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ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — A man questioned several times in the slaying of a Cold Spring police officer fled from investigators and committed suicide this week, authorities said Friday.
Eric Joseph Thomes, 31, of rural Cold Spring, was a "person of interest" in the killing of Officer Tom Decker, but authorities stopped short of calling him a suspect. Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Wade Setter said the investigation into Decker's death is active and ongoing.
Decker was shot and killed behind a downtown bar in Cold Spring, a central Minnesota town of about 4,000 people about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis. He was responding to a report of a possibly suicidal man when he was shot.
A suspect — the man Decker had gone to check on — was quickly arrested, but released days later without charges. The investigation appeared to founder after that. A police document said Decker's partner had initially backed away from the scene, losing sight of the apparent shooter. An intense search failed to find a .20-gauge shotgun believed used in the slaying.
Setter said investigators had interviewed Thomes several times about Decker's slaying based on a tip that came in after a reward of up to $100,000 was offered in the case. He said they had found "inconsistencies" in Thomes' responses and were seeking to interview him again shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, but when they arrived at his home, he fled to a metal outbuilding.
Thomes refused to come out as agents attempted to make contact with him over the next four to five hours, Setter said. When agents entered the building, Thomes had hanged himself, Setter said.
He said investigators found the shotgun used to kill Decker on property to which Thomes had access. He asked for the public's help in reconstructing Thomes' "activities and conduct" over the last few weeks. Authorities also said a black van connected to Thomes that had been seen on the night of Decker's death was recovered.
Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner called the developments significant, but said the investigation is far from over.
"This is a complex case," Setter said. "We have not excluded anyone as a suspect in this case."
Authorities did not release a possible motive for Decker's killing.
"We are trying to figure out what his role is," Setter said of Thomes.
When asked if there was a suicide note, Setter said he couldn't discuss it because the investigation is active.
Decker, 31, grew up in the community and was a six-year veteran of the force. He was a father of four children. An estimated 3,200 people, many of them fellow law enforcement officers, attended his funeral service.
Decker's parents declined to comment on Thomes' death.
Thomes was convicted of driving while intoxicated in Stearns County in 2011 and had a few other speeding and traffic violations. The St. Cloud Times reported that Decker was one of two officers who had stopped Thomes for possible drunken driving in the past.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
Comments (24)
Add commentHope this wraps it up
Now the first man questioned can have a chance to put
his life back together. He should get his property back after they made a mess of his apartment
Decker seemed to be a good man and policeman.
Always feel bad for the kids..
Whats up with this??
Something is just plain wrong with this scene in life.
Don't go maving on us here, Johan.
I think Lil'Cappy and muttleylarry took a jeep ride!
If I was the guy
who was originally charged with the ambush style murder. I would get the best lawyer I could find and sue the crap out of the media organizations who drug his name through the dirt. I knew from the get go that they had the wrong guy in custody, But the media incessantly drove their view of how this was the guy that did it and in turn, the viewerships knee jerk reaction was to have this guy "put to death" (as some put it) It sickens me how people believe every word the media tells them to believe, and are too lazy to go look up the facts for themselves. It took me a whole 12 minutes of reading/investigating time to easily find out that he was innocent and they had the wrong guy. I believe I posted it on here a time or two after my findings.
Yes you did
Mav. Good job!!
Johan
They say it was his back-up that did it. Unless I am reading it wrong.
I don't think so, OFB.
Isn't this the guy who called in the false suicide call? And set the cop up who had given him a ticket? The first suicide call two hours before Decker was killed brought other officers to the scene.
Greg Reiter was the partner of Decker who went on an earlier call at this address and then accompanied Decker back again.
But we shall know the truth today at a press conference. Maybe.
More details here.
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/20362792/100000-reward-cold-spring-...
Another one
Another "murder by cop". This guy was innocent until proven guilty. I don't care what the cops or media says. He, like many others, was driven to suicide by constant harrassment by the cops. Now there's your actual murder case. How many times have we seen this befor.
It sounds like Thomes
It sounds like Mr. Thomes took his life because of his guilt for what he did, the police are out there to protect and serve. I don't think they drove him to take his life, if he had nothing to hide why take his own life? I feel bad for the officers famliy, the young man who was taken in and held for questioning and the family of Mr. Thomes, but if Mr. Thomes did kill Officer Decker, then Mr. Thomes saved us the tax payers alot of money!
