By: Marshall Ramsey II, Worthy News U.S. Correspondent
GROVER, South Carolina -- (WorthyNews) A Grover man was found dead Monday afternoon after apparently performing some yard work.
Michael Eugene Westbury, 61, of Grover, SC, was found dead early Monday afternoon in his yard on Wire Rd. According to official reports, Mr. Westbury was dong yard work that day, However, statements given by Captain Tony Phinney of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) conflict with known police procedures.
In a quote from The Eagle-Record, Captain Phinney stated that as general protocol, the area would be initially investigated as a crime scene because "you only get one shot to process the scene immediately." This would indicate that the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office automatically thinks that a crime has been committed before an investigation of the scene has taken place.
Standard police protocol is something different that what Captain Phinney describes. A cousin of mine in Alabama accidentally shot himself in the head with a pistol. He died within a few minutes of this happening.
He had come back from the doctor's office trying to get some prescription medication for a permanent back injury. In his bedroom (he was staying with his parents at the time) he had a handgun and, apparently having nothing better to do, decided to start cleaning it. In the process of cleaning the gun it discharged, firing a bullet into the side of his head.
Aunt Marie (my cousin's mother) heard the gunshot and went to check on her son. She found him lying on the bed breathing heavily. At some point, the local police were called. My aunt and uncle, fearing that they were suspect in their son's death, were told by the police that in cases like this, an investigation into criminal activity was standard procedure.
An investigation was performed into possible criminal activity. The story told by my aunt is that Joshua Gill, her son and my cousin, did not know the gun was loaded, and that he was in the room alone at the time of the incident. The investigation launched by police confirmed my aunt's story, that no criminal activity had taken place, i.e. my cousin was not murdered.
Notice what happened. A shooting death; single gunshot to the head; the police investigated the scene for possible criminal activity. The police INVESTIGATED THE SCENE BEFORE ASSUMING A CRIME HAD BEEN COMMITTED. How did Captain Phinney know that a crime had been committed at Mr. Westbury's address?
Does Capt. Phinney think that the people of Grover are stupid? I guess he must not be familiar with fires. Captain Phinney said that in the "initial, comprehensive investigation" (this is supposed to make people think that a thorough job was done gathering information from the crime scene), "it looks like he was burning some yard debris. There were weed eaters and other tools around. It appears that he fell where he was working and the fire swept around him."
Liar! Anyone who has ever seen fire in action knows that fire does not burn around something for no reason. The fire just burns up whatever it can, moving wherever it can. To say that the fire swept around Mr. Westbury, miraculously leaving all the weed eaters and other tools lying around untouched, including leaving Mr. Westbury untouched, is simply embarrassing.
As someone familiar with yard and debris fires, I can say firsthand that the only way a fire could burn around something is if the fire was controlled. If, as The (Dorchester) Eagle-Record states, emergency crew responded to an "out of control fire," how, then, did it not burn up the weed eaters, other tools, AND Mr. Westbury? Unless there was some form of flame retardant on the area where Mr. Westbury and the tools were, enough to stop the fire, they surely would have been burned by the fire.
This also conflicts with Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nesbitt's statement to the Post and Courier a few days ago. In it, Mr. Nesbitt stated that Mr. Westbury died of "heath inhalation and thermal injury." This indicates that Mr. Westbury burned to death. Captain Phinney lied.
Police are trained to look for clues in police academy. Burn marks on a man would have been easy to spot, especially for Capt. Phinney, given his many years as a police officer, yet he did not spot these "thermal injuries." This, along with the other facts listed above, suggest that Capt. Phinney knows more than he is letting on. They suggest that Captain Phinney not only lied about how Michael Westbury died, but was also knowingly and willingly involved in covering up his death. If that be the case, then Captain Phinney is guilty of accessory to murder after the fact, perhaps even having a hand in the killing of Mr. Westbury.
It is not the only episode of a murder cover-up by police in South Carolina. In 2012, Ronald Smith, 53, of St. Stephen, SC died while evading police. In this situation, St. Stephen Police Chief Waters gave conflicting reports on how many officers were on duty at the time of the incident. There was also mentioned details about official police reports stating that there was contact between Mr. Smith's vehicle and a police vehicle shortly before his crash and eventual death. The police report was changed from the two vehicles having made contact to no contact at all. Not to mention a statement by Chief Waters indicating that they (St. Stephen Police) were looking to kill someone that day, they just regretted in being Mr. Smith.
Again, in 2011, police with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina gave conflicting information regarding the death of Ronald Ratliff, a man wanted for murder in the death of his estranged wife's mother. In the January 26 edition of the Post and Courier, police said Mr. Ratliff had waited for his wife, Melissity Hayes, in the attic of her father's home. Mr. Ratliff shot his estranged wife from the attic, and was later killed by police. The next day, they changed their story, saying that Mrs. Hayes was shot from outside the house and that Mr. Ratliff, while on-duty police were stationed outside the home of Mrs. Hayes' father were attempting to evacuate the home immediately after the shooting (which took place around 4 PM), snuck into the house, laid down on the air conditioning vent, and was shot through the neck around 7:00 in the evening. In either case, there is enough conflicting evidence to suggest that Mr. Ratliff was, in fact, murdered by police and that they tried to cover it up.
Will justice be done in this situation? It doesn't look good.
Information for this article was taken from The Dorchester Eagle-Record, Number 18/Volume 115, May 1, 2014. The date printed on the above-mentioned issue reads April 24, 2014. According to reliable sources, the date listed on the paper containing the source article is in error, as ads placed in the real April 24, 2014 edition were not found in this one. It is unknown whether at this time if this was done in error or for some other reason.
Information was also taken from www.postandcourier.com and print editions of the Post and Courier.
