JNS BLOG SUPER EXCLUSIVE: Source Spills The Goods On Remaro Smith, Who June Leikas Named As Suspected Murderer Of Her Daughter, Annshalike Hamilton...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff, image of the property where Hamilton's body was found


NOTE: This post was "in progress" for more than a day. It is now complete.

"William" (not his real first name) came to know the family of Annshalike Hamilton when William was about 9. William met Annshalike Hamilton's brother, Mike, and has been "best friends" with Mike ever since. Annshalike Hamilton's mother, June Leikas, became "best friends" with William's grandmother. They have all stuck together through the years.

So William was right in the middle of Annshalike Hamilton's family for a number of years. He had an opportunity to watch the "strange, sick" relationship develop between Anne Marie Leikas--who is Annshalike Hamilton's sister--and a guy named Remaro C. Smith, a.k.a. "Slim." As revealed exclusively on JNS Blog, click here, Annshalike Hamilton's mother June Leikas believes Smith was responsible for the death of her daughter, and she is willing to say so in public. According to a high ranking police source, Smith is wanted on three warrants, none of which is a murder warrant, however.

William spoke to me at a fast food establishment. He is...


...a calm and confident personality, which is reassuring, because he is quite physically fit. William realizes somebody like Remaro will know who is talking to Johnny Northside, but William just doesn't want his real name all over the internet in association with this murder. Any reader comment that names William or tries to speculate about his identity will not be approved. Just today, Remaro made some phone calls from wherever he is hiding, flipping out about his name being all over the internet.

If Remaro is reading this, he should turn himself in on the outstanding warrants. Remaro is also invited to tell his side of the story by sending me an email, which can be followed up with a phone call to the number I have for him. I am very willing to tell Remaro's side, in detail. In the meantime, here's what I hear from William.

At first, Anne Marie Leikas and Remaro Smith seemed like a normal couple. They were young when they first got together, around 15 years old. But soon things started to get abusive. Remaro was always hitting Anne Marie, therefore he wasn't allowed to come to the home of June Leikas, where Anne Marie lived. But then Anne Marie--known as "Annie" would stop "coming around" if Remaro couldn't be there. Over the years, things just got worse. There would be times Remaro wasn't allowed to come around, and yet he MOVED IN to the house. When June Leikas was at home, the abuse wouldn't happen, so it was safer for Anne Marie.

But Remaro got "more gutsy" and there came a point he'd beat Anne Marie right in the house, with Anne Marie's family present. Mike, the brother (William's best friend) would try to intervene, but after one of these attempted interventions Remaro came out of the bedroom with two handguns, one aimed at June and one at Mike. This happened about four months ago. The guns were apparently a .357 and a 9 millimeter. Remaro always owned some kind of gun all the time, and kept guns around.

June called the police that time. Remaro ran out the door, went somewhere and hid the guns. Then he came back. Mike tackled Remaro and then the police came in about the time Mike had Remaro on the ground. Police arrested Remaro, but they also arrested Anne Marie, who was hitting Mike with a toaster while Mike held down Remaro.

William says "Anne Marie would always side with Remaro," even after Remaro beat her. Remaro had some kind of "sick control" over Anne Marie. Whatever he said, she would do. William himself never witnessed Remaro beat Anne Marie, however, and says if he had he would have "kicked the (expletive) out of him."

So a few years ago, Remaro was living a couple blocks from June and Remaro was beating Anne Marie at his mom's house. (Remaro's mom's name is "Newman," but William isn't sure if that's the correct spelling) Remaro started beating Anne Marie, so Mike ran over there to help his sister. Remaro stabbed Mike in the arm with "a big butcher knife." William describes Remaro as a "punk," who always grabs weapons when somebody physically confronts him. William says Remaro won't fight with his fists unless it's a fight with a girl.

William recalls another beating incident 3 or 4 years ago. Remaro was beating Anne Marie at his mom's house, so a whole group of young men--about ten of them, William says--ran over and "demanded him out of the house." Anne Marie came running out of the house, with Remaro after her. Remaro put a knife to Anne Marie's throat. But Anne Marie got away, and Remaro ran back inside the house.

Free to run away at that point, Anne Marie instead told the group of men to leave. She then walked back inside the house.

After that incident, these young men would stop responding to Anne Marie's cries for help because it was always the same thing. There would be a call for help. Help would come. But then it would be the "other way around" with Anne Marie taking the side of Remaro. William says Anne Marie has permanent scars above her eyes and "parts of her eyebrows are missing." According to William, Anne Marie has had "a black eye for, like, two years straight." Remaro literally beats her bloody. But the incident where the guns got pulled was the last time William saw Remaro at the house. Remaro ran away and made himself scarce after that.

