[CA] Murder of Culver City Police Lt. Harvey Bailey's wife, Jan Bailey, never solved

Harvey Bailey's attorney says they know who killed Jan? Is that the kind of evidence you can withhold to use only if murder charges are eventually filed? Really? And who was Jan Bailey? I haven't seen ANYthing printed that says who she was as a human being (daughter, mother, community member) - before she was the victim of this brutal homicide. I want to know.

2006 Video:

POLICE OFFICER'S WIFE FOUND BEATEN, DIES

Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)
December 25, 1992
The wife of a Culver City police sergeant died at a hospital Thursday, about an hour after her husband found her beaten in the couple's Los Angeles house. Jan Bailey, 34, died at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, said coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier. She was found by her husband, Harvey, after he came home from work about 6 a.m., said Detective Paul Mize of the Los Angeles Police Department's South Bureau Homicide Section.

SERGEANT AS SUSPECT POLICE OFFICER INVESTIGATED IN WIFE'S SLAYING TELLS HIS SIDE

Los Angeles Times
Lois Timnick
Feb 28, 1993. pg. 1
[Excerpts] It was just before dawn last Christmas Eve that Culver City Police Sgt. Harvey Bailey delivered a batch of his wife's homemade cookies to fellow night-shift officers at the station, then came home to find her bludgeoned and strangled. The oven was still warm, the scent of chocolate chip cookies still filled the West 99th Street bungalow, and the couple's 8-year-old son still slept. Now the 34-year-old officer, twice named Culver City's Officer of the Year, is a suspect in Jan Bailey's slaying. Harvey Bailey says he is innocent. And he says he is taking the unusual step, as an uncharged murder suspect, of going public about the case in hopes that someone who saw something suspicious that night - in a neighborhood distrustful of police - will come forward. The killing itself received scant media attention...  Los Angeles Police Detective Philip Vannatter confirmed that Bailey is a suspect in the killing... Bailey acknowledges that his alibi is weak: He says he spent part of the night out skating alone. He admits that the marriage was troubled and that he was involved with another woman. He knows the police found no sign of forced entry, and that the money he stands to gain from his wife's life insurance and pension plan - less than $100,000 - could be seen as a motive... Bailey's lawyer, Joel Isaacson, said he has advised his client not to answer further questions or submit to a police polygraph test, both of which the lawyer considers harassment... Bailey said he "went roller-blading about 2 a.m.-I use a parking structure and some streets over in Culver City where it's safer-then came home to pick up the cookies." He said he did not go into the bedroom or see his wife then. "I got to the (police) station about 4 a.m., talked with co-workers about the upcoming holiday and got back home at 6 a.m. "I came in through the back and saw the door open," he said. "That's when I found Jan... I didn't know she had been strangled until I saw the death certificate." Bailey said he tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation, then dialed 911. Paramedics rushed the woman to Daniel Freeman Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:04 a.m... "The house had a lot of security-bars and all-and Jan was super security-conscious," he said. "No one knows my hours and, since our cars are generally in the garage, it would not be apparent if I'm home or not. I left the car in the drive that night, and it is possible that I may have left the door unlocked. When my wife was doing the laundry, it was not uncommon for her to leave the door unlocked as she went back and forth to the laundry room across the driveway." Bailey said his family has been supportive, but he senses "a certain amount of distancing" by his fellow police officers. He had been scheduled for a stint as detective in robbery-homicide, but after the killing, he asked for and received a transfer to car theft detail. "Jan's family (in New Orleans) and my mom and dad and brother have been there for me through the whole thing," Bailey said. Both he and his son, Christopher, are undergoing grief counseling... Bailey said he might have aroused suspicion because he doesn't appear appropriately sorrowful. He took a week of bereavement leave and then returned to work. "I'm not one to give myself to strangers," Bailey said. "I cry-with my son. That part of me is too private. I've been numbed. There's a ton of feeling inside of me, (but) I'd just as soon keep myself locked down. I have safe places to go and do my grieving." [LINK]

