Based on States Attorney Jerry Barnes testimony, all I can say is that the present dismissal of charges saddens me greatly.

If Mr. Barnes potrayal of what happened up to this didmissal is correct, it seems to me that Sheriff Tregoning and one or more of his top staff were more than sloppy. I have always held the Sheriff and his top staff in high regard. It's time for them to explain themselves. Mr. Barnes must do whatever is in his power to restore trust in the internal opetations of the Sheriff's Office.

If a cover-up was intended, the States Attotney must persue justice to the full extent of the law, especially if the Sheriff and his top staff remain silent.

The Sheriff's department seemed to be more than sloppy. How about incompetent in handling this case.

More than sloppy, more than incompetent. Add in arrogance and perjury. With what took place, there can't possibly be any trust left in the Sheriff's department as officers and deputies point fingers at each other and work to cover their own a**es. My high regard for this department evaporated on this case - more than one head needs to roll when all is said and done. This will leave a black mark that will take years to overcome in a department that touted itself as highly trained and professional. They were anything but that.

The commissioners could have established a professional police department. but they took the politically popular route and beefed up Sheriff Tregoning instead. I
pointed out the flaws in that action several times.
John Culleton

Because of the Sheriffs depts incompetence,a killer is free and a 3 year old little boy gets no justice for his fathers murder.Tregoning,Plazio,and Epperson should all lose their jobs,and the 2 Hampstead officers who received awards for their outstanding police work in this case should publically have to give them back!

Well...you get what you pay for. Bring back MSP.

Sherrifs Dept needs to go and bring back Maryland State Police.
They are a complete waste of tax money. Because of them this family arent getting closure to the death of their loved one. Its a real shame.

There needs to be through investigation of this matter. Maybe a grand jury investigation as to the complicity of the sheriff's office

How sad! I'm sure the suspect will do it again. Especially if he remains improperly medicated.

Are you kidding me Buck. These guys are not only collecting a check, they are laughing while they are. The Feds need to step in and investigate this group for corruption. I'm embarassed to live in this county and I'm scared to call this department to investigate anything for me. The sheriff and his entire command staff need to step down. The governor needs to step in and appoint a competent individual to restore some integrity and leadership back into this department. Why have we not heard from the county commissioners. They are all hiding because they ran on the back of the sheriff. WHERE ARE YOU COMMISSIONERS??????

What is wrong with you people? Do you really think the police are laughing about this? Of course they aren't. Is there any excuse for this? No, but I get so sick of everyone acting like police are worthless when they put their lives on the line for all of us every day. Nobody is perfect, mistakes happen and there are definitely mistakes where this case is concerned. You think the State Police have never made a mistake or lost a court case? Think again. They are all human, not Gods. And for you all who think they are so worthless, when someone breaks into your house, kidnaps your kids, or attacks you, take care of it yourself since you obviously know everything and are clearly so much more capable than they are.

I absolutely agree they should be held accountable at a higher level. But for Steven to say they are laughing their way to the bank is ridiculous. A friend of mine works in the courthouse. I don't want to name anyone, but she heard one of the top guys accused of screwing things up talking to a deputy after one of the hearings. His voice was cracking and his eyes were red and watery. Do you know what his concern was? Not his job, not what people think, but what he said was "I haven't been able to get the pictures of DeMario's family out of my head. I'm a father, son and a brother. I can't even begin to imagine what they are feeling. That is what keeps me up at night."

People are writing and saying such horrible things all over the internet. I just wish they would realize that it's not a big party for anyone, and maybe look at all the good these same "Mickey Mouse" police have done. This isn't the only situation they have been involved in. They have helped many people in their time of need. That should not all be forgotten because of one case.

