Politics

Detective: Ex-Police Officials Sidelined Stripper's Murder Case Due to Kilpatrick

August 09, 2017, 11:06 AM by  Allan Lengel


Homicide detective Ira Todd

Detroit homicide detective Ira Todd says he has no evidence that former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had anything to do with a 2003 fatal drive-by shooting of stripper Tamara Greene, aka "Strawberry," on Detroit's west side.

But Todd, who is once again working the case, tells Deadline Detroit he's convinced former police officials constantly interfered and tried to derail the probe because Kilpatrick's name kept surfacing in the investigation. At the time, Todd said he and others investigating the case were transferred out of the homicide unit. He said pertinent files also went missing.

For years rumors circulated that Greene was stripping at a party at the Manoogian Mansion and Kilpatrick's wife came home and started beating her with a bat. The rumor was that Greene was murdered to keep from talking. To date, there's never been an official confirmation of a party or any of the other rumors surrounding Kilpatrick and his wife.

"Because Kwame's name came up I think the department distracted us from doing what we needed to do," Todd said. "Everybody who worked on the case got kicked out of the unit, got dogged out and transferred. I think it distracted everyone in the department."

Cold Case

Eventually, the investigation went cold.

Todd makes it clear in an interview with WXYZ's Andrea Isom that there is no evidence linking Kilpatrick to the killing, but adds: "Did he have some involvement or something like that? Maybe he did.”

Todd said he's glad to be back on the case with another detective.Kilpatrick is currently serving a 28-year sentence in a federal prison in Oklahoma.

Featured_screen_shot_2017-08-09_at_10.39.57_am_27290
Tamara Greene, aka "Strawberry."

"Chief James Craig has given us the green light," Todd says. "The chief said he just wants the truth, he just wants the case solved."

"Now, since Chief Craig has been running the department things are above board," Todd said. "He's allowing us to do the investigations like this."  

Todd said he's not focusing on whether there was a party, though he suspects there was some kind of "gathering."

Instead, he just wants to prove who killed Greene and who might have been behind the murder. He said he has a suspect in mind. 

Greene's daughter, Ashly Jackson, 21, tells WXYZ of the people behind the murder:

“Honestly, I’d say that I hate them. I hate that my life is the way it is. I’d just say, I love her and I miss her and I wish she were still here.”

The case is the subject of a play, "Strawberry -- What Party?," written and produced by ex-Detroit Free Press reporter Carol Teegardin. It will be performed three weekends in September at the Adray Auditorium at Henry Ford College in Dearborn. 

 
 



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