The Death of Police Chief Robert Hamrick

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Fairly certain that it tapered off. One of the former town police officer's said in the segment that he believes the people responsible were still in the town, and that he thought maybe even some of the people he considered friends at the time knew who the killers were.

Yeah that line struck me as strange. If he had a pretty good idea it was members of the RCG who did this, why would he think it was somebody he called friend? Unless they pretended like they had repented and settled down later and he became friends with some of the gang later.

It would make sense that being under suspicion or murder they might be compelled to settle down a bit, after all you can only push people so far. You might get away with one murder but it would be hard to keep doing that forever. And if they were bragging about it afterwards that wouldn't be much of a sign of remorse or repentance.

Definitely a lot of unanswered questions on this case. But I would imagine as some of these guys got older and matured they probably decided they needed to put a lid on it. Wouldn't be surprised if there are deathbed confessions in coming years. That may be a possible way this gets solved.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

Yeah that line struck me as strange. If he had a pretty good idea it was members of the RCG who did this, why would he think it was somebody he called friend? Unless they pretended like they had repented and settled down later and he became friends with some of the gang later.

I took that line to mean that there were people who knew who did it, but were not responsible for the murder themselves. I'm baffled as to why the guy who worked at the service station was never followed up on.

[bell83]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I took that line to mean that there were people who knew who did it, but were not responsible for the murder themselves. I'm baffled as to why the guy who worked at the service station was never followed up on.

Somebody earlier in the posts said that one of the people involved was the son of the local sheriff which, if true, explains why nothing was pursued.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by bell83

Somebody earlier in the posts said that one of the people involved was the son of the local sheriff which, if true, explains why nothing was pursued.

You'd have to think if the son of the local sheriff was a member of this infamous gang that had been terrorizing the town for multiple years and driving away police officers left and right, that is not something that could easily be kept secret. This would have been a horrible look and a well publicized problem for the sheriff long before Chief Hamrick even entered the picture.

I think we're missing some information here.

[Hambone2421]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/...icides/Hamrick

The Ohio Attorney General has this write up on the Hamrick case:



So this is unequivocal in the fact that he was murdered. But the big question is if Hamrick was in pursuit of a vehicle, how are the suspects "unknown", if Hamrick called the plates in to dispatch? They found the car the next day at a service station and one of the workers was a member of the Rock Creek gang. They have suspects. I don't know why more isn't being done to solve this case.

If this is true then it is pure insanity that nothing was done about this mans murder. I don't care how long after the fact it was or who all had died. Chief Hamrick and his family deserve justice. I am very curious to know how they ascertained that it was a tire iron he was beaten with?

[MediaHoarder]

This was a very interesting segment.

For starters, this was very clearly a homicide. The evidence is pretty conclusive.
While I think it is possible that he turned off the lights and ignition while in that state (due to forced habit, you do it thousands of times, and its surprising what you do after a wreck for no apparent reason) the rest of the evidence is damming.

1. He had received numerous death threats leading up to the incident
2. His service weapons were missing from the scene of the accident, which is a very clear indication of foul play.
3. People later came forward with statements about overhearing the gang brag about the incident.
4. A woman's car sustains inexplicable damage and contamination while supposedly being worked on at a garage conveniently employing one of the known gang members.

It is obvious that this was a case of foul play.

As to why it was ruled an accident and not followed up on, its pretty obvious that the sheriff and police department were corrupted with and/or in fear of the gang. Apparently there were rumours to the effect of corruption, no surprises there, and the facts appear to support such a case.

1. The town of Rock Creek had formed its own police department. A town of 731 people in rural Ohio does not form a police department for fun, its expensive and unnecessary in most cases. That points to the Sheriff being unwilling/unable to control the local gang.
2. The Sheriff dispatch waits a full hour after radio contact is last had to start any kind of search.
3. The Sheriff takes another four hours to find him (which is probabally far longer than it should have taken).
4. The obvious homicide is ruled an accident.
5. The Ohio AG lists the case as "unsolved homicide" in contradiction to local authorities.

Not surprising that this case is unsolved. Hard to say if any efforts were made to solve it, though its possible the state did some investigation that they did not want to discuss (which would lead to the designation by the AG as homicide).

Unfortunately the citizens of Rock Creek formed a police department, but it seems a vigilance committee would have been a better choice.