Inside the plot of a police officer’s convicted killer to get out of prison
By Mike Hellgren, JT Moodee Lockman
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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore police and prosecutors spoke about a foiled scheme they allege convicted cop killer Brandon Grimes hatched to get out of prison.
Grimes, who is serving a life sentence for the killing of a Baltimore Police detective, was indicted Tuesday in connection with an alleged scheme to get out of prison, according to the City State’s Attorney’s Office.
WJZ Investigates broke the story last week, detailing Grimes’s efforts to use outside help to fake documents and force the state to pay him more than $1 million for a wrongful conviction.
Grimes was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murder of Baltimore City Detective Troy Chesley.
Chesley was shot while off duty during a robbery in January 2007. He managed to fire at and strike his assailant during the attack.
A jury convicted Grimes, who is serving his sentence at the North Branch Correctional Institution in Western Maryland.
Chesley’s family was scheduled to attend a news conference on Tuesday, but stated that it was “too difficult” given the emotions still surrounding his death.
Deputy Commissioner Kevin Jones, who oversees the Baltimore Police Department’s Operations Bureau, said he keeps Detective Chesley’s pictures in his office.
“This case strikes at the heart of our department. Detective Troy Chesley was a beloved colleague, friend, son, father, and a public servant who gave his life protecting this city,” Jones told WJZ.
Jones wore a wristband with Chesley’s picture as he spoke.
“We remain committed to honoring his legacy by ensuring the individual responsible for his death continues to be held accountable under the law,” Jones said.
He told reporters he will never forget his colleague.
“Troy’s jokes will always have a special place in my heart,” Jones said.
In March 2024, Grimes, who was imprisoned in Cumberland, Maryland, filed a petition for a writ of actual innocence with the Baltimore City Circuit Court.
He alleged in 2018 that an unnamed assistant state’s attorney “turned over to Grimes various pieces of newly discovered evidence she found, and amongst those documents was a ballistic report she claimed she found in a box somewhere.”
Grimes claimed Baltimore police suppressed that report, and a document labeled “confidential” showed he was shot by the same weapon that killed Detective Chesley—and therefore proved he was not the killer.
An investigation found the report’s style was not authentic, property numbers did not match, and two firearms examiners listed in the report Grimes filed with the court never prepared or signed the real document.
Authorities said they were able to determine Grimes convinced a woman from Indiana he met on Facebook that he is “the victim of a miscarriage of justice.”
In recorded calls from prison, police said Grimes laid out the plan to falsify the ballistics report and told her, “My fight is to get the [expletive] out of here.”
He planned to get money from the state for a wrongful conviction to the tune of more than $1.4 million, documents stated.
He also told the woman, “When I get this exoneration money, I’ll make sure you don’t work again.”
Prosecutors alleged he also connected with an unidentified person to assist in fixing the ballistics report and stated, “His homeboy can do everything you need. If you need a birth certificate changed, he can do that.”
In more recorded conversations detailed in the court filing, “…the unknown man repeatedly assured Grimes, making statements to the effect of, ‘I got you. I got you.'”
Charging documents stated Grimes and the woman he met on Facebook had more conversations about the forged ballistics document, with the woman stating, “I could glue that down then Xerox it” and “once I Xerox it, I could white the edges out of it…then do it one more time, and then you won’t be able to tell.”
The documents also quote Grimes in jailhouse calls stating, “If everything goes to plan, can get my case new traction” and claiming “‘if [I] would have gone to trial on self-defense, [it] would have went in [his] favor’ and “instead he went with ‘[he] didn’t do it at all’ and ‘don’t even care about the truth, what’s the best story.'”
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates would not say whether any alleged co-conspirators will be charged in this case.
“For us, to make sure we keep the integrity of the case, we can’t go any more in depth for a number of reasons,” Bates told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
Bates said Brandon Grimes faces more than 140 additional years in prison if he is convicted of the latest charges.
“When you think about the hurt and pain that’s going to be inflicted on the victim’s family all over again, it’s the type of crime that is very vicious, mean, heinous,” the state’s attorney said. “And it’s something that my office, our office, we’re not going to stand for.”
Bates offered his prayers to Detective Chesley’s family.
“The family, they’re so upset. They didn’t necessarily want to be here. They wanted to, but they couldn’t be here. You’ve opened all those old wounds all over again to the family,” he told WJZ.
Grimes is considered innocent of the charges until proven guilty in court and has a hearing scheduled for later this month.
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