There was a policeman
who committed suicide after being questioned in the Rachel Anthony murder case. A cloud hangs over his death. Was he guilty or just harassed?
I hope there is closure for both families in this Cold Spring case.
The policeman...
in the Rachel Anthony case was being dogged so hard about it. He was guilty of catching a cat nap while on duty. How many police officers have done that?
The cop didn't kill her. The one that did kill her is still wandering around alive.
Damn sad too.
Larson won't be able to sue
law enforcement. Arrests are made that are incorrect and screw up a person's reputation. Unfortunately, with today's 24/7 news cycle and social media, it kills a reputation, no matter what. But the law enforcement's mistakes would have to be so egregious before it would be worth pursuing.
And Rachel's killer is six feet under now. Don't confuse a lack of arrest with not knowing who the killer is. They just never had enough evidence to make charges.
Thanks, nan.
Thanks for that Nan.
The newspaper never did say they had found the killer, but I recall an announcement that they were not working on it anymore. Confusing much?
So it sounds like between you and flight, there is no agreement.
Nothing
Nothing more to be said. Unless flight knows for a fact that it was the policeman then he/she should go to the MBCA and tell them so they can officially close the case.
There is still a reward out, so the case is still open.
http://www.spotlightoncrime.org/case_anthony_rachel.cfm
Nan
As I said, being unable to bring charges to convene a GJ doesn't mean they, in their own minds, don't know whodunnit. You can only take someone to court once. If they don't have good enough evidence to win the case, they won't do it. They'd rather wait for enough evidence to win. You may not want to admit it, but in Cass and Crow Wing counties, if law enforcement feels that their man is dead, the case won't get the same attention. It's bout realistic priorities. it isn't fair to the victims, their friends or families. But it is reality. When you see cases like the Casey/Calee Anthony case, you see why they are reluctant to prosecute cases that they lack good evidence in. And they hold back certain facts if they would impact identifying a suspect or proving their guilt. They can't publicize every single bit of info they know.
I'll give an example. Woman goes missing after real estate dealings with a man. Man pours new patio cement after this. Because law enforcement doesn't have probably cause, they can't dig that up. Man suddenly becomes very religious, becomes model citizen. In private, police chief says he knows man did it, but they don't have concrete evidence (no pun intended) to charge him.
This happens all the time. I've always said, in MN, you have to be pretty inept to not be able to get away with a planned murder. We have a lot of deep lakes, bogs and forests. In the middle of the summer, a boat on the lake raises no suspicion, nor does a man cutting a hole in the ice in the winter. It isn't like TV. And police aren't idiots, just because they can't explain every fact to us.
I don't have anything wrapped up in this. Nobody here knows me, so I don't gain any pride about forcing anyone to believe me. If I wanted recognition, I'd use my name. I'm not saying anything here that law enforcement doesn't already know. Thar ain't nuttin' special 'bout me. :-)
Oh, I just noticed
You are assuming that I said the cop killed her. I most certainly did not say that. I said the killer is six feet under. I did not say it was the cop, whom, incidentally, I knew. I apologize if you thought I was implicating the cop.
Cass
Cass County is well known as a county that can't catch a killer. Yes, that case you referred to above and soooooo many more. They did eventually dig that spot up.
http://brainerddispatch.com/news/was-brainerd/2012-11-04/was-brainerd-nov-5. Type that in and see just a few of the unsolved cases.
Unless the person walks up to the police and says,'hey, I did it! Catch me if you can.' They don't.
It's easier to say the "perp is dead" rather than solve it.
P.S. it did sound like you were implicating him. But all is good.
Found
Just found this too flight...
http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/061309/new_20090613012.shtml.
Not much justice there.
Yes, nan
Familiar with Jerome Bye case. No justice.
nope
Damn sad . Scary too. The police were so vigilant when it first happened. Be around when we switched shifts at the nursing home, women were scared.
That watchful eye didn't last very long though. Maybe 2 weeks later we were back to getting there in the dark, or leaving there. Buddy system. Checking back seats...