Internal Affairs is looking into officer’s role in deaths

Cathy Scott

Friday, Jan. 9, 1998 | 10:39 a.m.

A Metro Police officer is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau for allegedly not following procedure in a domestic violence case that resulted in two deaths.

The officer is a deputy sheriff, a noncommissioned police officer whose job is similar to that of a marshal. Deputy sheriffs serve papers and administer such court actions as temporary restraining orders.

In the case under investigation, Judy Norman, 44, had obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband on Dec. 12. It was formally served to him Dec. 23 at their 1200 Madison Ave. house near I Street and Washington Avenue, homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said earlier.

That same day, police said, about two hours after being served, Ronald Norman, 34, a security guard, killed his wife, who had been employed for a year as a corrections officer for the Clark County Detention Center. He then fatally shot himself, police said. Police received a 911 call from the couple's 11-year-old daughter.

Both her parents were pronounced dead at the scene.

"The law says the guy has to be escorted off the property," a police source said. "He (the deputy sheriff) didn't do that. He gave him a break. Somebody's head is going to roll over this one."

Detectives found the restraining order in the home near the bodies, which were lying on the living room floor, police said.

Instead of waiting for Ronald Norman to get his things, as the law requires, the deputy sheriff allegedly served the paper and left, leaving Judy Norman and her children alone in the house with her husband.

The deputy sheriff, who has worked as a civil deputy for "many years" and previously as a court bailiff, was well aware of the law, the source said. The officer's name was not released.

Internal Affairs Lt. John Alamshaw said today that the investigation, which began earlier this week, should be completed in about two weeks. Alamshaw is swapping jobs effective Saturday with robbery Lt. Larry Spinosa, who will complete the investigation.

Alamshaw said he didn't know if a criminal investigation would also be done.

While the couple's 7- and 11-year-old daughters were inside the home when the shooting took place, Petersen said they did not witness it.