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Second-in-command at State Police implicated in Ronald Greene cover-up
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BATON ROUGE - Louisiana State Police's second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Doug Cain, is implicated in the cover-up of Ronald Greene's death in new documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit through a public records request.
It's the first time Cain's name has been associated with the cover-up, and the documents show Cain not only knew what was happening but was also doing a lot behind the scenes, including leaking internal affairs information to his old boss, Kevin Reeves, after Reeves left the agency.
Cain was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel when Kevin Reeves abruptly quit his position in October 2020 following numerous controversies exposed by WBRZ.
Watch Nakamoto's full report on WBRZ at 6:00
Greene, a black man in Monroe, was brutally beaten and died in May 2019. State troopers originally told Greene's family that he died in a crash. However, body camera footage that came to light showed the truth.
INVESTIGATOR'S CASE NOTES RELEASED IN FULL
The new documents WBRZ received include all of Trooper Albert Paxton's case notes from the Ronald Greene death investigation. A few pages of those notes were leaked to WBRZ last year, but Cain's name was not mentioned in any of them.
The notes in their entirety say Cain "blew off" the investigating trooper and made it known to others that he did not trust Paxton.
According to Paxton's notes, both he and Scott Brown wanted Chris Hollingsworth arrested a week after Greene died. That never happened. Instead, more than a year passed before the case came to light. Months later, Hollingsworth died in a single-vehicle crash hours after he was served termination papers from the agency in the fall of 2020.
Paxton spoke to Cain on Dec. 23, 2020 about his concerns. Paxton mentioned Trooper Kory York committed batteries on Greene.
"He says York has already been punished and we are not going back," Paxton noted Cain telling him.
On another occasion, during meetings with prosecutors, it was noted that Cain did not want a high-ranking trooper who hid evidence to be prosecuted and even "appeared angry" that the district attorney was considering it. It involved the highest ranking trooper on scene the night Greene was killed. Lt. John Clary's body camera footage was hidden from investigators until it was leaked out.
On May 20, 2021, Cain and others met with District Attorney John Belton.
The notes read, "Cain tells the DA Greene screamed out because a taser probe was being removed. Doug Cain defends Clary. Doug Cain does not want Clary prosecuted... Doug Cain appears angry the DA is even thinking about it."
Documents notated in investigative reports show that was not the truth. Ronald Greene was already unresponsive when taser probes were removed from Greene. That is also backed up by body camera videos and the investigation into his death.
PAXTON CALLS STATE POLICE A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION
Trooper Paxton called State Police "a criminal organization." Paxton announced his retirement from the department last week and testified at the capitol that investigators were now targeting him.
"I'm being investigated because I won't participate in the cover-up, I won't hide evidence and won't lie," Paxton told lawmakers last month.
Following the release of a few pages of the notes last year during a WBRZ interview with Trooper Carl Cavalier, Paxton said he was called to an internal affairs interview.
"They are investigating my personal notes. How did Carl Cavalier get my notes? LSP doesn't care what they detail. LSP is mad Carl has exposed a cover-up. LSP wants to know why I kept them and who I gave them to. I am protecting myself. LSP is looking to blame someone. I wouldn't badmouth Cavalier. This is when I became a target."
STATE POLICE RESPONDS
We reached out to Louisiana State Police for a response to this story. The full response is below.
We cannot speculate on the context and inference of Sgt. Paxton’s personal investigative notes. Additionally, this matter is still under investigation by investigating authorities. However, our department has fully cooperated with all aspects of the investigation.
We routinely engage in discussions with investigators and prosecuting authorities on the circumstances surrounding incidents and investigations. The investigation into Mr. Greene’s death began the very night of the incident with evidence having been provided to state and federal investigators during the entire process.
LSP personnel will continue to provide assistance into the ongoing review of the incident and we will continue to offer our full cooperation to all investigating authorities.
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