Conspiracy Charged in Killing of Journalist

The two men charged with killing New York Times journalist David E. Rosenbaum were indicted yesterday on charges that they engaged in a conspiracy that included not only the deadly robbery of Rosenbaum but two other holdups -- one of them the same day Rosenbaum was attacked.

The grand jury's indictment, or formal charging, of suspects Michael C. Hamlin and Percy Jordan had been expected. But the scope of the charges contained in the 17-count indictment and the allegation that the actions of Hamlin and Jordan constituted a conspiracy were notable, particularly in light of criticism that two earlier robberies linked to the men were not properly investigated.

The indictment charges the two men with one of those robberies: an attack Nov. 17 on a 72-year-old retired police officer. It also details a third holdup, in Silver Spring on Jan. 6, the same day Rosenbaum was accosted.

In the Nov. 17 robbery, the victim's cellphone was stolen from him and was used to call relatives of Hamlin's and Jordan's, the victim said in an earlier interview.

But investigators did not pursue that lead until after Rosenbaum was killed.

It was one of the many agency failures that have shadowed the death of Rosenbaum, 63, who had just retired from the Times, where he spent most of his career reporting and editing in the paper's Washington bureau.

Struck in the head with a pipe as he walked on Gramercy Street NW, Rosenbaum was felled by the blow. But when a passerby called 911 to summon emergency medical care, Rosenbaum, who was initially conscious, was deemed a low priority -- possibly just intoxicated.

So instead of an advanced life support ambulance that was in the area, a basic care ambulance was sent from Northeast Washington; it arrived 23 minutes later.

According to investigations into the response, neither the emergency medical technicians on the ambulance nor medical workers at Howard University Hospital realized how gravely Rosenbaum had been injured. Rosenbaum lay on a gurney at Howard for about an hour before being attended, and he received care only after he started vomiting. He died two days after the robbery.

A broad investigation of the actions of the police, the Emergency Medical Services and the hospital is underway. A report is expected soon.

Hamlin, 23, and Jordan, 42, both of Southeast Washington, were arrested several days after Rosenbaum's attack.

They are to appear tomorrow in D.C. Superior Court, where they will be arraigned on the charges laid out in the indictment, which provides a chronology of the men's alleged actions leading up to the attack on Rosenbaum and after it.