Ken Mattheys
In October 1984, Mattheys recruited private investigator Raymond Jenkins and retired FBI agent Tom Walsh from Merced to investigate Van Meter's disappearance and help him clean up the Sheriff's Department.
Ken Mattheys was the newly elected Sheriff of Mariposa County who responded to Leslie Van Meter's Citizen's Complaint by re-opening the investigation into her husband Ron Van Meter's disappearance. He appointed deputies Frank McCoy and Lonnie Hammond to handle the internal affairs aspect.1
In October 1984, Mattheys recruited private investigator Raymond Jenkins and retired FBI agent Tom Walsh from Merced to investigate Van Meter's disappearance and help him clean up the Sheriff's Department. These investigators subsequently concluded that Ron Van Meter was murdered after obtaining evidence of drug trafficking within the department.1
Shortly after a meeting with Leslie Van Meter at Lake McClure, Mattheys mysteriously resigned from his position. He later revealed to reporter Anthony Pirushki that he had been ordered by two county supervisors and the county's attorney "to stay away from the Van Meter investigation." While still in office, Mattheys and his internal affairs investigators learned that Ron Van Meter had reported drug dealing and corruption within the Mariposa Sheriff's Department to the Attorney General's office in Sacramento shortly before his death.1
Sources
- Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. ↩
Local network
Ken Mattheys's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.