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.

On Saturday, June 28 at 8:30PM come and join the celebration of the short life of Leah Freeman. A candlelight vigil will be held at the corner of Hwy 42 and N Adams Street across from Safeway. This marks the 8th anniversary of her murder at the age of 15. Her murder is still unsolved to this day and friends and family want to keep her memory alive and urge the public to help in solving this horrible crime.

Don’t miss it!

Leah’s Army put together a fantastic float in memory of Leah Freeman, murdered at 15, eight years ago. Her murder goes unsolved and more and more citizens have tired of inaction on the case and marched in solidarity with her mother, Cory Courtright. Leah was and still is missed and much loved.

…finally! It is no secret that I do not hold Chief Reaves, his policies, his public manner or his contempt for fellow citizens in high regard. That said, it is too early to celebrate until we see what city manager O’Connor finds for a replacement. Since O’Connor has repeatedly defended the chief rather than give serious consideration to the complaints filed by tax paying citizens, there is a strong chance that we are in for more of the same.

Reaves evidently plans to stay in the area and barbecue ribs AND, evidently, has joined the recently formed Coquille Valley Crime Stoppers along with another retired lawman, Mike Cook. Presumably, CVCS has as its top priority solving the murder of Leah Freeman. After eight years, Reaves joins an organization to solve a murder he would not work and steadfastly refused to turn over to an agency that might work it. Of course, he had the blessings and cooperation of the district attorney to hold the case but why? Why not give this case to a fresh agency?

A newly formed group of caring individuals are gathering tonight in Coquille at 7PM at Figaro’s to discuss how to solve the murder of 15 year old Leah Freeman.

Leah was murdered eight years ago and her murderers still run loose and these citizens have decided it is time to bring closure to Leah’s mom, Cory Courtright and her family. Tonight is the first chance for many of these people to meet in person and hope that by putting their heads together the killers can be brought to justice.

Coquille held its first civil rights symposium Saturday and you can find some pictures up at Concerned Citizens of Coquille. The World newspaper has an article out which will expire so I will not link but here is an extract -

Dian Courtright, an organizer of the event, said Concerned Citizens has attracted a diverse collection of members who have different agendas, but one fundamental similarity. They want to be heard.

“The best option is to be a support system,” she said. “We want to get people together, to come under our umbrella. We want to support people and their agenda, but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily our agenda.”

One way to provide this support would be to create a citizen review board. Although the parameters of such a body were not specifically spelled out, its main purpose would be to serve as an advocacy group for people with complaints. They could be about neighbors or government officials, though most of the talk at Saturday’s event focused on problems with police.

“A lot of people are intimidated or uncomfortable with facing them,” said Mary Geddry, another member of Concerned Citizens. “A review board is a good thing for city government. It can iron out the enmity between citizens and local officials.”

Speaking of intimidation – recent attempts by Councilman Parker to silence the press and members of the community for voicing their opinioins took another turn today. Cory Courtright had an appointment with Mr Parker this morning to discuss his ‘rant’ at the last city council meeting. The meeting did not go well and I have asked Cory to write an article about her experience to post on the blog.

The symposium had the first ten amendments posted around the room, the 1st Amendment amongst them. Parker should really read that one.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Coquille can hardly be regarded as a thriving community, commercial vacancies are high, school days have been cut back, streets are not properly maintained and the sewer plant!?!?!?!?. For a city council member to openly attempt to damage the reputation of a local business hurts the entire community and this type of behavior has to be eliminated from the city council