The first suspect, Michael Cleveland Hamlin, 23, of Washington, turned himself into police on Thursday night after seeing his face on television throughout the evening. Police had released a surveillance camera tape showing Hamlin using Rosenbaum's credit card.
Metropolitan Police Detective Anthony Paci said that Hamlin entered the 7th precinct police station "inquiring why his face was on TV." Police took Hamlin to another police station where he eventually confessed to being one of two men who beat Rosenbaum with a metal pipe and robbed him, according to an Associated Press report.
When asked about the manner in which Hamlin turned himself in, Police Captain C.V. Morris, the lead investigator in the homicide case, told the Associated Press that "stranger things have happened."
A second suspect, Hamlin's cousin Percy Jordan Jr., 42, was arrested on Friday night. He arrived at the 7th precinct police station on Friday afternoon, telling police that he needed to "clean up some things because his cousin got him in this," according to charging documents.
Both suspects were arraigned and charged with felony murder.
Rosenbaum died last Sunday night after being beaten and robbed the Friday before, while walking in his usually quiet neighborhood in northwest Washington.
According to police, Rosenbaum's personal stereo headset was found near his body, indicating that he may have been attacked from behind without warning. The surveillance videos came from a CVS drugstore in southeast Washington, where the card was used Friday night, and an Advance Auto Parts store in Riverdale, Maryland, where the card was declined on Saturday night.
Police said the stolen credit card had been used seven times since Rosenbaum's death to buy $1,300 worth of merchandise. Morris commended credit card companies and the local media for their help in the recent breakthroughs in the case.
Both victims are arguing their innocence to murder, their respective attorneys said.
Hamlin's first reported use of the stolen credit card came before Rosenbaum's attack was reported to the police, Hamlin's attorney Stephen Mercer said.
Jordan admitted to being present at the time of attack, but denied participating in them. Michael Starr, Jordan's attorney, further argued that no physical evidence had been produced to link Jordan with the crime.
"It is very important that whoever committed this crime be off the streets so they don't kill someone else," Marcus Rosenbaum, brother of the victim, told the Associated Press last Thursday.
Rosenbaum worked at The New York Times as an editor and reporter for over 35 years. During his tenure he served as chief congressional correspondent, chief domestic policy correspondent, chief economics correspondent, assistant news editor and business editor in the Washington bureau of The Times.
In a memorial service on Capitol Hill last Friday, Philip Taubman, the New York Times' Washington bureau chief, expressed his sorrow.
"I have spent a week trying to come to grips with everything," he said. "It was unfathomable, unthinkable, unspeakable."
While in Hanover, Rosenbaum wrote for The Dartmouth and said that the experience he gained working at a small paper was invaluable.
The D awarded Rosenbaum its annual alumni award for distinguished service in journalism and public affairs in 1996, and he spoke to students about media bias.
In addition to writing for The D, Rosenbaum, a government major, was a brother at Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, a member of the dormitory committee for two years and played squash and tennis.
