Friday, November 03, 2006
Charges stain sheriff's 40-year career
Frank Cassell rose to prominence after the Short family slayings. Now he faces federal accusations of wrongdoing.
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Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times
Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell walks outside the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke.
Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times
U.S. Attorney John Brownlee talks about the investigation of the Henry County Sheriff's Office at a press conference held today at the Poff Federal Building in Roanoke.
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Indictment
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Television audiences nationwide listened anxiously to Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell's Smyth County drawl in August 2002 as he pleaded for the life of 9-year-old Jennifer Short.
"Jennifer, if you are out there, honey, we are not going to quit until we find you," he said to the cameras. "God bless you, and keep your hopes up."
When lab results confirmed two months later that Jennifer's skeletal remains had been found, a somber Cassell told reporters, "She's gone now and she's safe now, and no evil can befall her."
The folksy, plain-speaking man seen on national news networks then couldn't stand in sharper contrast to the portrayal carried Thursday by those same networks, as news spread that Cassell and 12 members of the sheriff's office have been indicted by federal authorities.
The federal accusations against Cassell -- that he helped cover up wrongdoing by members of his department -- came as a bombshell after a career in law enforcement that has spanned more than 40 years.
Cassell started his career with the Virginia State Police. He spent most of his 32 years with the state police patrolling Henry County roads. After he retired, he ran for sheriff, winning election in 1991 and staying in office through times that were often turbulent.
State Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Henry County, started working in the Henry County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office when Cassell was a state trooper. He recalled an incident in the early 1970s in which another trooper had been wounded with a knife and Cassell arrived first to help him, likely saving his life.
"That was kind of typical of the good police work that Frank Cassell did," Reynolds said.
Franklin County Sheriff Quint Overton started work as a state trooper in 1959, not long after Cassell. "We worked side by side on special assignments," Overton said. "He was a workaholic, really."
As sheriff, Cassell had his detractors. A local cable station once ran attack ads comparing him to Adolf Hitler. But he won re-election then and is now near the end of his fourth term. Cassell has always run as an independent.
In 1996, Cassell had his first brush with national media attention, when the magazine U.S. News & World Report profiled the community of Sandy Level as a place where crack cocaine and violence had run amok.
Cassell joined other Henry County leaders in calling for aid to deal with the drug problems there.
Although there was tension between local and federal authorities over the crisis, it resulted in funding for two new drug investigators for the sheriff's office.
Thousands of jobs lost to textile factory closings took their toll on the county government and on the sheriff's office, as Cassell coped with limited funds and an overcrowded jail. Given the county's financial woes, "I'm very concerned about the future," he said in 2002.
But the focus on the county, and on Cassell, paled beside the national attention that came after the bodies of Michael and Mary Short were found on Aug. 15, 2002, at their home in Oak Level. A nationwide search began for their missing daughter. Her remains were found Sept. 25, 2002, in Rockingham County, N.C. The crime remains unsolved.
Overton said that Cassell confided in him about the progress on the case. "There was a lot of pressure on him," Overton said. "I think that worried Frank a whole lot.
"He knew it was a tough case but he felt like he could solve the case."
Cassell called the case the most difficult of his career. He has said he does not intend to run for re-election in 2007.
News researcher Belinda Harris contributed to this report.