Remaro "got arrested over the gun thing and went to jail," William says. (This is unconfirmed) While Remaro was in jail, William says, THAT was when the "homicide detective" called June and said they had somebody in custody who they wanted to question about Annshalike's murder. William thinks this suspect was none other than Remaro Smith. William says the detectives would also drop little hints like, "This person might be sitting on your couch, you might be surprised how close he is to you."

So homicide detectives were supposed to talk to Remaro while he was in jail. They went there to talk to him, but were informed Remaro had been released. William says "it turned out he had NOT been released, but he ended up being released the next day." William says it went like this: There was a police report which said "they recovered the guns or whatever." William says he has seen this report online. (JNS Blog has been unable to find a report like that online) The detectives went to the probation officer and said, "What is this guy doing out?" since there had been a previous gun case. The probation officer said nothing was going to be done because "no guns were recovered."

None of this can be confirmed, but police and probation sources are invited to comment on these purported facts.

Currently, William believes Remaro is in St. Paul at his brother's house. His brother is apparently named Jonathon Newman, and he lives at an apartment near the XCel Energy Center, but nobody seems to know the exact address. William says police are there "plenty" because of domestic violence incidents. William says if police were really trying to find Remaro, he shouldn't be that hard to find. Remaro's mother is on Section 8 housing, so she should be listed with the county. Jonathon has lived in the same place for a while, as long as Annshalike's brother Boogie can remember.

In fact, William says, Jonathan is supposed to be on PROBATION. (JNS can't confirm this info) So doesn't he have a probation officer? Doesn't that mean some kind of address is in the system for Jonathan?

As for Remaro, after running away from June's house following the gun incident, he has been spotted at least once on the Northside. William saw Remaro on 694 heading for St. Paul, so William--who certainly has the "I'll intervene in the problem myself" attitude common to Northsiders--chased the car toward St. Paul, hitting speeds of 90 miles an hour. The fleeing car, William recalls, was a 1998 Grand Am, red in color. He didn't manage to catch Remaro that time. William says "they switch cars a lot." A couple days after William chased the Grand AM, Boogie spotted Remaro drive past June's house in a new minivan.

Also, mail still comes to June's house addressed to Anne Marie, who apparently never bothered to change her driver's license after leaving June's house. A traffic citation for an open bottle came in the mail for Anne Marie, and it said she was driving some kind of Chevy. So William and June Leikas have a fairly good idea what Anne Marie and Remaro are driving now.

Anne Marie is with Remaro, of course. Anne Marie calls June from time to time and says she's at Remaro's brother's house, but she won't say where the house is, just that it's in St. Paul.

William went to Annshalike Hamilton's funeral, held at St. Phillip's church just a few blocks from where this blogger lives. The church is both modern and ancient in its appearance, composed of multi-colored field stone. William says Anne Marie and Remaro were both at the funeral. Remaro was "quiet." Anne Marie was just the same as her cult-like keeper, Remaro, she was also quiet.

"Didn't seem happy or sad, just kind of blank, I guess," William explained. It was around the time of the funeral that June began thinking of Remaro as a possible suspect, recalling his odd behavior when she returned from Cub Foods the night Annshalike disappeared. (Click here for the article with June's description of Remaro's behavior) The way June put it, William says, she said "I have a funny feeling about Remaro" and "I'm not too sure about him." It may not have been those exact words, but it was that general idea.

William blames Remaro for deliberately distracting people with "crazy rumors." William says it was the crazy rumors popping up that "detoured people from considering Remaro a likely suspect." In fact, as soon as Annshalike Hamilton's body was found in the garage behind 2222 4th St. N., before anybody in the police department had contacted the family and positively tied the girl's body to the disappearance of Annshalike, a rumor came in by phone. The rumor was Annshalike was beaten and shot by Snoop, the father of her baby, because she wouldn't have an abortion. The person who called claimed to be an eye witness, and called Annshalike's father or the father's girlfriend. The father called June and repeated the rumor to her.

The next rumor to arrive was about some kind of "teen party" which had been going on inside the garage, and three girls came by the party which was Snoop's wife and two of her friends, and they beat Annshalike to death. Keep in mind, William says, when these rumors arrived Annshalike had not been identified. So whoever planted the rumor must have known the body in the garage was Annshalike, even before detectives or the family knew.

The only people who hung out at June's house were June, Anne Marie, Remaro, Mike, Boogie, and William. (Boogie's real name is "Anthony.") Annshalike was last seen at the house, William says. Focus on the small group of people who were at the house, he urges.

"Who is the father of Annshalike's baby?" I asked. "Do you know? Do you have any ideas?"

William claims to know who the father was, but says homicide detectives didn't want the name repeated.

