An explosives charge was dismissed Thursday against Hill AFB Tech. Sgt. Michael Gendreau, five days after he hanged himself in a Central City motel.
"It's a standard procedure" to dismiss such charges when the defendant is deceased, said defense attorney Robert V. Phillips. "It's routine."But despite his death - and a suicide note declaring his innocence - Gendreau still remains the key suspect in the murder of airman Bret Simmons, investigators say.
"We're looking at him as our primary suspect, but we're certainly keeping an open mind if someone else should come forward and say something," Uinta County, Wyoming, Sheriff's Lt. John McCoy said. "There's no way he can answer any questions - it makes it a little bit more difficult."
Phillips said he's glad the investigation is moving forward.
"It's my personal feeling he didn't do it," Phillips said. "I would like to see it investigated . . . and his name cleared."
Gendreau escorted Simmons from HAFB April 15 following the airman's discharge. Simmons was found dead two days later, his nude body discarded in a remote ravine north of Evanston, Wyo. He had been handcuffed and bound with parachute cord, according to a search warrant. A key ring, with the words "Young Chevrolet Layton, Ut Prestige" was found at the scene.
An initial report of the autopsy performed on Simmons offered investigators no surprises, McCoy said.
"It really hasn't shed any news on it," he said. "It does give us a little more to work on." The report was detailed over the phone Wednesday afternoon, then mailed to investigators from the state examiner's office in Cheyenne, he said.
The explosives charge stemmed from a pipe bomb and bomb parts found inside Gendreau's west Ogden home April 26. He was consequently arrested and charged in 2nd Circuit Court with possession of an infernal machine, a second-degree felony. He was released from jail after posting bail a day later and was declared AWOL from HAFB April 28 after failing to report for an assignment with the 421st Fighter Squadron.
"(Gendreau) did not deny owning the pipe bomb," Phillips said. "His indication to me was he had done it before" and detonated the explosives in the desert, "like fireworks."
Investigators had obtained the April 26 search warrant - and two subsequent warrants - to look for evidence linking Gendreau to Simmons' murder. What they found reads like a page from a weapons and explosives catalog.
A search of his car and house, 858 W. 25th Street, yielded a Ruger handgun with two loaded clips, a 12-gauge shotgun, .380-caliber handgun, .22-caliber handgun, a pipe bomb and small plastic bag of powder, spools of stereo and speaker wire, black powder and various lengths of parachute cord, according to a search warrant. Gendreau's car also carried the license plate frame Prestige/Young Chevrolet, the same dealership printed on the key ring found near Simmons' body.
Inside a leased storage unit, police found more parachute cord, a survival knife, "Dungeons and Dragons" book, veterans' pamphlet and various electronics equipment.