You don't remember Dwight "Knight" Gilmore, but back in 1991 he was a fairly big deal.
He got charged in a drug-related murder, got bailed out, then promptly got charged with shooting another man 10 times. At the time, police said they suspected him in another double shooting that left a man dead, again, allegedly committed while he was on bail. And, while free on bail, Gilmore became a victim, getting shot, and he appeared at one court hearing bandaged and braced.
Back then, he was an example of Baltimore's revolving door justice. Now, he's just a blur -- more horrific examples have repeatedly surfaced over the years. Convicted felons returning to crime after brief stints in prison hardly seems news anymore.
But Dwight "Knight" Gilmore is back, charged on Wednesday in a new drug case after Baltimore cops raided his home in Southwest Baltimore. Here's a brief tease of his record:
* In 1982, at age 16, convicted in the killing of a security guard during a holdup at Westside Shopping Center (conviction overturned due to a judge's error during trial).
* In 1990, charged with killing a man in a dispute over drug money, released on bail, charged with shooting another man 10 times, suspected in another murder, and shot and wounded himself during an argument.
* In 1991, convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Charges in the shooting dropped when witness recants; never charged in other homicide.
* In 2006, convicted on first-degree assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison (details not immediately available)
* In January 2010, already out of prison, charged with drug possession but put on the inactive docket
* On Wednesday, charged in a drug bust at his home in Southwest Baltimore.
He's older now, 45, but he still lives in the same place he did when he was charged with murder nearly 20 years ago -- 2504 Emerson St. in Southwest Baltimore.
Wednesday night, Baltimore police said they raided that house and chased Gilmore. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said members of the Southwestern District Drug Enforcement Unit caught Gilmore with 100 bags of cocaine and a 1/2 ounce of crack. He was charged with numerous drug counts and Guglielmi said the suspect "is a person of interest in several shootings in the SWD."
A check of Baltimore Sun clips reveals we have written about Gilmore before. David Simon -- of Wire fame -- penned an article on May 23, 1991, which began:
At the time, District Court judges were more regularly releasing murder suspect on bail, outraging homicide cops. One man had been freed on $2,500 bail after charged with killing a rival dealer in which 70 bullets were fired.
Gilmore had been charged in the killing of Reginald Robinson after an argument over money for drug dealing. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced on June 4, 1991, to 10 years in prison. That sentenced was modified in 2008.
Court records show he was convicted again, in July 2006, of first-degree assault, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. I'll check state prison records later today to see when he got out, but city police told me he's on probation. UPDATE: The head of the state parole and probation office told me that Gilmore was released on March 27, 2008, but is NOT on parole or probation. Just how he got out of prison after having served just two years of a 12 year sentence? No one has been able to tell me yet.
Back in 1991, prosecutors said they didn't even know Gilmore had been bailed out on the murder charge when police arrested him again in connection with shooting of David Jones, 20, who was wounded 10 times. By then, Gilmore already had an impressive record, having been convicted of murder at the age of 16 for participating in the killing of a grocery market security guard at the Westside Shopping center in 1982.
Simon wrote that conviction was overturned because of a judge gave faulty instructions to the jury, and charges in the shooting of Jones were dropped when a key witness refused to testify.
The police spokesman Guglielmi said Gilmore is listed as one of the Southwestern District's most violent offenders.
Some things just never change.