LT. BAILEY, UNDER A CLOUD, WILL ENTER A WEAPONS PLEA NEXT WEEK

TheFrontPageOnline
Contributed by Ari L. Noonan
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
[Excerpts] Three weeks before the 14th anniversary of the murder of his wife, Culver City Police Lt. Harvey Bailey appeared in court in downtown Los Angeles this morning on an eight-month-old charge of possession of two assault weapons. In the absence of his lead attorney, Mr. Bailey’s arraignment was continued... The LAPD, which investigated Jan Bailey’s violent death in 1992, reopened the case about a year ago. Mr. Bailey’s Culver City police colleagues say the weapons charges that bobbed up several months later are an attempt, ultimately, to solve the murder. The charges — filed March 31 — reportedly have allowed LAPD to venture into areas that otherwise would not have been legally accessible to detectives. Sources told the frontpageonline.com that in an attempt to draw closer to the 48-year-old Mr. Bailey, the LAPD tapped his home telephone. But they came up empty... An officer who knows Mr. Bailey said the assault weapons charges — a Feather Industries AT9 and a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle — "are a source of embarrassment to him. Harvey takes great pride in maintaining an unsullied reputation. He feels something like this will tarnish his ability to lead." [LINK]

CULVER CITY POLICE OFFICER AGAIN UNDER SCRUTINY IN HIS WIFE'S '92 SLAYING

LA TIMES
By Andrew Blankstein
December 13, 2006
[Excerpts] Culver City police officer Harvey Bailey returned home from his office early on Christmas Eve 1992 to find his wife strangled and bludgeoned to death in the bedroom of their South Los Angeles bungalow. Not long after, the police sergeant and two-time officer of the year became the main suspect in the slaying. Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives repeatedly questioned him, and prosecutors convened a grand jury to examine the case. In the end, he was never charged in his wife's death. Bailey remarried and was promoted to lieutenant after working a series of assignments with the Culver City Police Department. But 14 years later, the LAPD is again examining the slaying of Jan Bailey — and the focus again is on the 28-year police veteran. LAPD detectives served search warrants at Bailey's two homes and his locker at Culver City police headquarters. As a result of those searches, Bailey has been charged with two felony counts of illegal possession of assault weapons and faces formal arraignment Thursday in criminal court.... Bailey's defense attorney, Joel Isaacson, said the current charges, which he characterized as "hyper-technical firearm violations," are part of a calculated effort by detectives to harass and pressure his client in connection with the cold case... The Baileys' 8-year-old son, Christopher, was sleeping in the house on the night of the crime... Neighbors told police that they had seen a gang member dubbed "Kojak" nearby around the time of the killing and said that two other home robbery-killings had occurred in the same month as his wife's murder, one of them less than a quarter of a mile away, *Bailey said*. Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter, who later gained fame investigating the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, told a different story. According to their investigation, Bailey regularly worked the night shift as a sergeant but was at home with his wife the night of Dec. 23. She had baked chocolate-chip cookies for upcoming holiday parties and for her husband's colleagues. They went to bed about 9 p.m. Bailey told the detectives that he awoke four hours later, now early December 24, and left to go roller-blading in an area near the Culver City-Los Angeles border, which included the Fox Hills Mall... At the time, detectives said that Bailey aroused suspicion by failing to submit to a polygraph test and immediately hiring a criminal defense attorney. Police said they were also puzzled because during interviews, Bailey never expressed concern about the safety of his son, who was home at the time of the slaying. In the short term, Isaacson said he would challenge whether detectives had probable cause for the search that resulted in the weapons charge. But the lawyer said he was also developing a defense if Bailey is charged with murder. "We have developed new information regarding the person who is responsible for this murder"... [LINK]

SERGEANT PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO WEAPON CHARGES

CBS 2, CA - 22 hours ago
Dec 14, 2006 3:50 pm US/Pacific
(CBS) LOS ANGELES A Culver City police sergeant under scrutiny in connection with the 1992 slaying of his wife pleaded not guilty Thursday to weapons charges. Culver City police Sgt. Harvey Bailey, who was the main suspect in his wife's murder 14 years ago but was never charged, was arraigned on two felony counts of illegal possession of assault weapons. He was released on his own recognizance... The guns, including two semi-automatic rifles, were seized by LAPD detectives March 31 in connection with a warrant served at Bailey's 99th Street home, which he was renting to his in-laws...

