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Not long after John P. Dowery Jr. became a witness in a Baltimore murder case, he became a victim.
People accused him of being a snitch. A man he was to testify against called him twice on the phone. "Why are you going to [expletive] me over?" the man said.
Then, in October of last year, two men pumped at least six bullets into him in what police believe was an attempt to silence him. He survived and, undeterred, promised to testify when it was time.
Dowery was sent to live outside Baltimore and, as the case spiraled into a federal prosecution, he waited to take the stand.
He came home to East Baltimore at Thanksgiving to share a meal with his large, close-knit family. After dinner, he went to a corner bar. There, someone fatally shot the 38-year-old father of nine.
"He was assassinated," said Assistant Federal Defender Joseph L. Evans, who represented Dowery. Evans said he based that belief on the earlier shooting of his client.
City police and the FBI are investigating the killing of Dowery and whether it was related to his cooperation with authorities. Police would not give details about the night Dowery died.
It's unclear what impact his death will have on future trials of defendants against whom he was planning to testify.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said he would bring the weight of his office, with a possible penalty of a death sentence or life in prison, down on anyone who killed or contracted to kill a witness.
The killing of Dowery has raised questions about what protection is given to Baltimore's witnesses - and what can be done to keep them from putting themselves in harm's way.
Dowery had been given witness assistance.
After he was shot and wounded in October 2005, city police and prosecutors persuaded him to go to a safe house and helped him move out of Baltimore.
And when the U.S. Attorney's Office indicted the case in which Dowery was a witness, he began receiving money from federal agents for living expenses. Sources did not say how much or for how long.
Bartlett Avenue was a dangerous place for Dowery. It's where he had become a witness to the October 2004 killing, where he had been shot in his own doorway in October 2005 and where two of the men he had planned to testify against had lived before their arrests.
Local and federal authorities said they warned Dowery not to return to his old neighborhood. Yet Bartlett Avenue is where he was killed.
One of the chronic problems with protecting witnesses, whether at the local or federal level, is persuading them to stay away from their familiar surroundings.
"We cannot take their safety more seriously than they take their own safety," said Gloria Luckett, a victim-witness assistance coordinator for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.
Evans said his client might not have fully understood the danger he was in, despite the earlier shooting.
"It's not appropriate to blame John Dowery," Evans said, predicting there would be "a lot of covering one's backside" for what happened.
People accused him of being a snitch. A man he was to testify against called him twice on the phone. "Why are you going to [expletive] me over?" the man said.
Then, in October of last year, two men pumped at least six bullets into him in what police believe was an attempt to silence him. He survived and, undeterred, promised to testify when it was time.
Dowery was sent to live outside Baltimore and, as the case spiraled into a federal prosecution, he waited to take the stand.
He came home to East Baltimore at Thanksgiving to share a meal with his large, close-knit family. After dinner, he went to a corner bar. There, someone fatally shot the 38-year-old father of nine.
"He was assassinated," said Assistant Federal Defender Joseph L. Evans, who represented Dowery. Evans said he based that belief on the earlier shooting of his client.
City police and the FBI are investigating the killing of Dowery and whether it was related to his cooperation with authorities. Police would not give details about the night Dowery died.
It's unclear what impact his death will have on future trials of defendants against whom he was planning to testify.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said he would bring the weight of his office, with a possible penalty of a death sentence or life in prison, down on anyone who killed or contracted to kill a witness.
The killing of Dowery has raised questions about what protection is given to Baltimore's witnesses - and what can be done to keep them from putting themselves in harm's way.
Dowery had been given witness assistance.
After he was shot and wounded in October 2005, city police and prosecutors persuaded him to go to a safe house and helped him move out of Baltimore.
And when the U.S. Attorney's Office indicted the case in which Dowery was a witness, he began receiving money from federal agents for living expenses. Sources did not say how much or for how long.
Bartlett Avenue was a dangerous place for Dowery. It's where he had become a witness to the October 2004 killing, where he had been shot in his own doorway in October 2005 and where two of the men he had planned to testify against had lived before their arrests.
Local and federal authorities said they warned Dowery not to return to his old neighborhood. Yet Bartlett Avenue is where he was killed.
One of the chronic problems with protecting witnesses, whether at the local or federal level, is persuading them to stay away from their familiar surroundings.
"We cannot take their safety more seriously than they take their own safety," said Gloria Luckett, a victim-witness assistance coordinator for the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office.
Evans said his client might not have fully understood the danger he was in, despite the earlier shooting.
"It's not appropriate to blame John Dowery," Evans said, predicting there would be "a lot of covering one's backside" for what happened.