GROVER, South Carolina -- (WorthyNews) A Grover man was found dead Monday afternoon after apparently performing some yard work.
Michael Eugene Westbury, 61, of Grover, SC, was found dead early Monday afternoon in his yard on Wire Rd. According to official reports, Mr. Westbury was dong yard work that day, However, statements given by Captain Tony Phinney of the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) conflict with known police procedures.
In a quote from The Eagle-Record, Captain Phinney stated that as general protocol, the area would be initially investigated as a crime scene because "you only get one shot to process the scene immediately." This would indicate that the Dorchester County Sheriff's Office automatically thinks that a crime has been committed before an investigation of the scene has taken place.
Standard police protocol is something different that what Captain Phinney describes. A cousin of mine in Alabama accidentally shot himself in the head with a pistol. He died within a few minutes of this happening.
He had come back from the doctor's office trying to get some prescription medication for a permanent back injury. In his bedroom (he was staying with his parents at the time) he had a handgun and, apparently having nothing better to do, decided to start cleaning it. In the process of cleaning the gun it discharged, firing a bullet into the side of his head.
Aunt Marie (my cousin's mother) heard the gunshot and went to check on her son. She found him lying on the bed breathing heavily. At some point, the local police were called. My aunt and uncle, fearing that they were suspect in their son's death, were told by the police that in cases like this, an investigation into criminal activity was standard procedure.
An investigation was performed into possible criminal activity. The story told by my aunt is that Joshua Gill, her son and my cousin, did not know the gun was loaded, and that he was in the room alone at the time of the incident. The investigation launched by police confirmed my aunt's story, that no criminal activity had taken place, i.e. my cousin was not murdered.
Notice what happened. A shooting death; single gunshot to the head; the police investigated the scene for possible criminal activity. The police INVESTIGATED THE SCENE BEFORE ASSUMING A CRIME HAD BEEN COMMITTED. How did Captain Phinney know that a crime had been committed at Mr. Westbury's address?
Does Capt. Phinney think that the people of Grover are stupid? I guess he must not be familiar with fires. Captain Phinney said that in the "initial, comprehensive investigation" (this is supposed to make people think that a thorough job was done gathering information from the crime scene), "it looks like he was burning some yard debris. There were weed eaters and other tools around. It appears that he fell where he was working and the fire swept around him."
Liar! Anyone who has ever seen fire in action knows that fire does not burn around something for no reason. The fire just burns up whatever it can, moving wherever it can. To say that the fire swept around Mr. Westbury, miraculously leaving all the weed eaters and other tools lying around untouched, including leaving Mr. Westbury untouched, is simply embarrassing.
As someone familiar with yard and debris fires, I can say firsthand that the only way a fire could burn around something is if the fire was controlled. If, as The (Dorchester) Eagle-Record states, emergency crew responded to an "out of control fire," how, then, did it not burn up the weed eaters, other tools, AND Mr. Westbury? Unless there was some form of flame retardant on the area where Mr. Westbury and the tools were, enough to stop the fire, they surely would have been burned by the fire.
This also conflicts with Dorchester County Coroner Chris Nesbitt's statement to the Post and Courier a few days ago. In it, Mr. Nesbitt stated that Mr. Westbury died of "heath inhalation and thermal injury." This indicates that Mr. Westbury burned to death. Captain Phinney lied.
Police are trained to look for clues in police academy. Burn marks on a man would have been easy to spot, especially for Capt. Phinney, given his many years as a police officer, yet he did not spot these "thermal injuries." This, along with the other facts listed above, suggest that Capt. Phinney knows more than he is letting on. They suggest that Captain Phinney not only lied about how Michael Westbury died, but was also knowingly and willingly involved in covering up his death. If that be the case, then Captain Phinney is guilty of accessory to murder after the fact, perhaps even having a hand in the killing of Mr. Westbury.
It is not the only episode of a murder cover-up by police in South Carolina. In 2012, Ronald Smith, 53, of St. Stephen, SC died while evading police. In this situation, St. Stephen Police Chief Waters gave conflicting reports on how many officers were on duty at the time of the incident. There was also mentioned details about official police reports stating that there was contact between Mr. Smith's vehicle and a police vehicle shortly before his crash and eventual death. The police report was changed from the two vehicles having made contact to no contact at all. Not to mention a statement by Chief Waters indicating that they (St. Stephen Police) were looking to kill someone that day, they just regretted in being Mr. Smith.
Again, in 2011, police with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina gave conflicting information regarding the death of Ronald Ratliff, a man wanted for murder in the death of his estranged wife's mother. In the January 26 edition of the Post and Courier, police said Mr. Ratliff had waited for his wife, Melissity Hayes, in the attic of her father's home. Mr. Ratliff shot his estranged wife from the attic, and was later killed by police. The next day, they changed their story, saying that Mrs. Hayes was shot from outside the house and that Mr. Ratliff, while on-duty police were stationed outside the home of Mrs. Hayes' father were attempting to evacuate the home immediately after the shooting (which took place around 4 PM), snuck into the house, laid down on the air conditioning vent, and was shot through the neck around 7:00 in the evening. In either case, there is enough conflicting evidence to suggest that Mr. Ratliff was, in fact, murdered by police and that they tried to cover it up.
Will justice be done in this situation? It doesn't look good.
Information for this article was taken from The Dorchester Eagle-Record, Number 18/Volume 115, May 1, 2014. The date printed on the above-mentioned issue reads April 24, 2014. According to reliable sources, the date listed on the paper containing the source article is in error, as ads placed in the real April 24, 2014 edition were not found in this one. It is unknown whether at this time if this was done in error or for some other reason.
Information was also taken from www.postandcourier.com and print editions of the Post and Courier.
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