"Then don't tell me," I said, reluctantly, the phrase "homicide detectives don't want it repeated" stopping me like a padlock on William's mouth. But, without naming the man, William provides more details.

"He's an old man and should be in jail, but he's not," William says. How old, I ask? Old old?

No, William answers, a married guy in his 30s. Supposedly, he's married. He has at least one child by another woman, one for sure, but William isn't positive the man has ONLY one child. He is reportedly a crack dealer and, yes, he goes by "Snoop" but he is NOT Sammie Burch, who also goes by "Snoop." William was showed a picture of "Crack Dealer" Snoop by detectives, which looked like "a jailhouse picture." He was scruffy, had braids and a full beard, a tattoo on his neck that says "Snoop." William thinks this guy's child-molesting ass should be in prison.

William knows the name of Annshalike's baby. The baby was Kyra Hamilton. That was the name Annshalike had all picked out. Kyra Hamilton.

But in regard to Sammie Burch, who was previously named by this blog as a "Snoop" character in Annshalike Hamilton's social circle, who even displayed a photo of Annshalike online with sultry pictures of other women who looked like "booty calls," William says Burch is not a "star person" but he would never harm Annshalike or regard her in a sexual way. Annshalike was more like a "little sister" to Burch. Yes, Burch has a history of violence toward women but he was somebody who was "not around much," just "popping in a few times a week." Last William heard, Burch had some kind of job at a thrift store.

Besides, it should be noted, police sources say Burch can be ruled out as a murderer because he was incarcerated the day Annshalike disappeared.

William says Annshalike talked of boyfriends, but there was nothing serious. She might point to some guy in a car and say, "Oh, there's my boyfriend, I have to hide."

William has details about the issues with the "trust fund money" that June Leikas outlined, click here for that story. The money comes from an incident which happened when the children in June's family were "really young," and a house where they were living had lead paint, and the children were victims of lead paint poisoning. June sued the property owner and won, or at any rate received a settlement of some kind, so she set up a trust fund. The children would receive portions of the money at 18, 21, and 25. (William is not sure of the precise ages, but it was something like that)

William is not sure where the "lead paint house" was located, whether it was in North Minneapolis or not.

The way the trust fund was set up, if Annshalike died then her share of the money would go to Anthony and Anne Marie, her siblings. William is not sure if Anthony had his fund set up the same way, but in any case Anthony got his money first when he turned 18. In fact, Anthony also had a settlement from a dog bite. It would appear June Leikas has sued, twice, individuals responsible for hurting her children.

Shortly after Anthony got a chunk of money, he was arrested and went to jail. He had some money left in his bank account, so he signed a power of attorney giving June the ability to take care of some financial matters on his behalf with the money. William can't remember why Anthony was in jail, but says it was "something stupid."

According to William, around this time Anne Marie and Remaro managed to forge a fake power of attorney and took it to the bank. The document gave Anne Marie the power of attorney and removed June. Anne Marie managed to empty the bank account, which had--according to William--about $5,000 left in the account at that point.

Separately, June Leikas has confirmed these events, saying when Anthony got out of "the workhouse" he told her, "They took all my money" and named Anne Marie and Remaro.

But Ann Marie and Remaro allegedly didn't stop at that point. They went somewhere called "Peach Tree Settlement" with the same fake power of attorney, and managed to break into the rest of Boogie's trust fund from the lead paint settlement. But--according to William--Peach Tree managed to get most of the trust fund, nearly two thirds of it, and gave the rest to Anne Marie. William says he may be off on the ratio or the exact numbers, but says the split was outrageous even if it wasn't rooted in forgery, with Anne Marie getting something like $12,000 out of $50,000 and Peach Tree getting the rest.

June Leikas and William have many details about how things happened because when Anne Marie and Remaro left the house--pretty much fled--paperwork was left behind in their room. One of the papers was from some kind of court, an actual hearing with an actual lawyer, and it would appear somebody was using Anthony's identification and saying he was Anthony, so they could get into the trust fund.

"Who has this paperwork now?" I asked. William said the police have it. Did June save copies? She did, indeed, William answers. "Could I get copies?" I asked. William promised to work on it.

William says numerous receipts were found, taking out thousands of dollars from an ATM. Among the paperwork, chillingly, was documentation about a possible life insurance policy in Anthony's name, taken out on Anthony's life. William emphasizes the paperwork was not the policy itself, just some paperwork associated with a policy. In fact, it may have been almost junk mail, but this document "led everybody to believe" they (Remaro and Anne Marie) had managed to take out a life insurance policy on Boogie for some nefarious and murderous purpose.

