Superior Court of the District of Columbia
CRIMINAL DIVISION
AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF AN ARREST WARRANT
DEFENDANT’S NAME:
FREDERICK EDWARD MORTON
SEX:
M
RACE:
B
DOB:
6/22/52
HGT:
5’6”
NICKNAME:
“Butch”
WGT:
160 lb
EYES:
Brown
HAIR:
Black
USW NO.:
ALIASES:
Numerous
COMPL:
Medium
CCN:
038-425
PDID:
224-292
SCARS, MARKS, TATOOS
DEFENDANT’S HOME ADDRESS:
745 Hobart Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C.
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
n/a
DEFENDANT’S BUSINESS ADDRESS:
n/a
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
n/a
COMPLAINANT’S NAME:
MOSKOWITZ, SHARON
LOCATION OF OFFENSE:
1971 Biltmore Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
DATE OF OFFENSE:
1/21/97
TIME OF OFFENSE:
Between 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
CAUTION AND MEDICAL CONDITIONS (CMC)
Select a valid CMC code below for wanted person when using the caution indicator.
__ 00 = Armed and Dangerous
X 05 = Violent Tendencies
__ 10 = Martial Arts Expert
__ 15 = Explosive Expertise
X 20 = Known to abuse drugs
__ 25 = Escape Risk
__ 30 = Sexually Violent Predator
__ 50 = Heart Condition
__55 = Alcoholic
__60 = Allergies
__65 = Epilepsy
__70 = Suicidal
X 80 = Medication Required
__85 = Hemophiliac
__90 = Diabetic
__01 = Other
GIVE BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HAPPENED:
On Tuesday, January 21, 1997, at approximately 2:30 – 3:00 p.m., a witness, hereafter referred to as “W-1”, was
returning home to 1971 Biltmore Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., where it was then living. W-1 entered its
residence through the back door, which it noticed, to its surprise, was unlocked and partially ajar. After calling
out “Hello,” to see if anyone would answer, W-1 walked through the kitchen and into the dining room where it
immediately noticed a dark-haired female, lying face down on the floor, by the front door vestibule. From what
W-1 could see, the woman was bound with a dog toy around her ankles and hog tied with a cord, which had been
cut from one of the living room lamps. (See Attachments One and Two). The dark-haired young woman was
dressed for the outdoors, wearing a winter coat and a wooly scarf, which was wrapped around her neck.
Groceries and several plastic grocery bags were strewn about in close proximity to the young woman. W-1 also
observed an open container of orange juice by the woman’s body. As W-1 walked closer, it recognized the
woman as Sharon Moskowitz, age 25, who was renting a room at 1971 Biltmore Street, Northwest. W-1
immediately called 911 and then, left the house through the back door. Much later, after W-1 was permitted back
onto the crime scene, it observed that the entire house had been ransacked with drawers pulled from the bedroom
dressers, items disturbed, and property strewn about the house, contrary to when W-1 left the house at 8:30 a.m.
that morning. W-1 reported that several containers, previously containing jewelry but now empty, were lined up
on the staircase which led from the living room to the bedroom levels. W-1 also noticed that the front door to the
residence exhibited pry marks and that the door jam and lock mechanism were broken.
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on January 21, 1997, Officer Bridgette King of the Third District responded to 1971
Biltmore Street, Northwest, in answer to W-1’s 911 call and the subsequent radio run. Upon arrival on the scene,
Officer King was met by members of the D.C. Fire Department Medic Unit 14, who informed her that Ms.
Moskowitz showed no signs of life. The medics further reported that in their opinion, Ms. Moskowitz had been
dead only a short amount of time. Sharon Moskowitz was then transported to D.C. General Hospital, where she
was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. On Wednesday, January 22, 1997, an autopsy was performed by Dr. Pierre
Louis of the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office. Dr. Pierre Louis determined that Sharon Moskowitz had died as
a result of asphyxia due to ligature strangulation; specifically that Ms. Moskowitz’s winter scarf had been used to
strangle her about her neck. Dr. Pierre Louis further determined that the manner of death was a homicide.
