The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) chose to keep the names of the deputies involved in the October 16 shooting of 25-year-old Fred Williams III in Willowbrook under wraps at the medical examiner’s inquest last Thursday.
Such a claim is deeply suspect for a number of reasons, not least of which includes LASD’s overt hostility to both the inquest process and transparency, more generally. But in practical terms, it meant that the inquest would yield little to nothing in the way of new information. Both the shooter and his partner pleaded the Fifth to protect themselves against self-incrimination and their statements and related case information were sealed from public view. Similarly, Detectives John O’Brien (seen below, in front of a Blue Lives Matter flag) and Christopher Dimmitt both effectively invoked the Fifth in spirit, claiming that answering any questions would compromise the integrity of the ongoing investigation into Williams’ shooting by requiring
reporter: and in this case, they called in sheriff detectives ty labbe and his partner john o brien. his phone was missing. there was no use of it. we checked his bank accounts from the time that he was missing. we checked his medical insurance to see if he had checked himself into a hospital. that never showed any activity. he was completely dropped off the face of the earth. reporter: but then, out of nowhere, a sighting. hundreds of miles north of los angeles, a businessman visiting california s central coast said he saw gavin smith and a beautiful woman at a cash-only taco restaurant in morro bay. i happened to click on the link, saw the photo, and i said, oh, boy! reporter: the waitress corroborated the story. he was sitting here, she was sitting right here. reporter: gavin s sister tara raced up the coast to the restaurant. and i said, here s my brother s picture. did you see him? and? no. that was truly heartbreaking to
reporter: still, attraction is a powerful thing. isn t it? early in 2012, john and chandy were separated, but still living together. and gavin and lisa were separated, too. and that old magnetic force, gavin met chandy on that secluded road. did the two of you become romantic? yes. did that include kissing? yes. and while you were kissing gavin, did something happen that caught your attention? yeah. what happened? just something like popped up, like appeared. was that something the defendant, john creech? yes, yes. reporter: gavin didn t have a chance, she said. he repeatedly punched him in the face. reporter: so then she ran back to her car, terrified. i wanted to get away. i was scared. reporter: but before she drove away, she looked back.
welcome back. nearly three years after gavin smith s disappearance john creech was charged with his murder. police ble believe john carried out the killing as revenge with the affair with his wife khanchan c. one person could give the truth to them directly. so they figured out a way to get it. once again, here s keith morrison. reporter: detectives john o brien had a problem. an important witness who wouldn t talk, chandrika creech had clammed up. but there s more than one way to get a story. they found an associate of john creech s, someone who knew chandy. they convinced him to wear a wire and meet with her. it worked. do you want the whole story? yeah.
meet chandy in there. they met her husband. his name was john, john creech. not pleasant. when they came out, they were both crying. reporter: they told their mom creech threatened to kill gavin if he didn t stay away from chandy. so 17 months later, he vanishes after calling chandy? lisa had a very bad feeling. everything changed right then for me. reporter: detectives were suspicious too. remember, chandy told them she didn t see gavin that night. but there was evidence to the contrary. cell phone records showed that gavin s phone and chandy s were in the same place that night. a little triangulation narrowed down just where. we came upon this street here. and we thought this was a good spot. this was a likely spot. yeah. reporter: a likely spot for a