Two Death Investigations; Two Agencies

In writing this blog, we've seen two areas where seemingly intelligent individuals have no clue. One of these areas is elections, while the second is in matters of the law - as in who does what and what can actually be done. That has certainly been the case recently in a local death case investigation.

A reader has asked why a death investigation involving a young woman killed in an accident involving a tree can be concluded in as little as ten days, while an investigation involving two deaths on Shoal Creek took, or perhaps is taking, six times that long. There are many nuances to this situation, but one of the main ones is that the investigations are being handled by two different agencies.

First, neither case has been presented to a grand jury. Grand juries are usually held in Lauderdale toward the end of the month, and we presume both cases will be presented then. The case of the young woman in Killen who was hit by a falling tree was on land - that means not on water or on any roadway. It was properly handled by Lauderdale County Sheriff's investigators who turned their findings over to the district attorney's office.

The case of the two females killed in the June 8th boating accident obviously involved water deaths and was investigated by the Alabama Marine Patrol. That organization is the waterway equivalent of the Alabama Highway Patrol.

Since the district attorney's office has stated no indications of any wrong doing have been found in the Killen case, it's even more interesting that no such statement has been made concerning the boating incident. Obviously an investigation where an actual crime is deemed to have occurred would take longer. It should be an interesting grand jury.

*****

Perhaps the most bizarre accusation we've seen in the boating investigation is that the driver of one of the vessels has appropriated the photo of someone else to use as his own. If it were an attractive photo, we could understand, but the small amateur shot is one of the worst we've ever seen used professionally. 

How do people who claim not to know the man even know this is not an actual photo of the "suspect?" How do they come up with these accusations? Reading about the boating incident is tantamount to reading about Sandy Hook as told by Alex Jones.