The following day, January 22, 1997, then lead detective Stephen McDonald received a call from a second
witness, hereafter referred to as “W-2,” another resident at 1971 Biltmore Street, Northwest, who had
information relevant to the investigation. Upon interviewing W-2, W-2 stated that it shared the third floor living
space of 1971 Biltmore Street with Sharon Moskowitz. W-2 told the detectives that on January 20, 1997, it
called the Biltmore Street residence, and unexpectedly reached Ms. Moskowitz, who stated that she was staying
home from work because she had a cold. W-2 did not speak to Ms. Moskowitz again on January 20th and did not
return to the house either that day or the day of the murder. After the murder and the processing of the crime
scene, W-2 went home and discovered that its bedroom had been ransacked and its credit cards, as well as
additional items of identification and jewelry, were missing. W-2 even noticed that a piggy bank, containing
pennies and other small change, was gone, although broken pieces of the piggy bank remained on the scene. W-2
reported further that it had received a call from Citibank, informing W-2 that suspicious activity was appearing
on one of W-2’s credit cards.
The detectives then made contact with a Citibank fraud investigator, who was able to provide records, showing
eight suspicious transactions on a credit card account belonging to W-2. According to the fraud investigator, the
first transaction occurred on January 21, 1997, at 3:44 p.m., only 45 minutes after W-1 found Ms. Moskowitz’s
body, at an Amoco Gas Station located at 1244 South Capitol Street, Southeast, Washington, D.C. The last
transaction occurred on January 22, 1997, at 9:30 a.m., at which time the card was “denied,” because W-2 had
cancelled it. Additional transactions were made on the day of the murder, at various grocery stores, including
(1) a Safeway grocery store, located at Waterside Mall, Southeast at 4:48 p.m., in the amount of $202.67; (2) a
Giant Food store, located in Marlow Heights, Maryland, at 7:35 p.m., in the amount of $188.32; and (3) a Giant
Food store, located at 8th and O Streets, Northwest, at 11:58 p.m., in the amount of $64.81. W-2 confirmed that
it did not make these purchases nor approve these transactions.
Thereafter, the detectives contacted members of Giant Food’s loss prevention section and obtained tapes from
video surveillance cameras at the Marlow Heights and 8th and O Streets, Northwest, stores, which corresponded
with the times of the suspicious transactions. The detectives also obtained the credit card receipts from the three
grocery store transactions, as well as a detailed list of items that were bought during the shopping sprees. Upon
examining the video surveillance tape from the Giant Food store in Marlow Heights, and comparing it to the time
of the credit card receipt, the detectives were able isolate portions of the surveillance tape, specifically
surveillance tape from Register Number Eight, which is equipped with its own camera, showing an individual
wearing a gray “PITT” sweatshirt using W-2’s credit card to purchase groceries. The detectives did not process
the video surveillance tape recovered from the Giant Food store at 8th and O Streets, Northwest.
At the same time that the credit card transactions were being investigated, the detectives continued to canvas for
witnesses. On January 22, 1997, they located a third witness, hereafter referred to as “W-3,” who related that it
was working in the rear alley, behind 1971 Biltmore Street, Northwest, on the day of the murder. Sometime
before lunch, W-3 observed two African American males, who were acting suspiciously in the alley. Fearing
that it was about to be robbed, W-3 took a quick look at the subjects, secured its tools and left the area. W-3
recalled that one of the African American males it observed was around 30 years old, medium complexion, with
facial hair around his lip and chin, wearing a black winter cap slightly off the top of his head, a dirty white and
green checkered lumberjack-type flannel shirt over a gray hooded sweatshirt with the letters “ITT,” and navy
blue work pants. Upon being shown a photo spread including surveillance photographs from the Giant Food
store in Marlow Heights, W-3 claimed that the quality of the photos was not good enough for it to make an
identification.
