WASHINGTON – A suspect in the beating death of New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum turned himself in to police Thursday night after TV stations broadcast surveillance images showing his face.
Michael Hamlin, 23, of Washington, saw one of the broadcasts and went to the 7th District police station "inquiring why his face was on TV," said Metropolitan Police Detective Anthony Paci.
Hamlin arrived at the police station around 6:20 p.m. EST and confessed to the crime shortly thereafter, Paci said.
Earlier, investigators released surveillance videos showing a man who may have used a credit card stolen from Rosenbaum.
Police said the credit card had been used seven times since Rosenbaum's death, to buy a total of $1,300 worth of merchandise.
Paci and Capt. C.V. Morris, the lead investigator in the homicide case, praised credit card companies and the local media for their cooperation.
Asked why Hamlin turned himself in, Morris said, "Stranger things have happened." Hamlin told police he would show them where he hid the weapon, Morris said.
Rosenbaum, 63, died Sunday night, two days after he was found on a sidewalk near his home in Northwest Washington.
"It is very important that whoever committed this crime be off the streets so they don't kill someone else," Rosenbaum's brother, Marcus, said Thursday.
The videos came from a CVS drugstore in southeast Washington, where the card was used Friday night, and an Advance Auto Parts store in Riverdale, Md., where the card was declined on Saturday night. Police declined to identify other places where the card was used.
After leaving home for a walk Friday night, Rosenbaum was found on the sidewalk with a personal stereo headset nearby, indicating he may have been struck from behind without warning, police said.
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