Did police block drug test of male cop in 'deadly 1am Russian roulette game'? Prosecutor questions why newlywed female officer's death was ruled an 'accident' so early in the investigation
By Lauren Fruen and Megan Sheets
Daily Mail
January 30, 2019
The St Louis circuit attorney's office has raised serious concerns over the police handling of the death of a female officer allegedly killed by a male colleague in a twisted 1am game of Russian roulette.
Prosecutor Kimberly M. Gardner questioned whether cops tried to block the drug and alcohol testing of on-duty Nathaniel Hendren and his work partner, who has not been named, following the death of 24-year-old fellow officer Katlyn Alix last Thursday.
In a letter to Chief John Hayden and Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, Gardner also said the fact police labelled the incident an accident so soon after the shooting was 'particularly troublesome'.
Department policy requires immediate drug and alcohol testing for officers involved in shootings. Toxicology results for Alix could take 12 to 16 weeks, according to the St Louis medical examiner's office.
In her letter, Gardner wrote that there was 'probable cause at the scene that drugs or alcohol may be a contributing factor in a potential crime'.
She claimed that a police lieutenant erroneously told her office that a hospital would not honor a search warrant for the officers' blood.
The letter said the officers later took urine and breath tests, but not blood tests, which are more accurate.
Gardner also said that the tests were taken in a manner that may render them unusable in court proceedings.
She wrote that the testing 'appears as an obstructionist tactic to prevent us from understanding the state of the officers during the commission of this alleged crime'.
The prosecutor also faulted law enforcement officials for initially characterizing the shooting as an 'accident', which she said was an 'inappropriate' 'pre-disposed conclusion about the potential outcome of a case'.
Gardner said there were additional issues concerning the investigation that she would like to discuss with both officers.
Hendren, charged with manslaughter and armed criminal action, has now been moved to a jail outside the city for his own protection.
The 29-year-old and his police partner were at his home early Thursday when they were reportedly on duty and supposed to be patrolling a neighborhood.
According to a probable cause statement, Alix, who was off duty, went to Hendren's home sometime before 1am and the pair began taking turns pulling the trigger on his revolver while pointing it at each other, according to court documents.
Alix was shot in the chest and Hendren and his partner, also 29, rushed her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her funeral takes place today.
Hendren was also hospitalized following the shooting after he headbutted the back window of a parked police SUV at the hospital, sources told the St Louis Post-Dispatch.
He reportedly broke the window and suffered minor head injuries. The booking photo released by police shows him with a blackened left eye.
But online there is speculation over why Alix was at his home on the night of the shooting, why Hendren and his partner were reportedly not working when they were supposed to be on duty and why they allegedly took Alix to the hospital instead of an ambulance.
One person wrote: 'I for one don't believe 'the story'. Not at all.'
Another added: 'They pulled the trigger two times and then again. I smell a rat.'
Hendren's bail was set at $50,000 on Monday, according to the St Louis Police Department. He made his first court appearance on Tuesday morning via video from jail.
According to a probable cause statement, Hendren had pulled out a revolver, which was not his service weapon, and emptied the cylinder of rounds before replacing a single bullet in the weapon.
'He spun the cylinder and pointed it away and pulled the trigger,' Sgt R Hellmeier wrote in the statement.
When the gun did not fire on the first trigger pull, Alix took the weapon, pointed it at Hendren, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, the affidavit states.
Investigators say that Hendren took the gun, pointed it at Alix, and pulled the trigger for a third time. The gun discharged, striking the female officer in the chest.
The affidavit says that Hendren's partner, a 29-year-old male who has not be named, claims that he protested that 'they shouldn't be playing with guns and that they were police officers.'
The partner said he was walking out of the room when he heard the gun go off.
Hendren had been on the police force for about a year. He faces three to 10 years in prison if convicted on the felony counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Something smells rotten in the state of Missouri. It looks like the cops tried to clean up an embarrassing dirty mess.
2 comments:
Probably one of the dumbest things I have ever read.
It's impossible to scrape all the dog shit off your shoe once you have stepped in it. The truth will come out and just like smashed dog shit, it won't be pretty.
Trey phrased that beautifully.
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