Immediately after Sharon Moskowitz’s murder, the surveillance footage from the Marlow Heights Giant,
showing the individual wearing the gray “PITT” sweatshirt, was broadcast on America’s Most Wanted and other
media outlets. In response to one such broadcast, in February 1997, Morris Brown, now deceased, came forward
to law enforcement and identified himself as a person who purchased groceries with the “PITT” suspect at the
Marlow Heights Giant Food store. Specifically, Morris Brown related that at approximately 6:00 p.m., on
January 21, 1997, he was loitering in the parking lot of Normandy’s Liquor store, in Southeast, Washington, D.C.
to “get a good deal.” At that point, Morris Brown was approached by an individual he referred to as “Shorty,”
who was offering to purchase groceries with a credit card in exchange for a cash payment. Mr. Brown admitted
that he and “Shorty” drove in Mr. Brown’s car to a Giant Food store in Marlow Heights where Mr. Brown
proceeded to shop for twenty minutes. “Shorty” instructed him to wait in the car while he, “Shorty,” paid for the
groceries. Morris Brown then stated that he gave “Shorty,” $40 in exchange for nearly $200 worth of groceries.
Mr. Brown reviewed the Marlow Heights Giant surveillance video and identified the suspect wearing the gray
“PITT” sweatshirt, as the person he called “Shorty,” who purchased the groceries. Mr. Brown further stated that
an additional witness, hereafter referred to as “W-4,” also purchased groceries from “Shorty” in this manner.
Morris Brown claimed that it did not know “Shorty’s” true identity.
In August 2009, W-4 was interviewed and stated as follows: W-4 claimed that on January 21, 1997, it was in the
parking lot of Normandy’s Liquor store when a subject, wearing a gray “PITT” sweatshirt, offered to buy it some
groceries in exchange for cash. W-4 agreed and drove to a Safeway store at Waterside Mall in Southeast,
Washington, D.C. The subject told W-4 that it had 15 minutes to shop for groceries because “the card was about
to run out.” When W-4 was finished shopping, the subject then came into the store and took W-4’s grocery cart,
full of items, while W-4 waited outside in its car. W-4 stated that the subject then came out of the store with the
groceries and helped W-4 load the merchandise into its vehicle W-4 gave the subject $80 for over $200 worth of
groceries. W-4 then drove the subject back to Normandy’s Liquor store where it observed the subject meet up
with Morris Brown.
As there was no videotaped surveillance from the transaction at the Safeway, W-4 was shown surveillance stills
from the Marlow Heights Giant. W-4 identified both Morris Brown and the suspect wearing the gray “PITT”
sweatshirt as the person it interacted with during the Waterside Mall Safeway purchases. Although W-4 did not
know the suspect’s name, it gave the following description: African American male, 5’6” – 5’7” in height, 35-40
years of age, with short “nappy” hair, a wide or big forehead, jagged teeth, bad skin, a scraggly beard, wearing
thick prescription glasses, who sniffed and acted jumpy as if he had a drug problem, specifically a heroin
addiction.
In August 2009, your Affiant reviewed the video surveillance tapes from the Giant Food store at 8th and O
Streets, Northwest, with a video enhancement expert from the United States Secret Service. By comparing the
time stamp on the register receipt from the 8th and O Street transaction, with the video surveillance clips, your
Affiant was able to isolate the same suspect, previously identified by both Morris Brown and W-4, and still
wearing a gray “PITT” sweatshirt, inside the Giant Food store. Specifically, the video surveillance footage
showed the “PITT” suspect and an unknown female, wearing a dark heavy coat, thick glasses, and a ski cap,
shopping for groceries shortly before midnight on the day of the murder, January 21, 1997. (See Attachments
Three and Four).