You have to be kidding me Liz! One case? How about hundreds of cases. In law enforcement you can’t just come along after 20 or 30 years and do what these men did and expect just one case to be affected. Every case that Eperson, Plazio, Tregoning, Kasten and anyone else that was involved in this will be reexamined; if not by a state’s attorney, by every jailhouse lawyer that was incarcerated by these men. They should be teary eyed because it’s not only their jobs that are on the line, they may go to jail themselves for a number of reasons. This isn’t Hazard Co. 1980 or Mayberry …. it’s Carroll Co. 2012 and this can’t happen without substantial consequences. They didn’t “lose a case” …. the game never began. The ball was never kicked off; the first pitch was never thrown, etc, etc, etc. This wasn’t a case that was lost because a jury had compassion for the defendant. It was lost because people lied about what they did. You need to click your heels three times and see if you can be taken back to Kansas because you are living in some sort of wonderland!!!!!

This has nothing to do with the deputy sheriffs.

In my view they are the best and we can continue to rely on them to uphold the law.

Yes, no one is immune from making mistakes, but what the top command seems to have done among themselves is not just make a mistake but also agree together to bury evidence that incrimminates them when their job is to uphold the law as well as ensure their own integrity. If those in command don't maintain that what do they have? How safe can residents feel? I have not heard the deputies give them a vote of confidence. Certainly, the states attorney's office did not. Nor the commissioners.

Only a judge or jury are in a position to restore integrity to the top command because they ain't talkin, and I can assume from their point of view for good reason.

I had thought that electing the sheriff was a good thing. I still do, but I don't know now how long this position will hold.

I'm not in wonderland Steven, and I never said this was their only case. By all means, go back and review what they have done in the past. I agree action needs to be taken. My point is only that these men have 30+ years of experience each in law enforcement. I would hope that if they were as much of a screw up as you imply that it wouldn't have taken three decades to figure out.

Obviously nobody derserves an award . The comments suggesting that the whole Sherriff's office is inept is what bothers me. To say that everyone involved needs to be fired is silly. Yes there are conflicting stories, but someone is telling the truth about what happened. It would be an injustice to us all to get rid of the person/people who don't deserve it. An internal investigation by an outside agency is being conducted, I just think we should all stop pointing fingers and lumping everyone together as incompetent. Let's wait and see what the outcome of the investigation is before we all badmouth someone that may not deserve it.

You're right, Liz. The thing that broke this case was the memo that one individual wrote and his superiors chose to bury in a file. I know the young man who wrote it. He's the finest guy you'd ever want to meet. His heart was in the right place, he was standing up for the truth. I just hope the community - and more importantly, his superiors - will see the good in what he did and nott try to lump him in with the rest. He's a good man and, despite the outcome, he needs to be commended for doing the right thing. It's kind of like that commercial where the young basketball player admits to his coach that he touched the ball; the coach says, "Good call, Alex." I want to say, "Good call, Corporal. You did the right thing."

Ummmm, Does anyone know that the Sheriff and the Major that are at fault in this case are RETIRED Troopers... So what would be the different in bringing back MSP. Do people forget the TROOPER that got arrested for Child Porn in his Police Car or the one that Grew Marijuana or the two that left there loaded service weapons unsecure in there car and got stolen.... Im not making excuses for what happened, I feel for the family, but this happens throughout this country with Cases droppd b/c of similar. AA County is going through something alike, Balto City as well and Worchester just concluded.

Carroll County Citizens need to know that there is life outside of Carroll County!!!!!!!! If MSP is so great then why are they NOT Primary at all in Maryland. They were always ROAD Troopers, which is important and dangerous but they just dont have the same training or experience as full service agencies that answer calls for service. Maybe that's why Major Plazio was unsure of the suspect's rights b/c he was not familar with criminal laws b/c he was a trooper. If im not mistaken Epperson retired as a Homicide Detective in PG County so prob has enough experience then every1 in the Barrack. Harford County went through the same transition, it just takes time and now look they are ranked one of the top Agencies in the county....Again, the Sheriff's Office shld be held accountable for there actions, but again just b/c of two people dont point fingers at the whole agency

ranked top in State.......

