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- Baltimore Suan, 22 February 2005
William A. Bassett
On February 18, 2005, William Adnee Bassett, beloved husband of Susan Bassett (nee Spear); loving father of Graham and Julia Bassett; dear son of Harry Bassett and stepson of Betsy Bassett; dear brother of Henry Bassett, Debbie Rights, Wendy Staunton, Ann, John, Mark and Jim Scheflen, Ronda Bellon and Lynn Swartley. Friends may call at St. Paul?s School Chapel, Brooklandville, on Tuesday, from 4 to5:30 and 7 to 8:30 P.M. A funeral service will take place on Wednesday, 2 P.M. at the Old St. Paul?s Chu8rch, 233 N. Charles Street, Baltimore. Interment private, Following the services, a reception will be held at St. Paul?s School. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the William Adnee Bassett Memorial Fund for Faculty Development, C/O St. Paul?s School, 11152 Falls Road, Brooklandville, MD21022, will be appreciated. Arrangements by the family owned Ruck Townson Funeral Home, Inc.
Baltimore Sun, February 20, 2005
Respected Teacher at St. Paul?s was Towson mall Shooting victim
Police seek public?s help; school mourns his loss
By Jason Song
Veteran science teacher and administrator William Bassett left St. Paul's School in Brooklandville on Friday with the papers on his desk neatly stacked. His computer was running. and there was an unopened bag of green tea near his keyboard awaiting his return.
A few hours later, Bassett, 58, was found fatally shot on the fifth floor of a parking garage at the Towson Town Center shopping mall, police said yesterday.
Baltimore County police said they have no witnesses and don't know why someone would harm the Roland Park man, who had a wife and two adopted children and had taught at St. Paul's for more than 30 years.
"He never put anything away because he knew he would come back and pick up working in the spot he had left off. It's haunting to know he won't do that," said Kent Darrell, a mathematics teacher and a longtime colleague of Bassett's.
A mall employee called 911 after she found Bassett lying on the ground near an entrance to Nordstrom about 8 p.m. His car was parked nearby and it is unclear whether Bassett was entering or leaving the mall, said Officer Shawn Vinson, a police spokesman.
"We're asking for the public's help," Vinson said.
There have been at least two robberies at the mall in recent months, and a man was fatally stabbed in a different mall parking lot three years ago.
A spokesman for General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based company that acquired the mall last year, said yesterday that the company reviews its safety measures after incidents such as the Friday's shooting.
Company officials declined to discuss specifics of the mall's security measures.
A walk-through of the garage yesterday revealed no security cameras.
Police said they did not know how long Bassett had been at the mall, if he was targeted or if it was a random crime. Police declined to say whether anything was taken from him. They would not to say how many times Bassett was shot and where.
Bassett taught science at St. Paul's, a private Episcopal school, for 31 years, school officials said yesterday. He was also the dean of faculty, overseeing hiring and professional development, and was a college counselor.
His son, Graham Bassett of Cleveland, graduated from St. Paul's School for Boys two years ago, and his daughter, Julia, is a senior at the girl's school. His wife, Susan, is an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
His wife declined to comment, and other family members could not be reached.
Yesterday, shocked students and administrators gathered at the Brooklandville campus. They described Bassett as a caring instructor who always said hello in the hall.
Rick Hebert of Lutherville took Bassett's biology course as a freshman and failed the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Hebert was gathering his books after class when he felt Bassett at his elbow.
Baltimore Sun, February 22, 2005
2 Teens Held in Shopping Mall Killing
Tip Leads to Mercury Cougar seen leaving Towson garage
By Laura Barnhardt and Anica Butler
Two Baltimore County teens were charged yesterday with murder in the shotgun killing of a popular private-school educator during a botched robbery Friday at Towson Town Center.
The two were arrested Sunday after a tip from a motorist who had seen two men driving away, and, for reasons police would not divulge, jotted down a description and license plate of the suspects' car, police said yesterday.
John Edward Kennedy, 18, of the 1200 block of S. Marlyn Ave. in Essex, and Javon Clark, 18, of the first block of Old Knife Court in Middle River, were charged yesterday with first-degree murder.
William A. Bassett, 58, was shot in the head with a shotgun during what is often a busy shopping hour outside an upscale mall popular with youths. The brazen crime has renewed concerns about security at the mall and also shaken staff and students at the private St. Paul's School in Brooklandville where Bassett was a science teacher and dean of faculty, overseeing hiring and professional development.
`Needle in the haystack'
"Without the information from that citizen, we would not have a resolution in this case so quickly," said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman.
Detectives received a number of tips but ultimately it was the vehicle information that enabled detectives to track the suspects, Toohey said at a news conference yesterday. He described the tip as the proverbial "needle in the haystack" that led police to the suspects.
After interviewing Kennedy and Clark, police arrested them Sunday evening.
Kennedy told detectives "that he attempted to rob the victim and then he shot him with his shotgun," according to charging documents filed in District Court in Towson. Clark said he drove Kennedy to the mall so "that they could rob someone," the court papers say. Police said they found a shotgun that they believe was used to kill Bassett hidden in Kennedy's home.
Kennedy, a 2004 graduate of Chesapeake High School, and Clark, a 2004 graduate of Kenwood High, were being held yesterday without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center. Bail review hearings are scheduled for today.
As a matter of policy, police declined to identify the tipster or to say whether he heard the shotgun blast or noticed something else suspicious. But Toohey said the man, who was driving past the mall Friday night, saw a mid-1980s Mercury Cougar leaving the mall garage and turning onto Joppa Road. He wrote down the tag number and make and model of the car.
Upon hearing of the Bassett killing, the man gave the information to a friend in the Baltimore County police intelligence unit, who relayed the tip to homicide detectives, Toohey said.
Clark, who owns the Mercury, drove up to Bassett in the garage, police said. Kennedy told detectives he got out of the car with the shotgun and attempted to rob Bassett, then shot him, court papers say.
It does not appear that either suspect knew Bassett, Toohey said.
"He was alone in an area that was not real busy," Toohey said. "He may have seemed vulnerable to them."
It was unclear yesterday whether Bassett refused to hand over his money. Bassett still had his wallet when his body was found, Toohey said.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1946 - 2005 (58 years)