he died, Kim Crowell repeatedly asked an emergency responder, “why did he shoot us?”

Detroit Free Press, May 17, 1976

Law Department memo-Crowell settlement (4 pgs.)

Family members said they could not believe the twins would attack a police officer with a dog, and an eyewitness challenged Murphy's account as well. A man watching from his window told the Detroit Free Press that the twins did not attack the police officer but they were having an argument; then one of the youths walked toward the officer; then Murphy shot them “once in rapid succession and then shot them again after they fell to the ground.” This eyewitness, who was Black, refused to talk to the police because he was on parole and said he feared police retaliation if he accused a white officer of wrongdoing. Other witnesses who heard gunshots but did not see the incident said that at least thirty second elapsed between the rapid fire and the final shot, suggesting that Murphy might have shot at least one twin who was on the ground already wounded.

Sgt. Mary Jarrett of the Detroit Crime Lab found that the forensic evidence showed that Officer Murphy fired at least one shot at Keith Crowell as he lay on the ground, but the Wayne County Medical Examiner disagreed that the evidence was dispositive. The prosecutor sought a second opinion from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab, which backed the medical examiner. Jarrett also found that the bullets were not fired from close range, as would happen during a close-proximity struggle as described by Officer Murphy. After two months, Prosecutor William Cahalan cleared Officer Murphy and said the shootings “appeared to have been reasonable . . . as he saw it.” Cahalan also said he made the determination based on “the type of person Officer Murphy is, the type of person Keith Crowell is,” and the type of person the reluctant eyewitness with a criminal record was as well. (Murphy had been on the force for less than a year at the time of the incident and had four civilian complaints of brutality). Kathleen Crowell, the mother of the twins, called this a “whitewash” and said that her sons “would never attack anyone” and Murphy “knows in his heart he murdered those boys.”

The Crowell family filed a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $2 million each from Officer Murphy and the City of Detroit. The Law Department advised the City Council not to pay for the officer’s defense, because of the high likelihood of an unfavorable verdict, but they did so anyway. In the deposition, Officer Murphy claimed that Keith Crowell threatened him and said “get the gun,” and that Kim Crowell said “I’ll kill you” before he fired. The Law Department memo (at right) took Officer Murphy’s side on the facts of the case and did not address the countervailing evidence. The Law Department recommended settlement because of the likelihood that a jury would return a wrongful death verdict and an even greater financial award because the jury would “require strong proof that an armed police officer has exhausted every possibility of self defense before firing his gun.” In 1979, the city council settled the lawsuit for $400,000.

Category 2: Fleeing from Home Burglaries

This section features 2 questionable homicides that occurred when off-duty officers responded with extreme aggression to burglary attempts or property thefts from their homes by unarmed young males. As detailed on the previous page, on-duty officers 

Michael O'Neal (Nov. 19, 1974). O'Neal, an 18-year-old white male, was shot and killed by off-duty Officer Michael Trompak after the teenager allegedly stole a sports car from Trompak's Northwest Detroit home around 1 am. Trompak said that he heard someone inside his house grabbing the car keys and fired a shot as the driver was speeding off. He reported the incident to the police but then went looking for the thief in his wife's car. Trompak located the stolen vehicle and gave chase at high speed, eventually cornering O'Neal. Trompak reported that he exited the vehicle and approached the car on foot with gun drawn, and then O'Neal "gunned the engine and tried to run him down." Trompak fired several shots, hitting O'Neal in the chest and abdomen. There were no other reported witnesses, and Trompak's account followed the common self-defense script, almost every time that officers shot someone in a car, that the driver had tried to run them over. Trompak was later involved in two other off-duty incidents: in 1977, he shot and wounded two people in a car on the Chrysler Freeway after they allegedly shot at him; and in 1978, he was arrested and prosecuted for selling firearms without a license.