To States Attorney Jerry Barnes; That's not your place to pass judgement on another agency to pass the negative attention away from your Office, that had a part in this investigation failure. Trust me your Agency has made alot of mistakes, the reason you are so mad is prob b/c originally this was a easy open/close case but now since you guys might have to do your JOB and a lil further investigation on your part, you get cold feet and runaway and either start offering weak PLEAS or NonPros the case....

As far as Epperson is concerned, he keeps saying Plazio told him to get back in there. If he is so experienced, and if Plazio did tell him to do the that, why didn't he do the right thing, stop the questioning, and report it to Tregonning? If Plazio would have told Epperson to get back in there and shoot her, would he have done so and then blame the dead body on Plazio? He needs to be held accountable for his own actions as well.

Liz: Plazio would just deny it and then down the road be out to get Epperson for not following an order from his superior. Thats how it ususally works.
But seriously people if I had a choice I would rather want to know for a fact that some1 killed my child and know Why even if it was done like this case, and the suspect get off, because questions wld be answered for myself and it would be closure for me. Rather then no one being charge and not even a named suspect as most homicides b/c no1 talked (snitched) or if some1 does get arrested for the murder and u are unsure if or why he did it. THE TRUTH AND CLOSURE WORKS FOR ME NOT WONDERING WHY OR WHO KILLED MY CHILD B/C NO1 TALKED OR NO EVIDENCE for the rest of my life. Just saying, gotta look at the overal picture

Josh ... you're an IDIOT!

We must praise the previous Commissioners for not making the Sheriff''s office the law enforcement of Carroll County. The previous Commissioners were denied of their rights by the Carroll County Legislative Delegation when they stripped the County Commissioners from implementing a County Police force. It did not take too long for the gang of 5 County Commissioners to appoin the Sheriffs's Office the law enforcement Commission for Carroll County soon after they were sworn into office, Hooray for Gouge, Minnick amd Zimmer who knew after months of study why they did not appoint the Sheriff's Office as the legal law enforcement Commission for Carroll County

Sheriff is elected, does not report to THE BOC, but to the people. Only the people can hire or fire the Sheriff. The BOC does not have that power.

John, There was a law on the books in Carroll County "Article 25, which would have given the BOC the authority to have named a county police force, our Carroll County Legislators in Annapolis took that authority away from them. Pure and Simple Johm.

BRING BACK THE PROFESSIONALS ,THE MARYAND STATE POLICE . WE NEED THEM NOW MORE THAN EVER. ALL 5 OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR TRANSFERRING POLICING SO QUICKLY TO THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT AND RUNNING THE MARYLAND STATE POLICE OUT OF TOWN. CONGRATULATIONS PREVIOUS COMMISSIONERS FOR BEING WISE WHEN YOU STUDIED THE POLICING SITUTATION IN CARROL COUNTY.

jb, You are right about Major Plazio, He is not only an Police Officer but a gentleman. I and many of us would vote for him if he would seek public office especiall Sheriff. Carroll County is very fortunate to have him policing Carroll County.

Thank you Romeo. However, bringing back the state police won't solve anything. Troopers attend the same academy and have the same training as deputies. As an insider, I can attest that the reason the state police were not involved is because they SCREWED UP ROYALLY with a criminal apprehension effort when the sheriffs office tried to coordinate with them. The sheriffs office was on site undercover waiting for the target and then the state commissioned officer let his ego get in the way and created a presence that alerted the suspect. It was a pissing contest that botched cross department camaraderie. And so the state and sheriff work best separately.

Ok, after reading all posts, I've come to these conclusions. Yes, Carroll County still needs it's own police force. You can call it anything you want (county police, sherriff's office, whatever), but it's still the same. I'll even go so far as to say we need a paid countywide fire department, but that's another discussion. What needs to be done right now is have an outside force come in & do an impartial investigation of the mistakes made so they can be remedied. They also need to address all the training deficiencies & make changes there. The head of the county police force needs to be appointed as well, instead of elected. I think these things would go a long way to addressing the problems.

Ok JB now I think your a bigger idiot then Josh!!!! Or are you really NICK PLAZIO blogging about how great you are??? LOL.....Nick, make sure you tell your buddy the sheriff to install the internet in the jail so you can keep blogging when your sentenced for perjury!!!!!!

