Ramsey County Probation Officer Howard Porter Dies.
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posted by Bob at Sunday, May 27, 2007
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Howard Porter, former basketball star, dies of assault injuries
BY BAO ONG AND PAUL TOSTO
Pioneer Press
Article Last Updated: 05/27/2007 08:15:37 PM CDT
Porter kidnap tip deepens mysteryTipster alerted police to Porter 'kidnapping'Police team up in Porter caseEx-hoops star Porter missing, foundA Ramsey County probation officer beaten and left severely injured in an alley a week ago has died, police said Sunday. But mystery still surrounded the deadly assault of former basketball star Howard Porter as police revealed little new information on the case.
Porter, once one of college basketball's top stars and a former NBA player, died at 10:26 p.m. Saturday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, said Minneapolis Police Lt. Kim Lund. The cause of death was not immediately known, but police await a medical examiner's report.
Porter, 58, had been a probation officer with Ramsey County Community Corrections since 1995. But it's not clear if Porter's job and assault were connected, police said. No one is in custody for Porter's beating and the investigation continues, Lund said.
"This is just an enormous loss for us," said Chris Crutchfield, a spokesman for Community Corrections. "People from all over the country have been calling, offering help...he really touched people's lives from all over the country."
Porter's death "is really a double loss for us" because his wife, Theresa Neal, is principal of Boys Totem Town, Ramsey County's juvenile correctional facility, he added.
The St. Paul man was last seen on May 18 - a Friday - after leaving his home on Iglehart Avenue. Porter's wife - who described her husband as a stable man who had not displayed any unusual behavior - reported him missing early May 20 after he failed to meet her the day before as planned.
An hour after Porter's wife reported him missing, police found Porter's rented Cadillac at 291 Ravoux Ave. in the Summit-University neighborhood of St. Paul. They found blood on the rear bumper and quarter panels of the car. The also located the bloody imprint of a head on the floor of the trunk.
Porter was found severely beaten at 5:30 a.m. May 20 in an alley in the 3700 block of Humboldt Avenue North in Minneapolis. He was not stabbed or shot, authorities said. Porter was listed as John Doe upon arrival at North Memorial. The police asked the media for help in finding Porter on May 20 and within hours they discovered the patient at North Memorial was Porter.
St. Paul police revealed late last week that a St. Paul man called them about 11 p.m. May 19 with a rumor that Porter was kidnapped. The tipster is a "person known to police," according to a search warrant filed by St. Paul police.
St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments will both continue working on the case - "right now the jurisdiction questions is being investigated," Lund said.
Family members said Porter had difficulty dealing with his success at a young age but he turned his life around after arriving in Minnesota.
Following a successful high school basketball career, Porter was a top college basketball player at Villanova University, helping lead the Wildcats to the NCAA National Championship game in 1971. A Sports Illustrated profile of him in 1996 called him "arguably the best college player in the country.''
He later played professionally for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons and New Jersey Nets during his NBA career. His best season as a professional was in 1976-77, when he averaged 13.2 points per game. Health issues threatened his NBA career, which ended in the late 1970s.
"Howard provided so many Villanovans with thrills on the basketball court,'' Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a statement released by the school. "Since his playing days ended, he has been an outstanding role model for our current players and coaching staff.''
When Porter left the NBA because he could not secure a "no-cut contract," his life began to change, said Regina Porter, his first wife.
Regina Porter, 58, married Howard Porter when the two were 21 years old. The couple had two daughters (Ebony and Keelee) and one son (Howard Jr.) together.
The couple did not talk about the NBA while Howard Porter still competed, Regina Porter said, because they were focused on their children and domestic life.
In the early years, he made sure she had a maid and Mercedes Benz, she said. While playing in New York, Regina Porter said her husband would always eat Delmonico steaks with two pieces of corn before a game.
The first seven years for their 14-year marriage were "gorgeous, perfect," Regina Porter said, but drugs took over Howard Porter's life. They divorced in August 1986.
After a number failed businesses and drug problems, Porter sought treatment at the Hazelden clinic in Center City in 1989. He started a new life in Minnesota and remained here ever since.
"He was the love of my live," Regina Porter said. "I can say I will never forget him."
Porter's colleagues also said he would be impossible to forget.
In the building where he worked, people from police officers to the "guy that runs the little store in the building to building management...they all wanted to know about Howard and how he was doing," said John Menke, assistant director of the corrections department's adult services division. "People that didn't come into any kind of professional contact with him, they liked and respected him. They cared about him."
Menke said Porter talked sometimes about his sports past but wasn't one-dimensional that way.
"He wasn't a sports star so much as a star."
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Bao Ong can be reached at bong@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5435.
Howard Porter dies a week after he was severely beaten
The assault of the Ramsey County probation officer and basketball star still is a mystery.
By Richard Meryhew, Star Tribune
Last update: May 27, 2007 – 9:41 PM
Howard Porter
Long after his college and professional basketball career had ended and he had confronted his own personal demons with drugs and alcohol, Howard Porter talked about the work that gave his life meaning -- helping former prisoners beat addiction and turn around their troubled lives.