Around the time Annshalike's body turned up on Mahmood Khan's slummy property, June was falling behind on bills and so June thought maybe there was a way to get Annshalike's portion of the settlement money and apply it to bills. June wanted to "go downtown" and talk to somebody about getting into the trust fund, and of course June wanted Anne Marie to come along. But Anne Marie had been acting "weird and paranoid" about "anything having to do with the trust fund."

"We came to find out, of course, that Anne Marie was already working on getting the money," William said. In fact, paperwork came in the mail from "the settlement funding place" asking if Anne Marie was happy with her payments. June's trip to go look into the trust fund was before Remaro pulled his guns, but the full picture of what happened with the trust fund didn't come together until Remaro pulled the guns, ended up leaving June's house, and then June and William cleaned out the room and found the informative paperwork in the closet.

William claims it was the homicide detectives themselves who really turned them on to Remaro. In fact, the detectives supposedly had some DNA from the murder suspect, and who did they come looking for? Remaro. They wanted to talk to Remaro and get a DNA sample.

William says the detectives did forensic things down in the basement where Remaro had been the night Annshalike disappared, the basement from which he had emerged soaking wet and hyper, saying he was doing coke. William says the word is Annshalike wasn't killed in the garage where her body was found, because there wasn't enough blood found in the garage and Annshalike's death involved a lot of blood lost. William doesn't know if the detectives got any good forensic evidence from the basement, months after Annshalike had disappeared, with nobody knowing she had been murdered until the body was discovered.

William says "June called the detectives and they said they were interested in coming back and also checking the garage, but they never came back." William claims a blood spray was found at June's home by William and June, but it hasn't been examined by detectives. It could be from Anne Marie getting beat up all the time, William says, but something about the spray looks like...well, like when paint gets pressured and sprayed.

"Like an arterial spray?" I asked him. Yeah, like that, William agrees.

That blood splatter is "in the upstairs hallway, on a door frame."

Both June and William say they kept calling detectives back, but they don't return to the house. The detectives allegedly said something to June like, well, unless somebody sits down and confesses, there's not a lot they can do.

For the record, June loved her children. She was so friendly with them, it was like they were a large group of friends instead of blood relatives. The kids didn't want to leave June, but stayed with her. June is terribly worried about Anne Marie, where her life is going. She doesn't want to lose yet another daughter, and she thinks Anne Marie will end up dead like Annshalike.

William says Anne Marie Leikas has a criminal record and has "taken some of Remaro's raps." However, a search for Anne Marie's criminal record under "Anne Marie Leikas" turns up only a relatively minor incident of driving after suspension. She is, however, still on probation for this incident. Remaro always "makes her drive, and neither of them has a license" William says, and they are always getting pulled over. According to paperwork which arrived at the house, Anne Marie has an appointment with her probation officer on the 19th of February, 9 a.m., at the probation office near 43rd and Lyndale.

William is surprised Anne Marie isn't dead, yet. Remaro "pins her down and beats her like a man, fists to the face until there is blood."

Why, William wonders, is there no reward for information leading to the conviction of the suspect? June heard a rumor of a reward offered by the Mad Dads, and she tried to reach them, but William says the Mad Dads didn't call June back.

William can't even imagine Remaro carrying Annshalike's body by himself but thinks Remaro would have needed an accomplice, most likely his brother Jonathon. Remaro has no muscle tone, William says, but is "just a twig, like an Ethiopian poster child." You can see his rib cage. Obviously, this is why Remaro is called Slim. William had his own nickname for Remaro: "Dirty Q-Tip."

These utterances cause me to raise my internal eyebrows. William appears to be, in effect, "calling out" Remaro. This is the same Remaro who always keeps a gun around and prefers to use a weapon instead of his fists, unless he is fighting a female. But William seems to be wearing the armor of righteousness. Remaro is the guy. Annshalike and her baby are in the cold hard grave, and the guy who put them there needs to be apprehended. Who appears to give a damn? From William's point of view, not enough people give a damn who can do something, but he himself strongly gives a damn, and he's both sturdy and street smart.

Talking to me didn't happen by accident. The people who love Annshalike saw how cold the case was getting, and they knew writing about it would warm it up. So they decided to talk at length, in detail. Even while we are sitting and talking, there is word of Remaro and Anne Marie making phone calls to friends and family, going crazy because June is making her suspicions public.

Near the end of the interview--knowing I already had most of the material I wanted, and I could take more of a risk of giving offense with a particular line of questioning--I asked William if some folks might consider he, himself, a suspect. He is, after all, very close to the family. He's quite a sturdy guy.

With an almost monk-like calm, William answers, "I guess we're all suspects, everybody, until we can be eliminated. But who was there that night? Who can't be eliminated as a suspect? Who was acting suspicious? Remaro."

The next move this blog will make will be to repeatedly attempt to call Remaro C. Smith and Anne Marie at the phone number I have for them, to ask for their side of the story.