Records From Probe Of Brame Case Released To Public
The mass of reports, interview transcripts and other items from the sprawling investigation showed, in part, that co-workers and city officials noted David Brame was increasingly withdrawn from work and consumed by his pending divorce before he fatally shot his wife, Crystal, and himself on April 26, 2003, in a suburban mall parking lot.
The documents - thousands of pages compiled on 33 compact discs - included previously undisclosed city records from an investigation surrounding the Brame murder-suicide.
The newly released records stem from a State Patrol probe of alleged misconduct before and after the shootings. The investigation involved nearly three dozen city and Police Department employees.
Media outlets, including The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma and The Associated Press, had sought the records for months.
Other investigations have revealed that several employees knew about domestic violence allegations in the Brames' marriage, and an accusation that the chief had sexually harassed a subordinate.
The State Patrol found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but suggested there was a culture of corruption in city government.
In the newly released documents, Jeannette Blackwell, an administrative assistant for the chief, said in an interview with the patrol that Brame called her the night before the shootings and talked to her for about 45 minutes, until nearly midnight.
Blackwell said Brame mentioned he had been repeatedly watching a video of his wedding, and talked about an upcoming news story regarding his wife's domestic violence allegations.
A summary of an interview with Catherine Woodard, who briefly took over for Brame before retiring on disability, said she had discussed Brame's foundering work performance with then-City Manager Ray Corpuz.
Blackwell also discussed Brame's inattentiveness at work, with a State Patrol interview report saying "many times she actually '... forced the stuff under his face,' referring to important issues which demanded immediate action."
The patrol wrapped up its investigation in October 2004, but then-City Manager Jim Walton refused to release most of the records, citing the need to protect the privacy of employees.
The city provided limited records between October 2004 and February 2005, but the names of employees under scrutiny were not disclosed and most allegations were not released.
In almost all cases, Walton said, the allegations against employees were not sustained.
Two Tacoma police unions went to court to oppose the release of the documents, saying they needed to protect the privacy of their members.
Those arguments eventually were turned aside. The state Court of Appeals ruled this week that the documents must be released and the union representing lieutenants and captains decided not to challenge that ruling.
Mark Langford, president of the Tacoma Police Management Association, said releasing the records could only harm the reputation of city police and impair effective law enforcement.
"I've been probably more disappointed by the city's failure to defend us in this than I was in the judge's ruling," Langford said. Asked about how the records case has affected morale, Langford said: "It's not good. It feels like betrayal."
City of Tacoma spokesman Scott Huntley said city officials were merely following state public disclosure law when they began their effort to release the Brame documents.
"The law required us to do this and that was clear. And as a city government, we must follow the law," he said. "We kind of didn't get ourselves involved in the issue of should or shouldn't."
Much of the information about internal allegations had been disclosed through other probes or news reports. But David Zeeck, executive editor of The News Tribune, said the disclosure was an important step for open government.
"It's been a long fight to get this out, but we really think city residents want and need to know how city officials handled this," he said.
Other records released by the city in the aftermath of the shootings showed that Brame had been hired by the police department in 1981 despite flunking a psychological exam, and was steadily promoted despite a 1988 rape allegation that investigators called "credible" even though it was never prosecuted.
Corpuz, the former city manager who promoted Brame to chief, broke more than two years of self-imposed silence last month in a sworn deposition.
Corpuz said he hesitated for various reasons to act on repeated warnings from city employees about Brame's erratic behavior, which included references to Brame's death threats against his wife.
In the deposition, Corpuz said he was suspicious of complaints from anonymous sources, was skeptical of claims in divorce filings and feared overreacting to media reports.
The deposition was part of a $12 million agreement that settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, filed by the family of Crystal Judson Brame.