The Fairfax County Police

The Fairfax County Police
Sweeping it under the carpet for over fifty years

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

cop commits suicide after computer seized in child porn case



Glendale investigators said a retired Phoenix police sergeant killed himself after a computer from his home was seized during a child pornography investigation.

Glendale Sgt. Brent Coombs said AOL contacted Glendale police Jan. 9 with information that a computer from retired Phoenix Police Sgt. Don Casey Jr.'s home had accessed child pornographic images.

Detectives seized the computer from the home that morning. Casey was questioned, as were other adults in the house, Coombs said. However, there was not enough evidence to make an arrest.

"At that point, detectives did not have enough cause to arrest anybody," Coombs said.

"[It's] just that things were coming from that particular computer, so further investigation had to be done," he said.

Investigators began a forensic analysis on the computer and the hard drive. However, on Thursday the investigation took a tragic turn.

"Thursday afternoon about 1 p.m., our police department's dispatch center received a phone call from a person identifying himself as Don Casey," Coombs said.

During that call, Casey told dispatchers he was going to kill himself. Police rushed to the remote scene off New River Road and found Casey dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"Unfortunately when we got there, we found an adult male on the ground, away from a vehicle," Coombs said.

Investigators said it could be days, if not weeks before it can be determined who accessed the child pornography from the home's computer.

A man who answered the door at Casey's home declined to comment. Casey retired from Phoenix police in 2005 after more than 20 years at the department.