By Emerson Drake
5/3/11
"You're Not Aware of Everything I Know"
That was Sheriff Christianson's response to the question this morning before the County Board meeting when I asked , "Why did you cover up for Kari Abbey when she killed Rita Elias."
I pointed out to the Sheriff, we here at the Voice of Modesto had interviewed many of the same witnesses his department had just two days after the shooting and the official story didn't jive with what the witnesses were telling us.
Well, I'll give the Sheriff this, it makes for a nice bedtime story that the big bad person had to be shot five times by the good sheriff's detective, but that isn't what has been brought forward recently.
Now the recent search warrant turned up most of the weapons and a D.A investigator interviewed witnesses who said that their "landlord illegally breaks into the tenants home, intimidates them, shuts off the utilities again illegally and takes their deposits while refusing to provide rental contracts so utilities can be obtained."
But the orginal shooting facts were mostly known then and the Sheriff apparently in our opinion thought he could pull of a bluff and the whole thing would blow over.
After all he had the Modesto Bee cooperating with him when they refused to allow one of their "real" reporters to look at the evidence the Elias family wanted to bring out to further the investigation.
They tried to shunt the family off to Jeff Jardine who can hardly be called a investigative reporter.
This decision was made by Managing Editor Dave Lyghtle who recently sent police on a wild goose chase after a man down around Merced who was just trying to get his story out.
So when Sheriff Christianson gave me the slight grin (some might call it a leer) and the condescending look he might have given the Bee before they allowed him to place his propaganda piece in the Community letters section I wasn't surprised. so I looked him in the eye I asked him a second time why he covered for Kari Abbey after she shot and killed Rita Elias, he repeated "You're not aware of everything I know, he grinned and turned away.
And this is the man who wants Stanislaus County to believe he can turn things around down at the Sheriff's Department?
I could only turn away shaking my head.