LT. BAILEY ELUDES BAIL TRY, BUT IS BOOKED AT THE PARKER CENTER
the front page online
By Ari L. Noonan
December 14, 2006
[Excerpts] ...As the drama began to escalate this morning in a so-called distraction case, a felony weapons charge against Lt. Harvey Bailey of the Culver City Police Dept., the veteran officer won one and lost one in a brief courtroom appearance. The judge, describing his conclusion as a “close call,” denied the prosecution’s request for bail. With one television camera rolling, the judge, however, ordered the Culver City officer to be booked, finger-printed and photographed before returning home. Because of the long-smoldering extenuating circumstances linked to Mr. Bailey, the case has begun to mushroom in the Los Angeles media. The Los Angeles Times caught up with the story yesterday, and by last night, the Bailey case, with illustrations, backgrounds and details, was a local news telecast staple... What undoubtedly was on the minds of all courtroom principals was that 14 years ago on Christmas Eve, Mr. Bailey’s first wife, Jan, was murdered. No one dared mention it aloud, though. The late Mrs. Bailey’s family — they don’t live in Southern California — anxiously is watching each development of the weapons case, sources said. While Mr. Bailey was widely suspected of the homicide, he never was arrested. Some of his Culver City police colleagues have acknowledged that their doubts about his innocence never have abated... For his part, friends of Mr. Bailey say he has labored assiduously through 14 years of unrelieved scrutiny to maintain an immaculate work slate... But the circumstances in Commissioner James N. Bianco’s courtroom this morning were far dicier — and wide of Mr. Bailey’s control. Deputy District Attorney Tal Kahana and Mr. Isaacson dueled over whether Mr. Bailey should be allowed to walk straight out of the courtroom or be required to post bail... In pensively weighing the competing options of granting or denying bail, Mr. Bianco said that Mr. Bailey’s status as a police officer was both a plus and a minus in reaching his decision to forgo bail... “Mr. Bailey does not deserve special treatment because he is a police officer,” he said. But the fact that he is a police officer, the judge added, also merits consideration as a positive. In declining to grant bail, the youthful Mr. Bianco issued two warnings to the defendant: “Make sure you are on time for your (January) court appearance. Make sure you walk a straight line.” This morning, Mr. Bailey was in the corridor before the bailiff unlocked the courtroom.  [LINK to part of the article. Have to run search on their site to get the rest.]

POLICE SERGEANT PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSING RIFLE

CBS 2, CA
Apr 19, 2007
[Excerpts] (CBS) LOS ANGELES A Culver City police sergeant has pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a semi-automatic rifle found while police investigated his wife’s 1992 slaying. Harvey Bailey was sentenced to two years summary probation and ordered to serve 300 hours of community service after pleading to a misdemeanor charge, said Joel Isaacson, his attorney. He was initially charged with two felony counts of illegal possession of assault weapons, stemming from the recovery of the firearms during a March 31, 2006 search of Bailey’s 99th Street home, which he was renting to his in-laws. Isaacson said he did not know what effect his client's plea would have on his position in the Culver City Police Department, where Bailey has worked for more than 28 years. The department does not comment on personnel matters, said Sgt. Randy Vickrey...

WITH FIREARMS CHARGES SETTLED, WILL LT. BAILEY BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO WORK?
The Front Page Online
By Ari L. Noonan @ 3:00 AM April 19, 2007
[Excerpts] ...Mr. Bailey’s team appeared to eagerly embrace the settlement with the District Attorney’s office. “It’s a fair decision,” said Joel Isaacson, his attorney.
By striking a compromise deal — that was proposed by Deputy District Attorney Tal Kahana and grabbed by the other side — the way has been paved, legally, for Mr. Bailey to return to active duty.
Reduction of the single surviving charge from a felony to a misdemeanor could salvage Mr. Bailey’s career in police work. Under state law, he would have been barred if he had been convicted of a felony... Throughout Mr. Bailey’s 24 months of summary probation, he will be reporting, at still undetermined intervals, to Judge Ricciardulli, starting on June 19... The judged warned Mr. Bailey that if he violates the terms of his probation, he would face up to a year in jail... The 49-year-old officer has been on paid leave since last autumn... Police Chief Don Petersen declined to even confirm he was on paid leave, much less any other detail...  [LINK]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence IPV abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities lethal murder state jail lieutenant sergeant unsolved unresolved]