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This stinks. Homicide Watch D.C., the two-person operation that dedicated itself to covering every one of the District’s murder cases—from crime scene to sentencing hearing—is going on hiatus, possibly forever.

Laura and Chris Amico, the husband-and-wife team behind the site that since its September 2010 launch has been an invaluable guide to some of the darkest incidents in D.C., are headed to Cambridge, Mass. soon to begin a 10-month Nieman-Berkman journalism fellowship at Harvard. When Laura Amico won the fellowship earlier this year, she realized she would probably have to find a partner to keep up her site while she completes the Nieman program.

But, the Nieman Journalism Lab blog reports that the licensing deal that the Amicos intended to sign with a “local journalism organization” fell through. Nieman doesn’t report which local news outfit Homicide Watch intended to buddy up with, just that its website would have absorbed Homicide Watch’s operations.

And that’s even more of a shame considering Homicide Watch approaches murder stories from a modern angle, rather than the staid methods Laura Amico says most newsrooms still use:

“In D.C., my firm belief is that many newsrooms are still thinking about covering homicide in 2012 the way they covered it in 1992,” Amico said. “Homicide has changed dramatically. The drug wars are not the same as they were in 1992. That has impacted and changed who is being killed, and where, and for what reason. Despite that, those criteria that newsrooms are using to determine what homicides are and are not important has not changed. There’s a divergence of news values and realities.”

Instead, it looks like Amico’s relentless coverage of D.C.’s murder cases is heading for a standstill. She also tells the Nieman blog that once the fellowship is complete, she might rejoin a big-newsroom operation. (She previously worked for the Santa Rosa, Calif. Press-Democrat.)

The Amicos are putting together a Kickstarter campaign that would allow them to hire seasonal interns who could keep Homicide Watch’s coverage going while they supervise from afar. They’re still waiting to hear if the fundraising site will approve their $40,000 campaign.

Journalism-oriented Kickstarter operations have been successful in the past. Tomorrow, the one-off magazine planned by the former staff of GOOD, raised its initial $15,000 goal within 24 hours of launching its Kickstarter page and eventually tripled that amount.

Still, to those who cover crime in D.C., losing Homicide Watch, even temporarily, will be a severe blow to the beat. It’s been unmatched in leading on getting the fine details of a crime scene, profiling victims and painting vivid portraits of suspects and convicts while taking a thoughtful approach to weighing each case’s evidence.

And, it’s worth noting, Laura and Chris Amico have always been friendly toward DCist when we try to play catch-up with them.