Questions haunt vagrant killing case

Cathy Scott

Tuesday, July 2, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Despite a jury's ruling that a Metro Police officer's slaying of a homeless man was justifiable, questions about the incident remain for some close to the investigation.

On May 14, patrol Officer George Pease slashed and shot to death 50-year-old Henry Rowe, a vagrant who for five years camped out in a wash off Industrial Road just south of Tropicana Avenue.

A seven-member coroner's jury took less than an hour Friday to rule the homicide justifiable.

The death occurred after Pease, 31, said he went into the wash looking for Rowe about 10:30 p.m. to talk to him about a possible burglary the night before. But Pease said there were no reports of burglaries from the day before and that he did not report the incident.

Sources with the district attorney's office and Metro said after the verdict that they weren't satisfied with all the circumstances surrounding the incident, saying Pease's story "doesn't wash."

For the first time since the killing, photographs were released from the autopsy and Rowe's fatal wounds were described in detail.

The gaping nine-inch knife wound, virtually ear to ear, occurred during a struggle, Pease told the jury. He said he was trying to recover his 9mm revolver from Rowe, whom he said took it away from him after Rowe attacked him from behind and knocked Pease unconscious with "a heavy object."

Then Pease shot Rowe a half-inch above his right eyebrow. Powder burns around the wound indicate the gun was six to eight inches from Rowe when Pease fired, Medical Examiner Sheldon Green said.

"Within a short distance of the weapon, it will leave its markings," Green said. "This is a close-range wound."

Pease, however, testified that he was maybe two feet from Rowe and didn't aim, he just fired in the dark. He said he uses the knife as a backup weapon, which officers are permitted to carry but are not trained to use. He also said he left his baton, a standard department-issued weapon officers are trained to use, in his patrol car.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman, who questioned Pease along with hearing officer Frank Cremen, described the "hooked-tip, serrated, thick, heavy blade" as "an ugly weapon."

Detective Roy Chandler, who investigated the homicide, testified that some officers carry the knife not as a weapon but to cut off seat belts from traffic-accident victims.

Pease said he pulled the knife from a pocket in his bullet-resistant vest and slashed at Rowe before he shot him. When asked by Cremen and Bowman why he shot Rowe after slashing him, Pease said he "didn't know the severity" of Rowe's knife wound.

He said he was groggy from being jumped and hit from behind and that his memory was bad. But Pease remembered blow by blow how he fought back at Rowe, whom he said was hitting him with his flashlight with his right hand and holding his handgun.

"He was coming directly straight over and down," Pease said. "I put my hands up, blocking the flashlight. He had my handgun, my sidearm in his right hand."

Pease also testified that Rowe was fiddling with the gun's safety with his left hand.

That's when Bowman interrupted Pease and asked what happened to the flashlight Rowe was beating him with.

Pease looked confused, saying, "He had dropped the flashlight and he had my sidearm in his right hand."

Bowman asked, "How could you tell if it was dark?"

But Pease said he was on the ground looking up at Rowe and could see him in the dark as he fired off several rounds from his gun. Four to six rounds were fired at Pease before he recovered the gun, he said.

There was little or no blood on Pease's uniform. His pants were dusty at the knees and side. When officers arrived, they testified that Pease was sitting on his knees in the wash, next to the body, waiting for them.

"Quite frankly, the clothing does not appear to be as dirty as I would expect given the nature of the match," Bowman told Pease. "I was taken aback by the lack of dirt on the uniform."

Pease explained that he fell on "a lot of bedding and cardboard on the ground."

Green told the SUN after the inquest that "quite probably" there should have been blood splattered on the uniform as a result of the knife wound. The question was not asked during the inquest.

Cremen did ask Pease, "Is there a reason you didn't stand in the ravine and yell, 'Rowe, Rowe, police!'?"

"I didn't know who else was in the wash," Pease answered.

Again, Cremen asked, "At any time did you yell 'Police' or 'Help'?"

"No," Pease said. "I didn't say anything."

Pease said neither he nor Rowe said anything during the scuffle.

Pease, who was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, may now return to work, officials said.

Pease, who was on the stand for two hours, was visibly nervous. A death threat against the officer had been received at the courthouse before the inquest started. Four plainclothes SWAT officers flanked the courtroom when Pease arrived to testify.