WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities lied, destroyed evidence and blundered horribly during investigations into the death of Kenneth M. Trentadue -- whose Utah family asserts he was murdered by guards at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.
That's according to a summary of an investigation released Tuesday by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Justice.However, the inspector ruled that he believes Trentadue's death was a suicide -- not a murder -- as federal Bureau of Prisons employees always maintained.
Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake lawyer and brother of the dead man, said the Justice Department obtained a court order that prevents him from discussing details of the full 206-page report into the investigation, which has yet to be formally released.
About the 17-page summary of it released Tuesday, he said it "is remarkable not for what it says, but for what they left out."
But what was left in was still bad for federal officials -- that they lied to investigators, failed to offer medical aid and destroyed or lost evidence.
Guards say Kenneth Trentadue hanged himself. But a medical examiner originally questioned whether that caused his death, because of the many cuts and bruises on his body. His family also doubted he would commit suicide -- and pushed for a more full investigation. The family has filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma.
Also, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, previously grilled Attorney General Janet Reno in Senate hearings about problems with the case.
The summary released Tuesday said guards say they found Trentadue's body within a half hour of when he was last seen alive. They assumed he was dead, but the inspector wrote, "We believe that this assumption was inappropriate. The lieutenant (in charge) was not qualified to make that assumption."
They waited eight minutes to enter the cell, waiting for a video camera to film it and then making introductions before entering. "This was also inappropriate because it delayed what should have been the first priority -- providing medical assistance to an inmate."
A physician assistant who came also failed to cut down the body. The inspector wrote, "He should have instructed the officers to bring Trentadue down immediately and then he should have examined Trentadue, attempted to revive him, or determined if he would respond."
The inspector said the lieutenant in charge lied to him about when he first tried to contact the FBI about the death. "He eventually admitted to the office of inspector general that he did not speak to the FBI until after he had processed the cell for evidence."
The inspector said the FBI also blundered its investigation into the death and responded "in a slow and haphazard fashion."
It added, "No one from the FBI went to the (prison) until three days later," and then they didn't even visit the cell. It didn't interview any witnesses until a week later.
It said it mishandled evidence including the bloody sheet Trentadue was said to use as a noose.
The inspector also said the FBI initially refused to show it an evidence form, and then later said it had been inadvertently destroyed. "Although we did not conclude that the destruction of the original was intentional, we believe this incident vividly demonstrated the difficulties we faced," the inspector wrote.
The summary also said three Bureau of Prison employees and one FBI agent "made false statements under oath to the superiors" and other investigators. It said the Justice Department reviewed that, but "declined prosecution because of lack of prosecutive merit."
Still, the inspector general rules that Trentadue's death was a suicide based on "available evidence" and expert analysis.
It said it is likely that "Trentadue first attempted to hang himself, fell from the sink during this attempt, attempted to cut his throat with a toothpaste tube, then successfully hanged himself with a bed sheet."