Posted on 01/05/2007 4:53:36 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
WESTLAKE, La. — In the hours before his death on the evening of Dec. 30, the first black mayor of this overwhelmingly white town started learning his new job.
About noon, he set City Hall's alarm system for the first time. He got instructions on how to raise and lower the U.S. flag. He had already ordered a new mayoral letterhead with his name on it and a button-down shirt embroidered "Gerald Washington, Mayor."
A few hours later he indulged in a hobby, placing a $4 bet at a nearby horse racing track.
But by 10 p.m. Gerald "Wash" Washington was dead in the deserted parking lot of a former high school, a bullet wound in his chest. His gun was found by the body.
The coroner and the sheriff have pronounced Washington's death a suicide — a finding that has embroiled this oil-refinery town in conspiracy theories, with Washington's kin and friends insisting he had no reason to end his life.
Some have accused police of covering up a murder — perhaps a racially motivated one.
"This is the South, so of course everybody's going to say it was some white guy shooting a black guy," said Dr. Terry Welke, the Calcasieu Parish coroner who ruled that Washington killed himself.
Welke said soot from the pistol was deep in the wound, indicating the gun was touching Washington's chest when the trigger was pulled. That, he said, suggested suicide. He also said that while most gunfire suicides involve a bullet to the head, it is not unusual for people to kill themselves with a shot to the chest.
But the coroner and the sheriff have offered no reason for why Washington would have killed himself. No suicide note was found. And there is no evidence he bade farewell to anyone, put his financial affairs in order, or gave any other indication he was about to kill himself, authorities said.
Washington's son, Geroski, accused the sheriff's office of doing a sloppy job, and asked the state police to take over the investigation.
"We were dissatisfied with the time frame of the investigation and the way it was opened and closed. We're thinking it's a cover-up because of the quick and fast work they did and didn't do," he told the American Press, the local newspaper.
State police entered the case earlier this week and took the body to Baton Rouge for another autopsy. The state police said it is interviewing friends of Washington's family, but it would not otherwise comment on the investigation.
Gerald Washington, 57, was a Vietnam veteran, a retired refinery supervisor who spent 12 years as a city councilman. He stood about 6-feet-5 and enjoyed rumbling around town on his Harley Davidson, dressed in leather pants and chaps. Colleagues described him as magnetic, outgoing and always friendly.
"He had a smile that would just light up this room," said the outgoing mayor, Dudley Dixon. "He had a just dominating personality."
Washington's popularity was obvious: He defeated a white opponent in last fall's election with 69 percent of the vote in this town, which is 80 percent white. Westlake, population 4,500, is near Lake Charles, about 200 miles west of New Orleans.
On the day of his death, Washington met Dixon about noon at City Hall, where he learned about the alarm system. The men lowered the flag to half-staff, to commemorate the death of former President Ford.
A passing motorist called 911 just before 10 p.m., after spotting Washington's body in the parking lot of the school administration building that used to be Mossville High, where Washington went to school and played basketball. Washington lay on his back, in a T-shirt and baseball cap, the coroner's office said.
Near the body was a pearl-handled revolver. On Washington's body investigators found a betting slip from Delta Downs from 4:44 p.m.
The coroner said the reaction of Washington's family to the suicide finding — disbelief — is not unusual.
"Almost every case of suicide is like that," he said. "Suicides give us more grief than anything else."
That explanation hasn't dampened rumors in town, particularly among blacks, that it should be a murder case.
"Someone lured him to Mossville," said Pat Hartman, 61, a lifelong resident of Mossville, the neighboring town where she and Washington went to school. "Why would he want to go to Mossville, to kill himself at his alma mater?"
"That boy didn't kill himself. Somebody killed him."
Yeah, count me suspicious of this 'suicide' and Vidor, TX is only 45 minutes to the west.
What if the headline was, New mayor's death sparks conspiracy theories? Would it have been posted here?