At the request of the Metropolitan Police Department, Pat Collins, a reporter for News4 Washington, ran a
segment in September 2009, profiling the Sharon Moskowitz murder, broadcasting the 8th and O Streets video
surveillance tape, and, for the first time in 12 years, asking the public’s assistance in identifying the unknown
female, depicted in the video surveillance, shopping for groceries with the suspect in the “PITT” sweatshirt.
Within a matter of days of the Channel 4 news segment, your Affiant received a tip that the female in the
surveillance video, was “Joan,” a heroin addict, who still frequented the area of 9th and O Streets, Northwest.
After several weeks of trying to identify “Joan,” without success, your Affiant received an additional tip that
“Joan” had recently died.
By pulling death reports from the relevant time period, your Affiant determined that a “Joan Tomlin Williams,”
died of complications from a heroin overdose on October 30, 2009. At the request of your Affiant, an intel
specialist with the United States Attorney’s Office researched and culled records, including police reports,
presentence reports, and credit records, relating to “Joan.” In the course of this investigation, your Affiant
ascertained that Joan Tomlin Williams had at one point, reported that she was co-habitating with a “Frederick
Morton.” Upon reviewing a photograph of Frederick Edward Morton, PDID 224-292, your Affiant immediately
determined that Frederick Edward Morton, PDID 224-292, bore a striking resemblance to a composite sketch
generated from a physical description previously provided by “W-4.” Upon further investigation, your Affiant
confirmed that Frederick Edward Morton, PDID 224-292 had connections to the 9th and O Streets, Northwest,
area, was a lifetime heroin abuser, and had been arrested or convicted of committing nearly a dozen burglaries, or
other theft-type crimes, over the past thirty years, including crimes in Northwest, Washington within blocks of
the Biltmore Street residence.
In November 2009, an additional witness, hereafter referred to as “W-5,” was located and interviewed. W-5
stated that it had known Joan Williams for over thirty years and that Joan died on October 30, 2009. W-5 stated
that for at least nine or more months in 1997, including at the time of the murder, Joan Williams lived with an
individual known to W-5 as “Butch.” W-5 described “Butch” as a medium complexioned, African American
male, about 5’6” – 5’7,” slim build, who used heroin and frequented “the strip” in the 7th and O Streets,
Northwest, corridor. W-5 stated further that “Butch” was known for committing drug-related crimes, including
fraudulently cashing checks. Upon being shown a single photograph of the defendant, Frederick Edward
Morton, PDID 224-292, W-5 exclaimed “that’s Butch right there.” Upon being shown the surveillance
photographs from the 8th and O Streets Giant Food store, W-5 stated that the female in the photographs, shown
shopping for groceries, was Joan Williams and that the male, also seen shopping for groceries, including orange
juice, was “Butch.” Upon reviewing a criminal records check for Frederick Edward Morton, PDID 224-292,
your Affiant determined that the defendant has used the alias “Butch Morton,” previously.
Your Affiant went to the crime scene and compared the actual layout of the Biltmore residence to the crime scene
photos, diagram, and reports of witnesses. Your Affiant noted that the items which were used as ligatures,
specifically the dog toy and lamp cord, were in different rooms separated by many feet from each other and the
body of the victim. (See Attachment Five). In your Affiant’s opinion, and given the timing of the burglary,
murder, and discovery of the decedent’s body, one person, acting alone, could not have caused the disruption to
the house and simultaneously, maintained control of the victim without an accomplice.
Based on the aforementioned facts, your Affiant believes that probable cause has been established for the
issuance of arrest warrant for the defendant identified as Frederick Edward Morton, PDID 224-292, African
American male, DOB 6/22/52.
AFFIANT’S SIGNATURE:
X_________________________
TO: WARRANT CLERK
PLEASE ISSUE A WARRANT FOR:
__________________________________________
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN BEFORE ME THIS ___________
Charge With: _______________________________
___________DAY
______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
(JUDGE) DEPUTY CLERK) SUPERIOR COURT OF THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Form CD(17)-1050
OF ________________20________
Revision Date: 11-29-06