"The investigative facts uncovered in this case are sensitive in nature and should not be aired in an open forum"--Commissioner William Hart on the Leon Cockran case, 1976 

Hart's letter on Officer Sarsosa's homicide

Leon Cockran (Sept. 23, 1975). Cockran, a 25-year-old Black male, was shot and killed by off-duty Officer Harry Larsosa after Cockran and a companion allegedly tried to break into Larsosa's house in a neighborhood on the East Side. Larsosa claimed that he shot Cockran, who was unarmed, as he fled. More than a year later, after Larsosa was arrested for a large number of unpaid traffic tickets, the Detroit News reported that the DPD had sought a murder warrant for Larsosa but the Wayne County Prosecutor denied the request. The Detroit Free Press reported allegations that Larsosa shot Cockran in the back while he was on the ground. Newspaper accounts stated that after the prosecutor's denial, the DPD put Larsosa on a one-year probation and docked six weeks pay for filing a false police report, and then fired him after the traffic ticket arrest. Cockran's estate filed a civil lawsuit against Larsosa, and the Law Department recommended denial of legal representation, which only happened when they believed that the officer had not acted "in good faith." In a 1976 letter to the City Council, Commissioner William Hart asserted that Larsosa was justified in firing at a "fleeing felon" and was "taking police action," despite being at home and off duty. But Hart also admitted "certain inconsistencies" and "inappropriate behavior" in the case, and said "the investigative facts uncovered in this case are sensitive in nature and should not be aired in an open forum." Note: some newspaper articles reported the deceased as Leander Crockran.

Category 3: "In the Line of Duty"/Crimes in Progress

The DPD's main justification for requiring officers to be armed at all times was so they could stop crimes in progress by protecting civilians. This scenario only accounted for two of the off-duty homicides, covered in this section along with a third where the officer himself was the robbery target. These cases tended to involve Black officers who lived in or near areas with higher rates of street crime and gun violence. All of the cases below involved armed assailants and justified claims of self-defense or defense of others, although one suspect was fleeing when shot from behind.

George Cottle III (Feb. 13, 1974). Cottle, a 26-year-old Black male, was shot and killed by off-duty Officer Willie Merchant. Cottle III and an accomplice allegedly attempted to rob Merchant and his girlfriend in a restaurant parking lot. Merchant shot Cottle III twice in the chest and shot at the accomplice in a car speeding away. Cottle III allegedly fired three times but missed Merchant.

Richard Shelburn (May 24, 1975). Shelburn, a 23-year-old Black male, was shot and killed by off-duty Officer Frederick Davis Jr. in Northwest Detroit after Shelburn allegedly shot at a van and killed one of two people inside. Police said that Shelburn ran away when Davis identified himself. Davis fired three shots at the fleeing man and killed him. 

Waltes E. Gordon (Sept. 24, 1977). Gordon, a 41-year-old Black male, was shot and killed by off-duty Officer James Dees after Gordon allegedly shot another man at an East Side gas station. Dees said he identified himself as a police officer and ordered Gordon to drop the weapon, a shotgun. When Gordon instead fired at Dees, the officer returned fire and killed Gordon with multiple shots. Witnesses confirmed the officer's account.

Michigan Chronicle headline (Dec. 27, 1975) after the Paul Harrington triple murder

Category 4: Domestic Violence

In 4 of the 8 cases of domestic violence homicides, the officer involved killed a family member(s) and was convicted. One officer who did so committed suicide. In two domestic violence scenarios, the officer was found to be justified in self-defense or defense of others. In one case, an officer was prosecuted for killing her husband in an alleged though reckless mishap.

Seven of the eight domestic violence homicides in this four-year time period happened in a very concentrated flurry between November 1975 and January 1976.  

"I think it's fully clear that policemen are psychologically accustomed to the use of violence--legally sanctioned violence--and it might not be a very great leap from legally sanctioned violence to legally prohibited violence"--Commander James Bannon, December 21, 1975

 

If sources here need to add for Trompak, "2 Wounded in Gunfight on Freeway," Detroit Free Press, Feb. 19, 1977; "Cop Charged with Illegal Sale of Guns," Detroit Free Press, Feb. 7, 1978

Bannon in DFP 12-21-1975

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