Clearer picture emerging as investigation continues

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For one brief moment last week, on the sixth floor of the St. Mary Parish Courthouse in Franklin, their eyes met.


Those of the man accused of murdering a hero cop three months ago, and those of the officer’s widow and daughter, as well as a dozen of his former comrades in uniform.

“It was amazing how he walked in all casual,” said Mary Riggenbach Thompson, after witnessing the arraignment of Wilbert Thibodeaux, charged with murdering her father, Sgt. Frederick “Rick” Riggenbach of the Chitimacha Tribal Police. Thibodeaux was also arraigned on murder and attempted-murder charges in connection with the death of a civilian, Eddie Lyons, and the wounding of two St. Mary Parish deputies during a Jan. 26 incident on Flat Town Road in Charenton.


For Riggenbach’s loved ones, the slow grind of the justice system’s machinery is difficult. Thibodeaux’s next court date is in August. The judicial deadline for a Louisiana State Police report on the incident is May 31. A trial could take place in 2014 if Thibodeaux, believed to suffer from grave mental disorders, is found competent to proceed with a court date.


The bereaved family struggles with another burden that exacerbates the pain of loss. They are aware of some evidence that Riggenbach – who was on the scene in answer to a call for help from St. Mary Parish deputies – was left vulnerable and abandoned on the stretch of cracked, rural blacktop where his life came to an end. They have questioned authorities about this, but so far have received no clear information.

“I wish I had answers to how my father died,” Thompson said. “I don’t want to believe that he was left behind and that his law enforcement brothers and sisters left him there to die. He had always explained to me that these are his brothers and sisters, a family who will never leave each other behind.”


Since their first conversations with reporters after the incident, law enforcement officials have supplied minimal information about the case.


Sheriff Mark Hebert, asked about specifics, issued a response Monday morning.

“The facts surrounding this incident are the subject of an on-going criminal investigation against Mr. Thibodeaux by the Louisiana State Police,” Hebert’s statement says.


Interviews with witnesses and law enforcement officers have resulted in new information not previously included in stories concerning the shooting.


St. Mary Parish deputies responded to a call on Flat Town Road believed to have involved Thibodeaux earlier on the morning of Jan. 26th, at around 6:30 a.m. Law enforcement officers and a family awakened by deputies, who went to the wrong address, both confirm this. Officials have supplied no information as to why.

Riggenbach and deputies arrived at the shooting scene at around the same time, with Riggenbach getting there possibly a few seconds before.


Thibodeaux was arrested at least two-tenths of a mile from where the shooting of Riggenbach and the wounding of the deputies occurred, after he stashed his shotgun and retrieved a Bible, which he was holding when taken into custody.


Injured deputies retreated from the shooting scene before anyone else got there, with no other officers taking their places. Yet at least one St. Mary car with at least one deputy was reported to be within 1,200 feet of the location.

Riggenbach was alone and bleeding out on the pavement when Chief Blaise Smith arrived in response to his call for help, with no other law enforcement personnel in the immediate vicinity.


Someone – officers told of it don’t know who – allegedly instructed cops from some nearby departments on a police radio frequency to stand down as they responded to assist.


Timelines of events, showing 16 minutes elapsing between Riggenbach’s arrival and the arrest of Thibodeaux, show no other police units arriving at the shooting scene to give assistance.

Sgt. J.B. Slaton, a State Police spokesman, advised of the concerns the family and some officers have raised, said that he conferred with investigators but was told by them that the facts do not justify allegations that Riggenbach was abandoned. All interviews point to that being true, but only so far as the time that the sergeant died. While he did not die alone, Riggenbach did fend off Thibodeaux alone, and he was by all accounts alone between the time the deputies left the scene and the time his own chief, Blaise Smith, arrived.


“Sgt. Riggenbach continued to engage the suspect, saving the deputies’ lives,” said Trooper Stephen Hammons, a State Police spokesman.


SUPERMAN’S CAPE

The idea that law enforcement officers will back each other up no matter the price is entrenched in police and popular culture. What confounds Riggenbach’s family is that information they have received – from law enforcement officers as well as civilians who were at or near the crime scene – indicates the time-honored tradition might not have been upheld.


Some police officers familiar with the case, who were on the scene after the shootings occurred, said that if Riggenbach was indeed abandoned, it would only have been because circumstances required that to be the case.


“I don’t blame the family for being upset,” said one ranking officer who arrived about 25 minutes after Riggenbach died. “Everyone would like to think we just peel off our shirts and there we are in Superman’s cape saving the day. In a situation like this our goal is to get the officer out of danger, but sometimes you can’t do that without risking other lives unless you have a game plan. But I would never think of somebody actually saying ‘back off.’”

Requests for audio records of radio transmissions during the time of the incident have so far been turned down, with officials justifying the denial by saying the case is still under investigation by State Police. Likewise, requests to see video from the casino cameras and the camera on Riggenbach’s vehicle were denied.


