Beverly Hills cop claims fellow
officer exposed Houston's body and made distasteful comments at scene of death
A Beverly Hills police officer has been accused of ogling the
naked corpse of Whitney
Houston after she was
found drowned at her hotel. According to another officer at the scene,
Detective Sergeant Terry Nutall "contaminated" and
"mistreated" the body of the singer, removing a sheet that was being
used to "preserve the dignity of the remains".
In a formal complaint to the
California labour department, Patrol Sergeant Brian Weir described his
experiences on 11 February 2012, when he was the first officer to arrive at the
Beverly Hilton Hotel. Although Houston's assistant and bodyguard had already
removed her from the bathtub where she died, Weir was the one to cover the
body. Besides matters of privacy, he said he wanted "to prevent
contamination or potential DNA and other potential evidence".
Shortly thereafter, Weir
claims, Nutall arrived. "For no legitimate law enforcement …
purpose," Weir wrote, "[Nutall] knelt beside and leaned over the
decedent, removed the sheet … to an area below the pubic region … and came in
close proximity to touching the body of the decedent while making inappropriate
comments … that the decedent 'looked attractive for a woman of her age and
current state', and 'Damn, she's still looking good, huh?'"
Nutall "treated the dead
body … in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities", Weir
alleged. Nutall apparently also "moved the body of the decedent from the
position of death without the permission of the coroner",
"contaminating potential DNA" and "harming the integrity of the
scene".
In the days following this
incident, Weir maintains he complained to his superiors and even to officials
at the Beverly Hills government. But instead of punishing Nutall, officers such
as Chief of Police David Snowden and Captain Toby Lee allegedly
"retaliated" against Weir – harassing and ostracising him, stripping
him of his "coveted positions" on the Swat and K-9 squads, as well as
denying him promotions, training and overtime pay. Meanwhile, Nutall was
promoted to lieutenant.
Weir is now seeking economic
and non-economic damages, citing the affair's material impact on his career and
the emotional stress he has sustained. But police spokesman Lincoln Hoshino
denied there was "any inappropriate behaviour" at the scene, or that
there has been any subsequent "retaliation" against Weir. "It is
appropriate for a responding detective sergeant to briefly examine the body
upon arriving to a scene like that," he said. "At this time we're not
aware of any … inappropriate comments."
In an autopsy report by the Los Angeles coroner's office, Houston's death was
found to be an accidental drowning. "The effects of atherosclerotic heart
disease and cocaine use" were described as "contributing
factors". She was 49.
One of the most successful
singers of all time, Houston sold more than 170m records over the course of her
three-decade career.
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