At the sentencing, Floyd was on the stand and broke down and cried, saying he didn’t kill Camille. He wondered out loud why his brother and the Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies had done this to him before being led away.
Floyd’s wrongful imprisonment lawsuit was filed in federal court in Kansas City, Kan. A trial date has not yet been set.
Agencies investigating possible criminal wrongdoing
A top Jefferson County official said both the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office are conducting internal investigations into the Floyd Bledsoe case.
Jason Belveal, the elected county attorney for Jefferson County, said investigators were trying to determine whether there was criminal wrongdoing related to Floyd Bledsoe’s wrongful imprisonment.
But Belveal said even if criminal intent is found, it might be impossible to prosecute because of the timing.
The KBI assigned one agent not connected to the Bledsoe case to investigate and the sheriff assigned two deputies, one who had minimal involvement in the original case and the second who had none.
Belveal told the Journal-World he would not comment on the pending lawsuit. KBI officials also had no comment.
An unsigned statement on KBI letterhead acknowledged the lawsuit filed against several retired KBI agents.
“We are presently reviewing the allegations in Mr. Bledsoe’s complaint,” the statement said. “It would be inappropriate at this time for us to respond outside of the process established by the court.”
Laura Graham, KBI general counsel, said through an email that the agency doesn’t know when the investigation that began last year will be complete.
“Unfortunately, there’s no good way to estimate when an investigation will be completed,” Graham wrote. “I regret we cannot be of more assistance.”
Separately, through his staff, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who oversees the KBI, declined to comment for this article.
The KBI agents involved in the investigation are George Johnson and James Woods, both retired. Woods is a Lawrence resident and has declined to comment. Johnson could not be reached.
In addition, KBI agent Terry Morgan left the KBI but is still a state employee, investigating complaints about lawyers for the Kansas Supreme Court’s disciplinary administrator. He told the Journal-World he could not comment.
Jim Vanderbilt, Bledsoe’s prosecutor, could not be reached for comment. In 2005, the state Supreme Court suspended his law license for failing to file briefs in a separate criminal case. Vanderbilt had said “he wasn’t going to waste (his) damn time responding to this crap,” according to the complaint. But soon after that Vanderbilt’s license was reinstated when he fulfilled several court-ordered requirements.
In 2011, the state Supreme Court again suspended Vanderbilt’s license, this time indefinitely, after he failed to pay almost $80,000 in child support and was jailed.
Vanderbilt has not had his license reinstated, and he could not be reached for comment for this story.
Michael Hayes, Tom’s defense attorney, is named as a conspirator in the lawsuit. He now lives in Buena Vista, Colo., and did not respond to calls asking for comment.
Former Sheriff Roy Dunnaway, who retired several years ago, lives in the Perry Lake area and could not be reached for comment.
Other Jefferson County sheriff’s employees named in the lawsuit were told by attorneys not to comment. They include:
• Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig, who was an undersheriff when Camille was killed said he could not comment because of the lawsuit. He also said he was not involved in the homicide investigation.
• Randy Carreno, who was the lead detective on the murder case, is now a captain for the department. In 2014, he was awarded the Kansas Sheriff’s Association’s Deputy of the Year.
• Troy Frost is still a detective for the department, and Robert Poppa has been promoted to lieutenant in the patrol division.
• Orin Turner, a sheriff’s captain, retired in 2002 and died at age 69 in 2013.