Standoff continues with man wanted in 4 Maryland slayings

March 18, 2000
Web posted at: 11:11 a.m. EST (1611 GMT)

In this story: Friends plead with Palczynski to surrender Residents urged to stay indoors Manhunt began March 7 RELATED STORIES, SITES

DUNDALK, Maryland (CNN) -- A man suspected of killing four people last week continued to hold at least three people hostage in a Baltimore-area apartment on Saturday, police said.

Police say the man, Joseph Palczynski, 31, has kept them at bay since Friday evening in a home that belongs to a relative of Tracy Whitehead, Palczynski's former girlfriend, whom he is accused of briefly kidnapping last week.

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CNN's Kathleen Koch reports as Baltimore police wait out a hostage crisis (March 18) Windows Media 28K 80K

"We have no indication that anybody's been harmed," said Baltimore County police spokeswoman Vickie Warehime.

Sonny Collins, a cousin of Whitehead, said he believed Whitehead's mother, her stepfather and her 12-year-old brother were in the house.

"I was coming home from the grocery store and I heard a lot of gunshots," said Collins, who lives in the neighborhood. "The police tell me he was trying to shoot his way into the house."

SWAT team members and about 100 county police have encircled the home in Dundalk, just southeast of Baltimore, sealed off the area and evacuated some residents.

Warehime told CNN that negotiators were in telephone contact with Palczynski throughout the night.

"I do know that he has been talking to negotiators," said Warehime.

Late Saturday morning, police were trying to get a more reliable phone into the apartment to replace a battery- powered cordless phone Palczynski has been using.

Police said Palczynski has a cache of firearms stolen during a burglary at a house in nearby Essex, Maryland, Friday afternoon. "He actually fired his way into the (apartment) door by shooting the door," Warehime said.

Friends of Palczynski appeared on live television to plead for him to release the hostages.

"This is a no-win situation, hon," said Ramona Contrino Faust, who identified herself as a friend and former neighbor of Palczynski for more than 25 years. "We've talked about this before. I think I know what you're going to do. I don't want you to do that, please."

Faust, who also said Palczynski was the godfather of her children, said Palczynski had told her that if he faced returning to jail, he would kill himself or make police shoot him.

Palczynski's friend and former attorney, David Henninger, also pleaded with him to give up.

"I'm here for you, Joe. I need you to come out," Henninger said. "I need you to release the hostages."

Palczynski has been in a similar situation before. In 1992, he kept police in Idaho at bay for 16 hours following a domestic violence complaint by a girlfriend. He was finally forced out with tear gas.

"We're trying to urge people to stay inside their houses, there's no reason to go outside. We do know that he is armed. Again, we had shots fired at one point."

Police said a shelter had been set up at a nearby elementary school to house some 20 people who lived too close to the hostage standoff.

Palczynski's former attorney, David Henninger, had made a public appeal outside the home where the hostages are being held for Palczynski to surrender.

Police first responded at 8:50 p.m. Friday when they got a call from someone in the area "in reference to shots being fired," said Cpl. Ronald Brooks of the Baltimore County Police.

Asked if anybody had been wounded in that gunfire, he said, "We have no idea."

The home is that of the girlfriend's mother, he said.

"He's heavily armed," Brooks added.

Warehime said, "We do know we have people inside the house. We also believe that he is watching the TV. We're just trying to make sure this comes to a peaceful resolution."

"I have no information on the condition of the people inside," she added.

Palczynski has been on the run since March 7, when police say he shot a Baltimore couple to death while kidnapping his estranged girlfriend from an apartment. As he fled the scene, he allegedly shot to death another man who tried to stop him.

The girlfriend, Tracy Whitehead, later escaped. But the next day, as Palczynski attempted to hijack a car, police say he fired shots that killed a woman and wounded a baby.

He then fled to northern Virginia, where he forced William Terrell to drive him at gunpoint back to Maryland. Terrell was not harmed, but he thought he would be.

"I knew, at that point in time, I may never see life again ... may never come back home again," said Terrell.

On Friday, Palczynski broke into a Virginia home and stole a 12-gauge shotgun, a .22-caliber revolver and a van, said Baltimore County Police Maj. Brian Uppercue.

After the van broke down, Palczynski allegedly forced a man from Woodford, Virginia, to drive him back to Baltimore. The man later escaped unharmed.

Maryland police search for alleged killer as trail grows cold
March 13, 2000

Baltimore County, Maryland Police Department
  •Palczynski photographs

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