It sure sounds like he was making plans to stick around awhile.
Oh, I thought this was Westlake in the Los Angeles area. I was reading it pretty much scratching my head--none of it rang true for the Westlake community I know. So this being in the state of LA instead explains a lot. Whew
My "white" relatives in Westlake voted for this guy.The voters there (mostly white) handed him a landslide in the election, against a very weak white female candidate.
This is a strange story. As soon as I saw it on FR I called my relatives.
I don't think Vidor has anything to do with this, and the reputation of Vidor is overinflated to start with.
I would guess either he committed suicide or he had some gambling debts, or is possibly the victim of a random crime. Since my relatives live there, I can tell you this small town also has some "Katrina" refugees, so probably has increased crime. It's certainly sad, because Westlake has been a safe place to live.
Looks suspicious to me.
I'm suspicious, too. His actions that day don't sound like a man who was contemplating suicide. From what I know about Westlake, it's a nice place, no racist problems or anything like that from what I remember. Speaking of Vidor, TX, two or three weeks ago there was something on the national news about Vidor trying to clean up it's act regarding racism, the mayor and some other politican practically inviting black people to move there. This ENORMOUSLY fat, toothless white woman in a restaurant was interviewed and she said something like, well I wouldn't mind 'em bein' here, but I wouldn't wanna eat with 'em in a restaurant or nuthin' like 'at. I couldn't help but think - OMG!!! Who in the world, black or white, would want to sit with YOU in the same restaurant!!! I could not believe her attitude!!!
It sure looks like a further investigation wouldn't hurt.
Sounds very odd.
Oh, a P.S. At the same time I felt sorry for people in Vidor who aren't like that. If they're trying to change an old reputation, the news people sure messed it up by interviewing that woman!
Was he an acquaintance of the Clintons?
This is what is suspicious to me, there is usually a slip up or two, that would tip up a keen eye that someone was going to commit suicide. A canceled meeting, airline ticket, newspaper, etc.
I am not an investigator, nor do I play one on TV, just stating an opinion.
It strikes me that a case like this demands further investigation. It doesn't sound like a racist killing, as such. But it could be a murder of some sort.
At the least, someone should look into his gambling debts or finances to see if there were possible motives for suicide. I suppose the crime scene probably has been disturbed by now, and any clues pretty well gone, but it should still be gone over with a fine tooth comb. Ditto his clothing, etc.
So what do we know about the gun?
Sounds like someone carried him to the next town and did the 'suicide' for him.
"Gerald Washington, 57, was a Vietnam veteran, a retired refinery supervisor who spent 12 years as a city councilman. He stood about 6-feet-5 and enjoyed rumbling around town on his Harley Davidson, dressed in leather pants and chaps. Colleagues described him as magnetic, outgoing and always friendly."
Doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would kill himself.
Sure seems they came to a 'suicide' conclusion awfully fast
I don't know why anyone would kill him -- how about a gambling debt or something?
Count me suspicious.
I'd say the media deliberately used the fat, toothless woman to reinforce the reputation of Vidor.
You can find those types of people in New York, D.C, Ohio, etc.
Like I said, my relatives voted for him, and I have several relatives in Westlake. I doubt seriously it has anything to do with his race. It could very well have something to do with his gambling, and that looks where this investigation will lead.
"At the least, someone should look into his gambling debts or finances to see if there were possible motives for suicide."
Gambling was my first thought.
You beat me to the post!
Personally I think the Duke Lacrosse team did it...
"This ENORMOUSLY fat, toothless white woman in a restaurant was interviewed and she said something like, well I wouldn't mind 'em bein' here, but I wouldn't wanna eat with 'em in a restaurant or nuthin' like 'at."
My goodness, why would they ever have picked such an unattractive person to make a racist comment? They could have picked a beautiful well-groomed relative of mine - she's had TV experience too - but she's too smart to say anything like that in public.
Mrs VS
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