I just hope that the investigation is complete and impartial. We need to feel secure that if we have need of police that they do their jobs professionally and well. We have to have faith in the people we need to help us in a crisis. I would hate to see someone who murdered a family member of mine get to walk because of a technicality like that Hampstead family has.

Yzzzi, if I can't speak intelligently I wont speak. The Maryland State Police and Sheriff both train at the sykesville training academy for 6 months as set forth per MPTC aka maryland police training commission. Their training expertise is parallel. If you don't believe me all you have to do is look at the sheriff and state recruiting page for 2 minutes.

Major JB .... you have to be with the CCSO bc only a corrupt cop would say such a stupid thing like using your Crime Lab to track an IP address. Besides they'd write the address down and give it to Kasten who would have to contact the sherrif bc he has no idea what he is looking at and they would store it in their desks until you came along looking for it.....then they'd say they didn't know you needed it for your corrupt adventure to find a blogger that is speaking the TRUTH. Also, I looked at a number of websites about the training academies you speak of and no they are not trained the same. The state trooper academy is ranked as one of the most difficult in the state and they stay there for six months or so. I think they call this residental. The deputies are in a college atmosphere style academy and they go home each day. Look it up Major JB.....LOL!

I am former State police and deputy. Now I'm just a civilian with a bigger paycheck. But I don't have a dog in this fight. Once again, the training is parallel. Staying overnight doesn't make you a better cop. And it's a huge convenience for a family man to be able to go home each day. Thanks for your resume' mr ramalski. Glad to see wackenhut is guarding town mall safely.

Today , Commissioner Shoemaker states that he is 100% for the Sheriff's department stands by the Commissioners directive when they made the Sheriff' the primary law enforcement agency for Carroll County. I dont want to get into a law squabble with Commissioner Shoemaker but I do know this, That the Sheriff is elected the same way as the Commissioners and the only thing the Commmissioners has to do with the Sheriff is provide them with a reasonable budget period. Now if the Commissioners want to establish a Carroll County Police agency, they must go through the state legislature . No way can the Commissioners name the Sheriff as the primary law enforcement agency in Carroll County . They are already the primary law enforcement the day the Sheriff was elected .

UPDATE : "States Attorney Jerry Barnes is lying scum". Fact 1. Jerry testified that the ego driven sheriffs office didn't reach out to his office for help. Fact 2. Detective epperson contacted the states attorney's office immediately. Fact 3. Jerry testified he found out about the case in the Sunday paper. Fact 4. The murder didn't show in the paper until wednesday. Fact 5. Sheriff Tregoning briefed Jerry Barnes the day of the murder. Fact 6. This is why the carroll county times are demanding telephone records from the county. Fact 7. Jerry Barnes spent so much effort using a personal vendetta to vilify the sheriffs office that he perjured himself. Fact 8. I knew this all along. The states attorney needs to share EQUAL blame in the laderer and bowling brook case for mishandling.

Fine Kim, I'll try to be nice. I've seen 6 articles about perjury regarding the sheriffs office and only one hinting at Jerry Barnes. What gives?

Oh my mistake, I assumed patch correlated with the Carroll county times. I don't know how this site works lol. I was gonna leave one comment but then I got sucked in. But I feel special talking to the author. Can I have your autograph? Haha

Kim, I know Brett Lake to be honest , intelligent and a great accurate news reporter. I hope he stays with the Times Newspaper.

I do not live in Maryland. I live down on the redneck riviera, the land Anthony and Zimmerman. I have seen a lot of misjustice but, nothing tops this. I do not think the local police are stupid. I think that they are/were protecting themselves. All you have to do is watch Law and Order or any other cop show on TV and you know all about having to follow the rules during an investigation. Something is going on in Hampstead and it is not good!

people, you forgot "corrupt".

'nuff said.

