6 years ago...

[The Afoci]

My best friend was murdered. Numerous things were done incorrectly in the investigation and during other parts, such as a Police Officer telling me 1 hour after they found his body that he killed.

Here is the link to a full story on it. (http://www.she-dc.com/pages/actc/victims/meissner.htm)

Not really looking for anything here. Don't know why I am posting it other than if you are in a situation where someone close to you is killed, don't just take everything the police tell as the truth. As the story points out, the cops had signed the murderer as a drug informant shortly before the murder. Comments are welcome and I will try to answer what questions I know the answers to, but overall, it is just really messed up.

Edit:

1. Today is six years to the date.
2. This website is great help to those who think that the story the police are going with isn't the correct one. If you know anyone that is in a situation like that, email or call them and they will do their best to help.

[korme]

Interesting stuff there.. the Perkins case seems to be an obvious suspect gone wrong.

[Franklinnoble]

Wow... I knew that folks in Minnesota enjoyed the company of sheep on occasion, but I wasn't aware of the fact that local law enforcement made such a habit of screwing the poodle...

[The Afoci]

About a year ago, they actually got some more testing done on his body. When they opened the casket, they found he was filled with kitty litter. Obviously his body didn't perserve as well as it should have. I don't know if that was intentional by the police, who were very against any publicity in this case, or if it was the backwards ways of the local morgue.

I thank this judge for having the decency to double the sentence and then tell the guy to appeal. They are close to getting a confession on the murders that were called suicides in Colorado. The sick bastard did get a pair of backless underwear for his first Christmas in jail. :)

[Cringer]

I have a cousin who died about 16 years ago in Reno. His parents, to this day believe he was murdered, instead of the suicide that it was ruled to be. There are MANY things that would lead you to believe suicide was not possible, but the cops ignored it all from what i have been told. So i can understand what you are talking about here.

[The Afoci]

Originally posted by Cringer
I have a cousin who died about 16 years ago in Reno. His parents, to this day believe he was murdered, instead of the suicide that it was ruled to be. There are MANY things that would lead you to believe suicide was not possible, but the cops ignored it all from what i have been told. So i can understand what you are talking about here.

If they are interested in trying to bring it back out, this group is a good group to start with. They have a bunch of connections that can really help a family out so it isn't them vs. the rest of the world.

[Wasabiak]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Wow... I knew that folks in Minnesota enjoyed the company of sheep on occasion,

Now why would you say something like that?

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by Wasabiak
Now why would you say something like that?

Comic relief, my friend.

That, and The Afoci and I have been known to enjoy taking advantage of Northwest Airlines "Fun Fares" to Minneapolis for a weekend of sheep herding... I guess maybe it's an inside joke.

[The Afoci]

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
I guess maybe it's an inside joke.


At least you didn't mention the time the donkey farted.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally posted by The Afoci
At least you didn't mention the time the donkey farted.

Yeah... who knew you could blow a bubble out your ass with... eh, nevermind...

[Wasabiak]

See, this is precisely why the internet sucks...........It's so 1 dimensional. For a minute there, i thought you were making fun of my favorite past time.

[Shepp]

Its a shame your friend is dead. It always hate to see anyone die young and I have given quite a bit of thought to even responding to this post. But I felt I had to say something because it really upsets me when people criticize the police when the only thing that they know about police work is what they see on NYPD Blue and CSI.
After reading over the link attached to this its my opinion that the Gregg's family was very lucky to get the conviction that they got. Being a police officer myself and having been to a few suicides I can tell you that the family ALMOST NEVER accepts the fact that their loved one has killed themselves. Beside the fact that hanging is a typical suicide method.
I agree that there should not have been so much public access to the crime scene but I really don't see what evidence was available that would have proven that anyone was there that wasn't invited there. The link didn't spell it out but I'm led to assume that Padden was a friend of Gregg and hadn't broken into Gregg's room to commit the crime. Unless there is something obvious at the scene that suggests foul play most calls of this nature are not going to be handled as homicides.
The main problem I have is the fact that the article paints the police as some sort of co-conspiritor with this Padden kid. Just because some drug perp has given the police information that gets him off some minor possession charge that doesn't mean he has legal immunity. I know several drug users that give me info but that doesn't mean that I'll let them get away with killing someone.
Lastly in order to make a murder charge stick you have to prove intent. Unless there is something that wasn't mentioned in the article. There was nothing that would lead me to believe this incident was nothing more than two guys in a room strangling themselves to get off and it went too far. At best that is an involuntary manslaughter charge.
The point I am trying to make is that even though this turned out not to be a suicide. I would really like to know what type of evidence was available, that the police could have uncovered, that would have pointed to Padden having intentionally killed Gregg? Just because Mom and Dad want this to be a murder doesn't mean that is what it is.

[GrantDawg]

That's sad but not surprising. Of course I've had more experience with the other direction (The Police inventing crimes to charge people with instead of refusing to charge people with crimes they committed), but I'm no longer shocked about anything law enforcement or D.A.'s will do. There are good people in both jobs, but there are many who are only interested in their own advancement and could care less about truth or justice.

[The Afoci]

A few things:

1. The police ordered the stoppage of DNA testing on the vomit found in the bathroom that morning, saying that it wasn't relevant to anything. Gregg's mother had a dream that Padden had called over a officer and that upon seeing what happened, he vomitted. A state investigator told her that the testing should have been done, but he didn't know all the facts to why it was cancelled.

2. One officer said he went by the house around 3 a.m. and said he saw Padden leave. He didn't mention that for a while. Once he did, he was out of a job not long after that. That just seems odd.

3. He had a head wound that was very obvious. He had little to no trauma on his neck. There were signs of struggle, bruises and such, that the police said were done the funeral home. People don't bruise after death.

4. He had a guard dog that was very, very protective and would have attacked. The dog died 2 months later from numerous illness. I believe the dog was drugged.

5. I was at his house, less than two hours after the body was found. Nothing was blocked off. All unattended deaths should be blocked off to at least look at the possiblity of foul play.

Now, this isn't mentioned in the story at all, but the Police in Hawley did not like Gregg or his family. They were "hippie druggies". I was friends with Gregg since we were 3 and since we were 10 the cops were harrassing us. They were constantly trying to get him to say stuff about his parents molesting him or hurting him or anything.

It is a small town of about 1500 people or so, so I don't expect the cops to be perfect, but when you find a body leaning in a closet with a rope around his neck, hands tied behind his back and blood coming from a wound in his head, I wouldn't within one hour be telling everyone it was suicide.

I am not anti-cop by any means(I have a good friend who is a cop in the city I live in now), but I can honestly say that I do believe the cops in Hawley knew way more about this murder than they said. Mark Hanson, the head officer in town, pulled me over two years later for a roll thru stop and told me "I hope your happy raising your ruckus over Gregg. You guys really tried to make us look stupid. Better hope you don't need our help anytime."

[The Afoci]

I also know that the cops provide Padden with 1/4 lbs of pot, which Gregg flushed because he knew, along with most of town, that Padden was a informant.