A Tri-parish area police instructor said that a consistent precept of law enforcement training is to avoid unnecessary harm being done to others, including officers.


“I am sure they were scared,” the veteran instructor said of the wounded officers who left the shooting scene. “That’s a natural human feeling especially if you are without a game plan. They may get away with all that on TV but not in real life. Yes, we run toward the gunfire. But we are not going to run to the gunfire if we are 100 percent sure we are going to get killed. If there is a chance you can save somebody without getting killed then you do.”

What has been released to the public so far is that shortly before 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 26, the 48-year-old Thibodeaux shot his neighbor, 78-year-old Eddie Lyons, on Flat Town Road and set a shed near Lyons’ mobile home ablaze. The fire communicated to the trailer, and Lyons’ remains were removed from it when the fire was extinguished.


DEPUTIES RETREAT


Two St. Mary sheriff’s deputies, Matthew Strickland and Jason Javier, arrived at the location in response to a 911 call. The 52-year-old Riggenbach arrived as well, in his marked Chitimacha Tribal Police vehicle. Although Flat Town Road is outside his agency’s jurisdiction, officials said it is not uncommon for the tribal cops to respond as backup.

Thibodeaux fired multiple shots at Riggenbach, and at Javier and Strickland.


Thibodeaux was shot in the gunfire exchange, a State Police spokesman said. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released into State Police custody.


The accounts that follow contain combined information from sources that viewed video from the scene or were somehow directly involved by being there, either before or after the shootings. They have requested anonymity. One officer of a low rank said he feared being identified by department or name out of fear he could be prosecuted for malfeasance by doing so.

On the morning of Jan. 26th what drew the attention of most people in the area of Flat Town Road was the plume of smoke arising from the property of Eddie Lyons. Fire department units responded as did St. Mary deputies.


Calls made to authorities that morning said shots had been fired, that a building was on fire and that Thibodeaux was walking up the road in the direction of the Cypress Bayou Casino with a gasoline can and a shotgun.


Thibodeaux was a diminutive man who frequently mowed the lawns of neighbors. Neighbors also knew that Thibodeaux had mental health problems and had expressed concern over the past week to authorities that he was acting strangely.

He had been arrested Jan. 22 and booked on a charge of disorderly conduct, after causing a disturbance at the casino. The arresting officer was Rick Riggenbach. Thibodeaux was held at the St. Mary jail in Centerville, and released on Jan. 24, two days before the fire and shootings.


From all accounts taken directly from witnesses in interviews last week, Matthew Strickland and Jason Javier were the first deputies to arrive on Flat Town Road.


Strickland, who had served in Iraq as a member of the National Guard, was new to the department and was still in the process of obtaining his Peace Officer Standards and Training certification. Javier had been on the job less than two years.

Attempts to contact both were unsuccessful, including a private message sent to Strickland’s Facebook site.


The deputies stopped their car about two-tenths of a mile forward of the fire scene, witnesses said. They were stopped near a spot where Fire Chief Billy Mora had stopped his vehicle, which was parked at an angle blocking the road.

Mora, who was unarmed, took cover after hearing gunshots.

According to witness information and recollections from people who viewed video concerning the incident, Riggenbach arrived in his marked Chitimacha unit and pulled up next to the St. Mary patrol unit, to its right. The St. Mary unit was backing up and caught Riggenbach’s unit door as he opened it, according to statements.

The St. Mary unit’s windshield was hit by buckshot within seconds of the arrivals but nobody was reported hit.

Riggenbach exited his vehicle. The location of the two deputies at that point is not certain, but gunfire was exchanged and the deputies were struck, one sustaining a broken arm from gunfire and the other a broken leg.

Rushara Richard, whose home is close to where the units stopped, was standing closer to the Lyons property.

She did not see the gunfight but heard the shots, and did see Riggenbach’s black Chitimacha unit parked next to the St. Mary vehicle.

What she did see was the St. Mary patrol car backing at a high rate of speed away from the fray, though she did not know that at that point the deputies had been wounded. She saw a St. Mary patrol car near the Lyons residence, but that car, which she said was driven by a female deputy, had never approached the shooting scene.

Javier, according to police sources, had his gun shot out of his hand. Officers have told Mary Riggenbach that at the time they retreated, it is possible they had run out of ammunition, though she believes that was conjecture.

The St. Mary unit, Richard and other witnesses said, ran into a ditch as it headed backward, but whichever deputy was driving was able to force it out of the ditch and continue back toward Lyons’ property, where a fire truck blocked the road.

At that point the deputies, according to witnesses, were able to exit their vehicle and get into the second St. Mary car, which left the scene.

Riggenbach’s family and friends say they don’t know whether the St. Mary car that took the two wounded deputies to medical treatment at a nearby hospital was manned by one or two officers. That question was asked directly of Sheriff Hebert, who would provide no information due to the on-going nature of the investigation.

