David McGowan was an investigator in the Riverside County District Attorney's office who was killed along with five members of his family in 2005. [1] While investigating McGowan's death, Riverside County re-opened its investigation into the Alvarez killings at the Cabazon Band reservation. [2]
Suspicious activity
Three of McGowan's neighbors saw a white van parked outside McGowan's home on the night of the murders, flashing its lights as if to signal someone inside the house. [3]
Lindstrom investigation
McGowan had been investigating a case where Desert Hot Springs police sergeant David Gallardo and three other officers had been fired for filing a false police report regarding a 2003 traffic accident involving motorcycle police officer Norman Lindstrom. Police chief Roy Hill had granted officer Jacques Million immunity from prosecution for molesting a 14-year-old girl in exchange for testifying against Gallardo and the other three officers. [4] McGowan had suspected that the four officers may have been correct and were fired for another reason. According to McGowan's partner Luis Bolaños, McGowan's superiors Chief Clay Hodson and Assistant Chief Rick Nelson had ordered McGowan to change his findings. [1] [5]
Norman Lindstrom left the Desert Hot Springs police department in March 2004 and started a private investigation firm "that specializes in both clandestine and professional business investigations." [6]
Cover-up and retaliation
Bolaños said that Clay Hodson placed officers at McGowan's funeral service and required that eulogies be submitted for review to ensure that they would not say anything embarassing to Hodson. [5]
McGowan's partner Luis Bolaños was fired in July 2005 after being arrested for domestic violence and perjury. Bolaños was acquitted in a preliminary hearing. The District Attorney's office marked Bolaños as a violent offender in the Brady database. Grover Trask led the DA's office at the time. [7] A lawsuit filed by Bolaños ended in a settlement in 2012. [8]
Local police corruption allegations
Desert Hot Springs police officer Marco Anthony Zazueta was accused of supplying methamphetamine and fighting dogs to the Sinaloa Cowboys cartel. He was never prosecuted. [9]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nathan Baca, Part 1: Pressure leading up to tragedy, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017070007/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6449106&nav=menu191_1_1_3
- ↑ Nathan Baca, Part 30: 1981 Triple Murder Tied to McGowan Murders-Suicide?, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20090630200824/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=8687765&nav=menu191_1_1_3
- ↑ Part 27: Witness Description Of Van Now Known In McGowan Case, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://www.kesq.com/Part-27-Witness-Description-Of-Van-Now-Known-In-McGowan-Case/504108
- ↑ Nathan Baca, Part 10: The crash that began the controversy, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017070146/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6536932&nav=menu191_1_1_3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nathan Baca, Part 4: Did McGowan's partner know too much?, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017070224/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6470802&nav=menu191_1_1_3
- ↑ Norman Lindstrom. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norman-lindstrom/8/363/94
- ↑ Nathan Baca, Part 2: McGowan's partner fights for his job, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017070240/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6455482&nav=menu191_1_1_3
- ↑ Luis Alfredo Bolanos v. County of Riverside et al, http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/2:2007cv04196/391152/
- ↑ Nathan Baca, Part 16: Was a Former Police Officer with Alleged Drug-Ties Let Go without Arrest?, KESQ Newschannel 3, http://web.archive.org/web/20071017070323/http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=6787773&nav=menu191_1_1_3