Nine months before Sgt. Jeffrey Grahn fatally shot his wife, two of her friends and then himself, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office declined to assign a prosecutor to help investigate accusations that Grahn physically abused his wife.
The Sheriff's Office asked the Portland Police Bureau to look into the charges on May 7, 2009. Portland police routinely enlist help from the district attorney's office when investigating domestic violence cases involving officers and immediately made such a request of Clackamas County.
Clackamas County Sheriff's Lt. Graham Phalen, who is assigned to the internal affairs unit, asked investigators to "hold off" on contacting the district attorney's office, according to a March 26 memo written by a Portland officer. The memo, written by one of the Portland investigators assigned to case, was released Friday in response to a public records request by The Oregonian.
During their three-month investigation, Portland police found warning signs that Grahn, a 15-year sheriff's office employee, was depressed, angry, drinking heavily and occasionally suicidal. But they concluded in June 2009 that the evidence did not support criminal charges.
Clackamas County's reluctance to follow Portland's protocol in the Grahn investigation could become significant as families of the victims evaluate the county's potential liability in the slayings. Given the number of victims, the stakes in a civil lawsuit would be high.
"We should have been included," said Greg Horner, chief deputy district attorney. He declined further comment.
Phalen and Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts were unavailable for comment Friday afternoon.
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The May 2009 memo makes it clear that Portland investigators considered it important to include a district attorney representative.
"Thinking that I was not making my point clear I further explained the reason we included the DA's office was to bounce ideas off each other, keep the investigation transparent and talk about charges or other legal issues," Sgt. Margaret Bahnson wrote. "Lt. Phalen still asked that we hold off on including Clackamas Co. DA's office."
A prosecutor can also provide legal advice and connect a victim with an advocate, explain the legal process and facilitate testimony before a grand jury.
As it turned out, the Clackamas County district attorney's office did not learn of the Grahn investigation until after the shooting rampage.
On Feb. 12, Charlotte Grahn and two of her friends, Kathleen Hoffmeister and Victoria Schulmerich, went to the M&M Lounge & Restaurant in Gresham to hear some music. Around 9:45 p.m., Jeffrey Grahn arrived, bulled his way into the crowded lounge and confronted the women.
He threw a drink at Schulmerich's at face, yelling "What are you doing, bringing my wife into a place like this?" He took Charlotte outside and shot her in the head, went back into the club and shot Schulmerich and Hoffmeister then killed himself.
The sheriff's office started receiving warnings about Jeffrey Grahn almost a year before the killings.
The alarm was raised by Chris Kipper, a probation office who lives in The Dalles. Kipper and her husband, Les, an Oregon State trooper, were longtime friends of the Grahns.
Kipper and Charlotte Grahn's sister "fear ... that they will receive a phone call one day that Jeffrey has killed everybody in his family then himself," according to a report written by Clackamas County Undersheriff Dave Kirby, who spoke with Kipper in April 2009.
Kipper said Jeffrey Grahn had "gone of the deep end" and drinks "like there's no tomorrow," Kirby wrote. "I asked Chris if she felt that Jeffrey was that far down the road. Chris said that she believes he has been at this point for a while and she is concerned that nobody is willing to do anything."
Charlotte Grahn, however, was an uncooperative witness who downplayed her husband's behavior.
When asked whether there were incidents of domestic violence in her home, she said, "I plead the Fifth," according to police reports. Charlotte Grahn did tell an investigator that Jeffrey Grahn exhibited signs of depression, suicidal behavior and was worried that if it became known he had obtained a prescription for anti-depressants, it could affect his employment.
As a result of the Grahn case, the Portland Police Bureau is adopting a written policy that requires the inclusion of a prosecutor in cases in which officers are accused of domestic violence.
Capt. Donna Henderson assumed command of Portland police division that handles domestic violence cases in June 2009, about the time the Grahn investigation was completed.
"I don't know what the policy was then, I just can tell you that would be my direction, that if we were to do any investigation (of a police officer) we would include a DA at the front end," Henderson said. "(Prosecutors) help us not to confuse the issues. They really do help to make sure we put together a really good case."
Meanwhile, Clackamas County faces the possibility of wrongful-death lawsuits from the families of Grahn's victims.
Relatives of Hoffmeister and Schulmerich said this week that their attorneys are evaluating the possibility of filing lawsuits against the county. It is unclear whether advocates for Jeffrey and Charlotte Grahn's children are considering legal action.
Clackamas County is largely self-insured but does carry supplemental insurance. Clackamas County recently paid $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of Fouad Kaady, a Gresham man killed in a 2005 police shooting.
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