LIKE AN EXECUTION

All accounts indicate that Riggenbach was not seen, although video currently being viewed by investigators paints a grim picture of what occurred next.

Riggenbach, already suffering a wound to the face that likely obscured his vision, was at one point leaning against the hood of his patrol unit.

At some point he lost control of his weapon, those accounts say. Thibodeaux is believed to have kicked the gravely wounded officer’s gun – a long, rifle-like firearm – out of reach.

At one point Riggenbach is believed to have tripped into a ditch, possibly trying to locate the weapon. The disarmed Riggenbach raised both hands toward his chest area in a gesture of surrender and, according to the accounts, then suffered the final shot from Thibodeaux, the coup de grace. Riggenbach went down, and by all accounts was alone when that occurred.

“It was more like an execution,” one police source said.

It was after this that Chitimacha Chief Blaise Smith arrived, stopping his SUV on the far side of the fire truck.

Officers were told that when Smith got there Riggenbach was alone, bleeding and near death.

“He didn’t die alone,” Smith said. “I was there holding him.”

Smith declined to discuss further details, noting as others have that the case is still under investigation.

Another Chitimacha unit arrived at the scene of the fire, as did a State Police vehicle. Thibodeaux, wounded in the gunfight – officials are not saying who shot him, the deputies or Riggenbach – had walked back to the property where the fire occurred and where Eddie Lyons was dead in a trailer, and stashed his shotgun. According to accounts supplied by witnesses, he emerged with a Bible in his hand.

On radio directions from Smith, a Chitimacha lieutenant who is also a reserve St. Mary deputy and a State Police trooper took Thibodeaux into custody. He did not resist.

Law enforcement officials who were given the highlights of accounts for this article noted that the time frame for the action surrounding Riggenbach’s death was compressed. From the time Riggenbach arrived to the time he died, as well as the time Thibodeaux was taken into custody, no more than 10 to 15 minutes may have elapsed. Before being booked, Thibodeaux was taken to a hospital for medical assistance.

Confusing matters in piecing together a unified account of what occurred are the multiple points of view supplied by witnesses. Anyone who was on the scene would be limited to what they saw or heard by the location they were in, and their field of vision.

Riggenbach’s family members, while adamant in their desire for answers, are not accusing the wounded St. Mary deputies of wrongdoing. But they do have problems with accounts they have heard of nearby backup units being called off due to jurisdictional issues.

Chief Gerald Miner of the Baldwin Police Department has not returned phone calls or e-mails concerning the backup question. Neither did he return a call when a reporter visited his police station last week. Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire said she could not discuss any details concerning backup but did say it is the policy of her department to back up cops in other jurisdictions.

The lingering question is where Baldwin or other backup departments were when the shooting was going on, considering that from the time Riggenbach and the deputies arrived to the time Riggenbach was found by Smith 10 minutes had elapsed, enough time to reach the scene from Baldwin at a leisurely pace, let alone in a car equipped with lights, sirens and a police performance package.

Since he did not respond to calls, Miner could not answer the question of whether he had kept his officers within their boundaries.

“He was still alive, still breathing and there was nobody there to help him,” Mary Riggenbach Thompson said of her father’s last minutes of life. “The only reason he didn’t die alone was because Chief Blaise Smith was the only one with balls enough to go to him at the scene. Other than that he was alone.”

At a recent court proceeding involving Thibodeaux, Riggenbach’s loved ones – like the sergeant himself – had only Chitimacha officers for comfort.

About a dozen officers from the small department – all in uniform – took up one half of the courtroom Friday as District Court Judge Keith Comeaux accepted pleas from Thibodeaux. Through his attorney, Nancy Dunning, Thibodeaux pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson.

Other than those involved with handling the prisoner and the bailiffs, no St. Mary Parish deputies were present, a point not lost on the family nor on some spectators who wondered why that was the case.

Shackled hand and foot, Thibodeaux entered the courtroom displaying a Mona Lisa smile and said “good morning,” eyes darting through areas of the gallery, before taking his seat.

“I am sure he got the feeling somebody was looking at him,” Thompson later said.

She is hoping arrangements for her to view the video state police and prosecutors have will come sooner than later. She doesn’t know whether seeing it will answer her questions or add more on top of them.

Chief Blaise Smith expects to go to the viewing as well. Morale in his department was knocked down hard after the incident, he said, but officers have counseled each other and have held up well together.

“It’s such a tragedy,” Smith said. “We are used to helping victims in such a tragedy, and then when we lose one of our own, just like the family, we become a victim.”

Family pictures show slain Chitimacha Tribal Police Sgt. Frederick Riggenbach with his family. The family wants to know why Riggenbach, who backed up St. Mary Parish deputies trying to apprehend an accused murderer, didn’t receive backup himself.