A new report from Baltimore's inspector general has identified two "persons of interest" in the controversial 2005 shooting death of prominent Howard County businessman Robert Clay, reviving hope among his family and friends that Clay's death will be investigated as the homicide they believe it was.

Inspector General Hilton Green said he identified the two people through a series of interviews never done by the city police officers who initially investigated the case.

"I'm not ruling out anything," Green said of Clay's May 16, 2005, death, which the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office ruled a suicide, but Clay's family and friends are convinced was a homicide. "I'm just saying there are people that should have been interviewed who weren't.

"Over four years, things change," he added. "People talk. They think something may be over with and they think they can talk about it now. I do feel there's more than concrete evidence for the Justice Department to open this case."

Green last week sent a copy of his report to Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, asking him to open an investigation into Clay's death. If Rosenstein agrees to do so, it would be the second time a federal law enforcement agency reviewed the case.

A spokeswoman for Rosenstein, Marcia Murphy, said her office does not confirm or deny investigations as a matter of policy.

Green agreed to discuss his report, which was completed last month, but declined to release it, saying only Rosenstein, Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, City Solicitor George Nilson and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings have received copies. He also declined to reveal the names of the "persons of interest," except to say they are currently in prison.

In his job as inspector general, Green is responsible for investigating complaints of ''fraud, waste and abuse" in Baltimore city government, according to a city Web site.

Found dead in office

A resident of North Laurel, Clay was found dead by his oldest daughter, Sharon, in his Baltimore office on Brookfield Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head. He was 59.

The state medical examiner's office ruled Clay's death a suicide, but family and friends said he was not suicidal and pointed out that Clay, who was right-handed, was shot in the left side of his head.

Prominent area lawyers, state delegates, Baltimore City Council members, a U.S. congressman and a former judge have all publicly stated they do not believe Clay's death was a suicide.

U.S. Rep. Cummings, who was interviewed for Green's report, said he will never believe that Robert Clay killed himself.

"I knew Bob Clay for at least 20 years," Cummings said. "I've always known Robert as a fighter. This is the kind of guy that when it was something based on principle he would fight to the end."

The son of a backhoe operator, Clay founded two organizations for minority contractors and ran unsuccessfully for the state senate in 1994. His company, Robert Clay Inc., made millions in government contracts for minority businessmen and financially supported numerous Democrats seeking local offices.

After Clay's death was ruled a suicide, family and friends, including Clay's longtime pastor, the Rev. John Wright, of the First Baptist Church of Guilford, in Columbia, protested outside of the Baltimore Police Department and gave passionate testimony in front of the Baltimore City Council.

In 2007, at the request of the City Council, the FBI conducted a review of the Baltimore Police Department's work in the case and concurred that Clay committed suicide.

The FBI's decision was based on what the agency called "undisturbed blood spatter" seen in crime scene photographs next to Clay. Federal agents say they believe it would have been impossible for someone to shoot Clay in the head at point-blank range without disturbing the spatter.

But an FBI spokeswoman said at the time that the bureau did not interview any witnesses or conduct any investigation outside of reviewing the police file, a move Clay's supporters decried.

Family applauds findings

News of Green's findings was well-received by Clay's friends and family.

"Inspector Green has touched onto what we've thought all along," Bernadette Clay said. "The investigation wasn't done thoroughly or properly. He has uncovered information the police officer didn't look at."

Bernadette Clay said detectives in her dad's death never actually pursued any evidence of homicide, because they were convinced it was a suicide before they began the case.

"They just automatically assumed, 'Oh, it looked like a suicide.' They treated it as such," she said.

"Right away, they walked in and walked out. 'Looks like a suicide,' I heard them say. They allowed people to come into the scene. They never found the bullet. They were very sloppy."

Over the years, the police department has consistently defended its work against such criticism, saying all aspects of the case point to suicide, including a gun shot residue analysis.

A police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment this week about the Inspector General's report.

Clay said she hopes the jailhouse information obtained by Green will at least lead to more interviews in the case.

"The fact that someone would say, 'These guys did it,' should be worth looking into," she said.

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