"My heart is there for the ones who are really struggling with chemical issues," the Ramsey County probation officer said in a 2001 interview. "I could have been sitting in the seat they are in. And the more I learn about them, the more they teach me as well."
Porter, 58, a St. Paul resident and college basketball superstar at Villanova University in the late 1960s and early '70s, died Saturday night at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale from head injuries sustained in severe beating more than a week ago.
Services are pending.
As of Sunday, the circumstances surrounding the assault remained a mystery. Police still had not made an arrest or said why they think Porter was beaten.
Porter was last seen about 8 p.m. May 18. His wife, Theresa Neal, spoke with him by cell phone about two hours later.
About 5:30 a.m. on May 19, Porter was found unconscious and severely beaten in an alley in north Minneapolis. Because he had no ID, he was admitted to the hospital as a John Doe.
Neal reported Porter missing May 20. Less than an hour later, an abandoned Cadillac rented by Porter was found in the 200 block of Ravoux Avenue in St. Paul. There was blood on the rear bumper and a quarter panel, and a bloody imprint of a head in the trunk, leading police to conclude that there was a "high likelihood of foul play."
A hospital worker apparently recognized Porter's photo from news reports and called police.
Later that night, St. Paul police received information from a man "known to police" who said "word on the street" pointed to Porter's kidnapping. Police, however, have been careful to say that the source and his information may not be credible.
Style all his own
On Sunday, investigators from the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments continued to investigate the motive for the beating and where it happened.
"It sounds like it will be a rather complicated case," said Minneapolis police Lt. Dean Christiansen. "Right now, there really is nothing more that we can say."
As investigators pursued new leads, family and friends remembered the 6-foot-8 Porter as a caring and sensitive man with a style all his own.
"He had a flair, with his hats and his suits and everything," said Chris Ford, a teammate at Villanova who later played professional basketball with the Boston Celtics. "And he had that big smile."I think we're going to feel the loss all over the city," said Chris Crutchfield, a colleague of Porter's and a spokesman for Ramsey County corrections. "It's a tremendous blow to all of us."
Neal, who works for the St. Paul public schools, declined to comment Sunday. But in a 2001 interview, she described Porter as a "good guy" who was extremely humble.
She said she didn't know he had played college or professional basketball until six months after they met.
"And that was just by a fluke," she said. "He'd come to my mother's house for dinner, and my uncle was there. My uncle and mother are both avid sports people, and they got into this sports conversation.
"And I asked, 'Did you ever play basketball?' And Howard said, 'Just a little.'
"And my uncle said, 'Oh, Howard Porter. I remember him from Villanova.' And Howard just so humbly said 'Oh, that's me.' "
Porter led the Philadelphia university's team to several NCAA tournaments and the 1971 championship game, where he scored 25 points in a loss to UCLA. He was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
But he was denied that trophy and his team's record was vacated after it was learned that he had signed a contract with an agent months before his senior season ended.
Shamed, he withdrew, blaming himself for what happened. A mediocre and injury-riddled professional basketball career followed. Then came a broken marriage, drug addiction and a stint in jail. In 1989, Porter underwent treatment at Hazelden near Center City, Minn. After time at a halfway house in St. Paul, he got a job as a probation officer in Ramsey County.
"I think he is happy with who he is and where he's at," Neal said in 2001. "Believe me, there is more to come and more to see from Howard Porter."
In 2002, Ford and his Villanova teammates presented Porter with their own most outstanding player trophy at a game on campus. By then, Porter had made peace with what had happened in 1971.
"His place in Villanova history is secure," Ford said Sunday. "Everyone reached out and loved him.
"When he came back for Villanova games, I think his chest was really pumped out. He held his head very, very high."
Ford said he last saw Porter in the winter of 2006, when he returned to Philadelphia to celebrate the retirement of the jerseys of several teammates, including Ford's.
"It was a special time," Ford said. "We just reminisced and joked and laughed.
"It's just mind-boggling how this happened," Ford added, speaking of the beating. "Why would something so brutal happen to Howard?"
Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425 • richm@startribune.com
So it appears he was beaten in Saint Paul and dropped off in an alley in Mpls. to disrupt the investigation.
I find this story very sad.
I hope they catch the person or persons responsible.
But then again what is the likelihood anyone will be arrested?
There is numerous homicides and aggravated assaults unsolved.
Maybe we should rename the Twin Cities the 'Killing Fields'.
I wonder if that great strategy of deconcentrating poverty is working to minimize crime? I don't think so! How bout you, what do you think?
If this were any other black man in the city with a former addiction problem the first question that would of been raised is the possibility that the individual had a relapse and it was a drug deal gone bad. Do you think they have looked into that possiblity with this case? Did they test him for drugs? What were the results? From the statements made by his wife it leaves you to think that they may have been having some problems and were living apart. Either they don't have much information on this case or they are keeping it very confidential.
It is obvious that the great strategy of deconcentrating poverty isn't working just by looking at the rise in crime and the homelessness that no longer have anything to lose, the city already took care of that for them.
7:44 -
How dare you, I can think of nothing more aggravating than using this issue to lend credibility to your Quixotic ramblings. A man is dead, and you chose to use the issue to prop up your lame lost cause. You sir (or madam) are living proof that goats and gorillas can successfully mate.
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