LITTLE ROCK — Dave Sheldon has been a veteran private investigator and a deputy coroner in two Arkansas counties, which means he has helped investigate and attend many deaths.
To his credit, Sheldon of his own choosing decided to spend years investigating the 1989 death of Janie Ward of Marshall, the same 16-year old whose death became the subject of more than 200 columns in this space between 2004 and 2008. And, as with me, the dedicated investigator still can’t believe all he’s discovered. This case has that effect on people with common sense and caring.
Sheldon recently wrote to the Ward family at their rural home just outside Marshall. He expressed his thoughts on the various investigations.
“A disturbing number of questions arose during the investigation about the possibility of professional and ethical misconduct,” he wrote. “A few of those leave open questions about whether state or federal criminal statutes were violated. Naturally, those questions are included in my report as well, but the answers can only be known if someone in authority chooses to ask.”
Twentieth Judicial District Prosecutor Cody Hiland, to his credit, has been disturbed enough by the nature of previous investigations into Janie’s death that he’s announced his own inquiry into the case of Janie’s death at a teenage party outside a rural cabin. No thinking person has ever bought into the absurd “official version” that she died from an inexplicable backwards fall of nine whole inches off a rock porch.
Here’s more of what Sheldon wrote to Ron and Mona Ward: “The 1989 death of your daughter, Olivia Jane ‘Janie’ Ward, has been twice investigated by the State of Arkansas. Two decades and two investigations later, no questions about her death have been answered. Not just questions about the cause and manner, but literally, no questions have been answered at all.
“Not once, in 25 years as an investigator, nor during my service as a deputy coroner in Pulaski and Garland County, have I known of an investigation that ended like that. Now there are two.”
Sheldon said no one has answered relevant questions despite two exhumations and three autopsies, questions such as: “What was the cause of death? What was the manner of death? Where did she die? What time did she die? Where was the body before being discovered by police [after at least two hours] in the back of a pickup? How did she sustain her injuries? How did the body get wet and covered with sand and debris? How did ‘dark moldy leaves’ become lodged down in her clothing?”
Sheldon had more questions: “Why were her lungs filled to twice their normal weight? Who changed the clothing on the body and why?Was anyone responsible for her death?
“In 19 89, H.G. Foster, the [former] prosecutor for the 20th Judicial District and Investigator Bill Beach of the Arkansas State Police agreed with the medical examiner’s opinion, that her broken neck was ‘probably’ an accident. The investigation took four months and answered no other questions.
“In 1992, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Board changed the cause of death to ‘undetermined.’ The decision was based on a report by two independent pathologists who had only files, photographs and microscopic slides to review,” Sheldon’s letter continued. “However, their recommendation was not to change the cause of death on the death certificate, but to further investigate the matter.
“In 2004, an exhumation and autopsy of the body by yet another independent pathologist found her neck was indeed broken and announced that the death was a homicide. That gave rise to the second investigation by Tim Williamson, appointed as special prosecutor a few months later in 2004. Mr. Williamson, along with his team of investigators and forensic experts, determined that Janie’s broken neck, along with a broken nose, was caused by sloppy work from the first autopsy.
“Four years later, Mr. Williamson announced at a press conference that he stood by the ruling of the crime lab board and that the cause and manner of Janie’s death would remain listed as ‘undetermined.’ Despite admitting to not knowing how she died, he said it wasn’t a homicide. That report, which he submitted to Judge Charles Clawson, answered no other questions.
“Why such an unlikely outcome, in two separate investigations, 20 years apart? Early on, during the three years that I spent reviewing the thousands of documents that make up the official file, the reason became clear: A complete death investigation had never been done. But why?”
Sheldon told the family that, in his opinion, “This was and still is a simple, straightforward death investigation that presents few obstacles to the experienced investigator. There is abundant evidence in the file, from the work already done to bring this case to within a few steps of a successful conclusion. Make no mistake, those responsible for past investigations were seasoned police officers, prosecutors and forensic professionals with the skills and experience to solve this case. The only missing side of the triangle was the will to do so.”
Interesting, isn’t it, that after his own independent and exhaustive efforts on behalf of the Wards to disclose the truth about Janie’s death, Sheldon arrived at exactly the same obvious conclusion that I did?
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Mike Masterson is opinion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition.
Editorial, Pages 13 on 03/27/2012