Posted on 01/06/2007 12:36:00 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
In the hours before his death on the evening of Dec. 30, the first black mayor of this overwhelmingly white town started learning his new job.
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About noon, he set City Hall's alarm system for the first time. He got instructions on how to raise and lower the U.S. flag. He had already ordered a new mayoral letterhead with his name on it and a button-down shirt embroidered "Gerald Washington, Mayor."
A few hours later he indulged in a hobby, placing a $4 bet at a nearby horse racing track.
But by 10 p.m. Gerald "Wash" Washington was dead in the deserted parking lot of a former high school, a bullet wound in his chest. His gun was found by the body.
The coroner and the sheriff have pronounced Washington's death a suicide — a finding that has embroiled this oil-refinery town in conspiracy theories, with Washington's kin and friends insisting he had no reason to end his life.
Some have accused police of covering up a murder — perhaps a racially motivated one.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This does look awfully suspicious.
ping
Here we go again!!! Wonder what he had on the Clintons???
Suicide by a bullet to the chest? Odd.
("Perhaps ... racially motivated?" A little early to play the race card.)
Suicide? Were his hands tied behind his back, and was he shot...twice?
BUMP!!!
:-)
:-)
I didn't realize he'd been to Delta Downs until I read this story.
I used to spend a lot of time at Delta Downs, love to bet the horses. It's in Vinton, close to the Texas border. This really is a strange story.
I can't quite place where Mossville is, though.
Clearly if the town is mosly white, he must have gotten white votes so why is racism the first line in a conspiracy theory?
Because all it takes is one racially motivated person to kill him, even if he did get white votes.
Gotta go with the most scandalous headline for the ratings, ya know.
No mention of pants?? Jeans? Slacks? Odd.
This does sound suspicious...but, I wouldn't automatically jump to the conclusion that a white person did it...if the town that elected his was 80% white, it doesn't make sense.
Suicide doesn't make sense either...
Even if he was shot by a white person, doesn't mean it was racially motivated. The family believes he was lured there by someone he trusted.
"Most desperite cas of suicide I ever saw..."
"Washington's popularity was obvious: He defeated a white opponent in last fall's election with 69 percent of the vote in this town, which is 80 percent white. Westlake, population 4,500, is near Lake Charles, about 200 miles west of New Orleans."
Racially motivated with stats like this?
I doubt it.
Perhaps someone just didn't like him? For some reason?
Rumors surrounding Washington's death addressed (1/5)
By HECTOR SAN MIGUEL
AMERICAN PRESSA second autopsy is being performed on the body of Westlake Mayor-elect Gerald "Wash" Washington in Baton Rouge at the request of his family.
In the meantime, the lingering shock over the death of Washington — a retired plant supervisor, popular councilman and civic leader — has fueled rumors and conjecture.
The autopsy is part of a Louisiana State Police investigation headed from Baton Rouge. The overall probe may take several months.
State police took over the investigation of Washington's death after his family questioned the findings of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office investigation. Dr. Terry Welke, Calcasieu coroner, ruled Washington's death a suicide.
Washington's body was found by authorities Saturday near his pickup truck at the old Mossville High School on Old Spanish Trail, west of Westlake, after two couples riding past the scene called 911. Investigators believe Washington died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
Rumors abound
Results of the state police investigation are likely months away. In the meantime, there has been a flood of unsubstantiated rumors about what might have led to Washington's death.
The rumors are so persistent, the American Press decided to look into some of them — the first time the newspaper has addressed unsubstantiated rumors in print since 2005, when there was a local firestorm of misinformation following the arrival of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.
Regarding Washington, informed sources have told the American Press that Washington was a regular visitor to the Isle of Capri casino, L'Auberge du Lac casino-resort and Delta Downs racetrack. But there is no confirmation to the rumor — which state police will investigate — that he racked up massive gambling IOUs at one or more of them.
Here is some of what the newspaper has found so far:
-- Regarding a rumor that the gambling debt ran as high as $500,000, one source familiar with casino-industry operations insisted that a person wouldn't be allowed to rack up such an amount.
-- Accusations that Washington was murdered drew sharp criticism Thursday from Deputy Parish Coroner Zeb Johnson, who worked the scene of the incident. "It's unbelievable that this simple case has created this kind of turmoil. This is not complicated stuff here," he told the American Press. The investigation has become a national story because of the family's dissatisfaction with the initial investigation, he said.
-- Investigators did find a race ticket — for two races — on Washington's body, indicating he had been at Delta Downs hours before his death. The ticket did not, however, indicate how much money Washington may have gambled at the Vinton racetrack.
-- The handgun found by Washington's body was determined by investigators to be Washington's own. It was a .30 Carbine Ruger revolver — a weapon that was introduced in 1967 as a hunting handgun.
-- It is true that no ballistics test was done on the bullet — but that is because the bullet exited Washington's body and investigators were unable to recover it, according to the Sheriff's Office.
-- It is true that tests were not completed on the handgun. Investigators were in the process of conducting the tests when Washington's family asked for a second probe, sheriff's spokesman Kim Myers told the American Press on Thursday. "We stopped processing the handgun and turned everything over to the state police," she said.
-- It is true that no "paraffin test" was conducted. "The test is not routinely done anymore because it's not conclusive," Myers said. The gunpowder-residue test was once used regularly by law enforcement officers to determine if someone had fired a handgun. But it is no longer considered reliable by law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, she said.
-- There are no liens recorded at the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse against Washington. That would discount a rumor that he owed the federal government any back taxes.
-- The American Press found no records on file at the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse to indicate that Washington faced foreclosure of his home. This, too, has been rumored.
Limited CPSO comment
Because it has turned over the case to the state police, the Sheriff's Office won't comment on specifics about its own initial findings.
But Sheriff Tony Mancuso did release a statement through his spokesman Thursday about the state police involvement.
"It is always hard for family members to believe a loved one caused their own death, and it was no different for the Washington family," he said.
"When I met with them Monday to discuss the results of our preliminary findings, and I sensed their discontent, I offered to turn this investigation over to the state police.
"At that time, they indicated it was not necessary. However, the next day, about 30 minutes after speaking to the family about issues related to the case, they called to say they were not satisfied with the progress or results of our preliminary investigation," he said.
"Despite the fact we were far from concluding the investigation, they wanted immediate answers we could not yet provide. I personally called Colonel (Henry) Whitehorn with the State Police, and upon his agreement, deferred the entire matter to them.
"Everything we have regarding this case has been given to the Louisiana State Police, so any requests for particulars need to be addressed to them."
National attention
In a live shot from Westlake, CNN's Sean Callebs reported on the case during Thursday's edition of the prime-time news program "Paula Zahn Now."
It is one of the numerous inquiries and reports from outside news media.
The American Press, for example, has been contacted about the case by news organizations ranging from The Associated Press, of which it is a member, to National Public Radio.
Also, Johnson, the deputy coroner, said the Calcasieu Coroner's Office has received phone calls from media nationwide, including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune and People magazine.
--
Brett Downer contributed to this story.
I can't quite place where Mossville is, though.
There is something more to this. Probably not murder though, maybe something he was doing he should not have been.
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