You people are embarrassing yourselves with your judgement and petulance. Let me tell you the only facts that matter. My father has been a police officer for 38 years, thats two careers and roughly 14,000 days without ever getting into trouble. He bleeds for the public and believes in protecting citizens in his town. He left a federal position making $200k a year to safeguard carroll county. As a distinguished Johns Hopkins graduate he is vastly over qualified to serve as a small town police chief. But he did it anyway because he loved his job.

Every day for the past ten years he went to work was a charity to the county. Did you know that during the economic downturn he volunteered to work days for free? Just so the county could make their budget and his subordinates could provide for their families without losing pay. How many of you are that dedicated to your work? How many of you would volunteer when your 60 years old to be woken up at 4am in the morning to handle a major crime occurring? I've been trying to get my dad to retire, permanently, for years. He has a passionate pursuit for perfection and justice. He wasn't working for the money or the prestige. He did it to be christian and help his fellow man. Values he instilled in me.

Why did he plead guilty to misconduct? Because I told him to. The public lives in naivete' and delirium thinking a guilty plea reflects a guilty act. If someone came up to you and said plead guilty to misconduct, because we have insufficient evidence for perjury, and you won't go to jail, or pay a lawyer $75,000 to prove your innocence, which would you prefer? This case has been a joke. It's a shining example of two dimensional reporting and lambasting a good man. I am proud to be Nicholas Plazio Jr. And nothing any of you say will change that.

Some of you need to do some soul searching and ask yourselves why you need to scold someone you never met or worked with. Because you will see my dad in carroll county. He's the man holding the door for you when your hands are full. He's the man volunteering at a church banquet. And he's the stranger that strikes conversation with you when your fishing at the lake. Now I have an assignment for you. Tell me where you were January 11th 2012. Now tell me the conversation you were having at 11am. Whats the matter? You can’t remember what happened a year ago? Thats funny, because when you are a police chief you’re expected to. So you give an answer and a few days later you think about it long enough details may start to come to you. So you correct your original statement. Thats called basic psychology. In carroll county thats called Perjury.

Nickolas Plazio jr, what a nice thing to say about your father. I agree with you and my daughter Carole V. Hammen who says your father is one of the best police officwer she has ever met . I hope your father stays in the policing business as we all are rewarded for his superior ability and qualifications especially dedication. Thanks Nick Plazio Sr.

So then Junior, who then is responsible for the fact that a murderer has been cut loose into our neighborhoods? This is the basic function of a law enforcement agency. This is not something that can be just chalked up to inexperience and we all just say lets givem a do over! Someone has to be held accountable for this, and I hardly think the state’s attorney is the first place the finger should be pointed. Shoot, he fired the guy that gave bad information. At least he has that going for him.

I appreciate the fact that you are standing up for you father. I’m sure he was the sacrificial lamb for a lot of other people. In reading through all the stories it appears that he fell on the sword for the sheriff & a guy that has been sending out press releases his entire career. Because of your father the sheriff still has his job and Kasten can run for sheriff in the future (pretty sure this will come back and haunt him though). So yes your father is a very honorable man, he took all the blame for a couple of guys that probably should have followed suit and just left themselves.

Thats the million dollar question steven. In short, I dont know. I know a lack of education and experience is not to blame. And I know the only other answer is a lack of integrity. Given the aforementioned post you can see why thats hard to believe. My Dad and I have a tell all relationship and he vehemently denies giving the order to this day. I do know that Detective Eppersons reputation was not squeky clean before this. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. But my dads was great. I've gotten tired of defending my families honor for the past 6 months. And I'm tired of the blame game. A tradgedy occurred. And even though they werent sentenced to jail. I take comfort knowing their reputations are shattered forever. They cant ever go to the grocery store or the gym without people starring and talking about them. And they will answer to a higher calling one day. But Epperson either followed an illegal order willingly or violated the constitution willingly or both. So yes, I say its his fault. A Major shouldnt have to baby sit a detective. I guarantee my father was sitting in his office doing paperwork during the entire interrogation. He doesnt believe in micromanaging.

The entire process seems sloppy and broken...