The Guard has some more reaction from both the Freeman and McGuffin family and mentions the odd verbal ‘assault’ issued by Kathleen McGuffin, Nick McGuffin’s mother.

Shackled, McGuffin was already crying as sheriff’s deputies led him into Coos County Circuit Judge Michael Gillespie’s courtroom for arraignment. He asked for help as he sat down and winced as his knees bent. Then he bowed his head and wept softly, straining to wipe the tears from his face with his cuffed hands. He shook, uncontrollably, as his attorney whispered into his ear.

McGuffin wasn’t the only one trying to keep it together. Outside the courtroom, Freeman’s mother, Cory Courtwright, stood at the front of a line of people waiting to enter until the 28-year-old accused of murdering her daughter had been seated. When she spotted him, she started to shake too, and to sob.

The next year and a half or so it takes to try this case are going to be fraught with days like yesterday as old memories are dredged up and relived.

Peace be upon you, Leah

UPDATE
This from KCBY/KVAL

The Freeman family and the McGuffin family took up residence outside the courtroom in separate sections of the hallway in advance of the 1PM arraignment. The arrangement was in place before I got there so I had no way of knowing one group of persons were members of the McGuffin family so when I started to shoot a picture of the group I was sternly rebuffed. (Later, I sat with the press in the jury box and got a couple shots off)

McGuffin was visibly shaking and in tears when I passed by him, already seated, to the press area. His lawyer and DA Paul Frasier arrived minutes later to begin the proceeding. A hearing is set for next month to hear a plea for reduction of bail. McGuffin is not considered a high flight risk and may be let out on his own recognizance, although Frasier states he will try to keep him in jail. McGuffin thanked the judge for considering his requests stating he was a family man and hard working.

As the families were entering the Judge Gillespie’s courtroom, Cory Courtright, Leah Freeman’s mother, was in tears at the entrance and McGuffin’s mother standing a few feet behind her said, “Cry all you want, Cory. Nick is innocent”. Much to Cory’s credit she responded only that Mrs McGuffin should not speak to her, ever.

Clearly, the McGuffin family is under terrible stress but they did not behave especially well, in my opinion. Mrs McGuffin’s complete lack of empathy for Cory’s loss was just plain ugly.

Long suspected in the murder of Leah Freeman, Coquille PD Sgt Pat Smith and Officer Ray McNeely arrested Nicholas McGuffin today at his home in Green Acres. The grand jury voted to indict McGuffin after hearing evidence and testimony from more than 100 witnesses. Bail has been set at $2M.

McGuffin, according to DA Paul Fraser, has never married but is the father of little girl and works as a chef at The Mill Casino. Trial will probably be late next year or early 2012.

The room was packed with well wishers and media. Not present were former Coquille PD Chief, Mike Reaves nor City Manager, Terence O’Connor (that I could see anyway).

Kudos again to Coquille PD for resurrecting this long dormant case, having the vision to work with other law enforcement agencies and hopefully bringing some peace to the Freeman family.

UPDATE: From KCBY

As the grand jury investigation nears its expected completion all eyes are on the DA in anticipation of the ‘trial of the century’ in the ten year old unsolved murder of Leah Freeman. This month old report lays blame for the cold case squarely at the foot of the former police chief, Mike Reaves.

20/20 says there were inconsistencies with how the case was handled. Leah’s mother was ignored by the former police chief.

“She tried giving him some evidence, and he poked her in the chest and said ‘Just go to the media,’ and yelled at her..she went away crying,” said Avila.

This curtailed valuable time. “It was treated as a run away even though everybody told the police department this girl would not run away,” said Avila.

But when a new police chief entered, things changed.

If and when an arrest takes place, the courtroom will be standing room only but it is a safe bet the former chief will not show his face. The city manager who retained him for so many years shouldn’t show his face either… then he should resign and allow fresh thinking to revitalize the city just like a new police chief improved the police department.

Coquille Police have submitted a case for prosecution in the murder of Leah Freeman. Chief Mark Dannels refused to release any names yet but said the district attorney is presenting their case to the grand jury to decide if a prosecution will go forward.

This has been a lot of work for Dannels, reconstructing files in disarray from the original investigation and I know it has been a personal mission for him. This community should be forever grateful and the heroic and herculean effort he has made to bring the case this far along.

Cross our fingers the grand jury will indict those named in the case and a murder trial will begin. Peace be upon Leah and her family

Great news for the family of murdered teenager, Leah Freeman, was released during a press conference at the Coquille City Hall today. After a fifteen month effort on the part of new Coquille Police Chief Mark Dannels, a joint agency task force comprised of CPD, Coos County Sheriff, Coos Bay PD and Oregon State Police is reopening the unsolved murder case. The family has been asking for outside assistance into the cold case even before it was cold but the previous chief, Mike Reaves, stood in the way.

The timing of the press conference was indicated to coincide with a new series of witness and possible suspect interviews to begin within and around the community. Since taking over as chief, Mark Dannels has indicated a personal determination to bring some closure for the family and solve the crime and once again, I will take this opportunity to say what a difference a real cop makes to a community. Congratulations, Cory, I hope the bittersweet resolution of this crime brings you peace.

Though tempted I am going resist the urge just now to poke at the city manager and the council for retaining the previous chief and save it for a separate post. Better to bask in the glory of knowing that the killer’s ten year holiday is finally coming to an end…

Readers of this blog may know that an applicant for the position of new police chief took an interest in the Leah Freeman case. After reviewing the only case files available to the public the seasoned investigator came to these cursory conclusions…

I have read the documents on her website and I am amazed that someone is not in jail for this case. There is an immunity memo between the DA and the boyfriends friend. The boyfriend failed the polygraph, There is history of abuse. I believe that if someone has a strong interview with both boyfriend and friend that this case could crack.

To that end the investigator wrote District Attorney Paul Frasier requesting permission to view the case files and solve this murder. Frasier denied the request immediately citing the following reasons…

There are other concerns in this matter. There are avenues we have taken in this investigation that we have kept secret from the public, including the family of Ms. Freeman. Indeed, there are secrets that we have kept from other law enforcement officers not working on the case. I simply cannot allow someone who is not a sworn police officer to have access to my files on this case as I believe there are investigative matters that must be kept secret if we are to ever have a chance of having a prosecutable case.

Notwithstanding that this investigator is a highly qualified law enforcement officer the statement above has the ring of declaring executive privilege in the interests of so called ‘national security’. In other words, “you can’t look at what we are doing or more accurately NOT doing because it might reveal our errors jeopardize the case”.

The conduct and competence of our public law enforcement is a matter of grave concern to everyone. We are being asked to accept on faith that everything that can be done is being done with no mechanism to assess the quality of effort in place. Further, in this case as in others, law enforcement is prohibiting the victims or public from participating in the resolutions of crimes that affect everyone.

It is hard not to wonder whether the DA simply does not want to solve this case. The investigator above would have been privately paid and is well versed in how to secure evidence suitable to a successful prosecution. So why, with an eight year old case would the DA refuse to open the files to a fresh face or even consider turning it over to another agency with qualified investigators? What are they hiding?

Note: Despite a glowing resume, this officer was not chosen as one of the five police chief candidates to be considered on July 21 – 22.