The council's response to Burke's request was positive and unanimous, with council members waiving the city's hiring freeze and giving the go ahead to use approximately $35,104 to hire a part-time, experienced homicide investigator to work on solving the murder of Barbara LaForge.
LaForge was murdered in her downtown frame shop on the morning of Oct. 8, 2002.
Burke's discussion with the council took place before a full council chamber, many of them there for the LaForge item – including friends, relatives and community members interested in the case. Many of them appeared at the request of LaForge's close friend, Gail Salituri, who also started the Barbara LaForge Memorial Fund to help raise money for a local domestic violence shelter construction effort.
The chief said he believed hiring a dedicated, special investigator is the only way to push the case forward.
“It's our top priority at the police department and we're at a crossroads where, in my best judgment as police chief, the only way we can move that case forward is by bringing in somebody who has experience as a homicide investigator, somebody who can be dedicated to just that case,” Burke said.
He added that he recognized that the request's timing comes as the city is having financial challenges.
Burke said $15,000 of the total amount that he wants to put toward the investigator's hire comes from funds that originally were appropriated to put toward booking fees. However, the state budget dedicated a funding stream for that purpose, and he doesn't anticipate having to pay those fees now or in the future.
He said the investigator will be a Lakeport Police employee, which he called a “technicality” that was necessary in order for the individual – who has not yet been named – to investigate the LaForge case on behalf of the department.
The investigator will need to have police officer authority – including carrying a gun and applying for search warrants. Burke said the hope is the individual will “potentially make the arrest – or arrests – that we hope will result from this renewed effort.”
While it's a difficult time for the city, Burke said the case merited their best efforts. “I believe that solving this case is so important to the community, to the city, and the timing is important with regard to the investigation.”
Councilman Bob Rumfelt said he liked the idea, but had just one question. “I'm just wondering, have you thought about how much time you're gong to invest in this particular avenue?”
Rumfelt was curious about how long Burke would give the investigation, and if they'll still be looking for a resolution 10 years from now.
Burke, who said the case won't be micromanaged from the top, said after the 960 hours for the part-time investigator is up, if there is significant progress and the case looks like it can be solved, he would come back to the council.
He was clear that he couldn't make promises about the case's ultimate outcome.
“I think it's important to note that I can't guarantee that this will result in the case being solved,” he said. “That is the goal here, to bring this case to a closure.”
Burke added, “Some cases just can't be solved. This might be one of them, but I don't want it to be because we didn't try everything and to me this is the one effort that we haven't tried that we absolutely need to.”
Rumfelt asked about the 960-hour time frame, which is necessary because Burke intends to hire a retired homicide investigator who can't work more than that number of hours per year due to public employee retirement guidelines. Burke said the 960 hours are tracked on a fiscal year, so if they're able to get the person started on the case before the end of this fiscal year, the 960-hour limit will start over on July 1.
Councilman Roy Parmentier gave the request his support.
“We've got a black mark on our city and our police department,” he said. “It needs to go away. It's been going on way too long.”
He added, “If this money will do the job I think it will be well spent.”
Councilman Jim Irwin told fellow council members that they know how he's against extra spending unless it's specifically budgeted. In this case, however, he also offered support, saying it illustrated the need to have financial reserves.
“Opportunities come along where prudence dictates that you follow up on it, and I think this is one of those opportunities,” he said.
The city has an ongoing budget issue, and Irwin cautioned that the investigation likely will cost them more than the $35,000 they were discussing. “But I do think we need to go ahead with this.”
Council member Suzanne Lyons agreed with Irwin and Parmentier. “This is something that has to be taken care of,” she said. “We can't have this kind of thing happen in our city and just go, 'Oh, well.'”
Mayor Ron Bertsch added that he was in agreement with his fellow council members “100 percent.”
During public comment, Dr. Katherine Andre thanked the council for considering Burke's request.
She said the unsolved murder has left the community feeling unsafe, and she thanked the council for supporting the community's psychological infrastructure and giving the case the resources to work toward solving it.
Salituri, whose gallery on Main Street shared space with LaForge's frame shop, told the council, “It's very important to me and to our community that this is resolved.”
She said she supported Burke completely in his request.
“I'm very, very that grateful you're giving chief Chief Burke this opportunity to solve this murder, and I know this murder can be solved,” she said.
Tom Gilliam, LaForge's stepbrother, said there are many murders that go unsolved in the Bay Area. “I think it attests to the tight cohesiveness of our community that we are not going to let this thing die.”
Gilliam said the issue goes beyond addressing the fear of a murderer still walking free in the community, and speaks to the community's close-knit nature. He said he believes it's part of a larger movement across the country, to bring all services back to the human level.
Whether LaForge's murder is solved or not, “It's the fact that everybody is behind this on an emotional level,” said Gilliam, adding that it's a testament to the kind of community being built in Lakeport.
“I think it's a very important statement you've all made by your receptiveness to the idea of spending that kind of money in these current economic times,” Gilliam said.
Kerry Magoon, a local businessman who also is a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in Lakeport to which LaForge belonged, said many people in the church were upset “that it was dropped so quick.”
He said he had no doubt the case could be solved if it's given the staff resources.
Also speaking on behalf of LaForge was her adopted sister, Lisa Hatcher, of Jacksonville, Fla.
Hatcher sent a letter to the council, given to members Tuesday night, that spoke about LaForge's connection to Hatcher's family and asked them to support Burke's request.
“So much has been written and spoken about Barbara, but there is still so much more,” Hatcher wrote, adding that LaForge's death has left a gaping hole for her family “where joy used to reside.”
She thanked community members and Lakeport Police staff who have worked to solve the case.
“Please approve Chief Burke's request so Barbara can finally have the justice she deserves,” Hatcher wrote. “The murderer among you must be found.”
Irwin moved to waive the hiring freeze and approve bringing on the part-time investigator, which Parmentier seconded. The vote was 5-0, which earned the council a round of applause from the audience.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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