We have brought the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in to assist with this case. FBI agents met with the
investigation team and participated in a lengthy phone conference
with the FBI Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico, Virginia. The FBI
is reviewing case information and crime scene data and will be
assisting with this investigation as it progresses.
The crime scene is still being processed at
this time.
A Tip Line has been established and will be
monitored 24/7 for the immediate future. The number is
1-217-732-3000. When calling in, please provide specific information
including date, time, location and a detailed description of your
information. Please call back if the line is busy. We want to know
what you know
In regard to the inquiry about any perceived
delay in reporting this matter as a homicide, we were unable to do
so any earlier as this was a death investigation until shown to be
otherwise. We had to look at the possibility of a murder-suicide.
With the number of victims and size of the crime scene, the necessary
evidence that determined this to be a homicide was not available
until the morning of September 22, 2009. That information was
released at yesterday's press conference.
I want to clarify another issue, that the
Sheriff's Department did not state that there were shots fired at
the Beason residence. The original 911 caller stated that the
victims had been shot, and may have assumed so. The evidence at the
scene and the autopsies have now confirmed that none of the victims
were shot.
--Sheriff Steve Nichols
[News release from the Logan County
Sheriff's Department] |