Grief gives way to anger over slain police officers

For those who believe in five stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — it was clear which stage Des Moines-area police were experiencing Thursday.

It was anger.

During a morning briefing, a visibly angry Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert lashed out at the man accused of murdering Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Beminio, 38, and Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin, 24, in their patrol cars early Wednesday morning.

“It was cowardly in every sense of the word, from the way it was carried out to the way that it ended,” Wingert said of Scott Michael Greene, 46, the Urbandale man charged with first-degree murder in the officers’ deaths.

“When the suspect — the monster that does this — has options of how this is going to end … he chose to run and hide.”

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It was in part that same anger that inspired police to retrieve the handcuffs from the bodies of Beminio and Martin and purposely use them to double-cuff Greene when they took him Thursday afternoon to the Polk County jail.

“It’s definitely an appropriate gesture given the circumstances,” said Sgt. Paul Parizek, a Des Moines police spokesman, who noted that Greene was “directly informed that that’s exactly whose handcuffs those were.”

He declined to describe how Greene reacted to that news.

Martin was the first Urbandale officer killed in the line of duty; Beminio was the 23rd Des Moines officer killed while on the job, and the third this year. In March, two other Des Moines officers were killed in a fiery crash on Interstate Highway 80 by a drunken driver traveling the wrong way.

Wingert said he expects people to try to find reasons to explain why two officers were ambushed and assassinated. He won’t be among them, he said.

"What happened (Wednesday) was the calculated murder of two law enforcement officers,” he said. "Plain and simple. That’s the reality."

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But he made clear his frustration with individuals who continually have run-ins with the law. Wingert said that law enforcement officers must serve all factions of society, even those who are the most difficult to deal with.

“Unlike any other business, we do not get to pick our clients,” he said. “We are obligated to go out in the streets and co-exist with them and provide that same service and that fundamental fairness that we do everyone else.

“Central Iowa is very lucky to have men and women in blue who are willing to take on this challenge every single day.”

Establishing a case

Greene was taken into custody less than nine hours after the shootings, after he turned himself over to a Department of Natural Resources employee in rural Dallas County. At the time he complained about several pre-existing medical conditions and was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.

Greene was released from the hospital shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday and taken to the Des Moines police station for questioning. Shortly after 2 p.m., he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Greene, who is being held without bond, is expected to have an initial appearance before a judge at the Polk County Jail Friday morning.

Parizek declined to specify what evidence investigators uncovered that prompted them to charge Greene in the officers’ deaths.

“The best thing we can say is that we established probable cause during the investigation to support these two charges,” he said.

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He rebuffed reporter questions pressing for more details of the investigation or about what occurred during detectives’ interview with Greene.

“We only get one shot at this prosecution,” Parizek said, his voice becoming more animated. “We don’t want to jeopardize anything. The community has the right to not have to worry about living next door to a person who killed two police officers.”

Officials did say that they recovered the rifle they believe was used in the homicides. It was well hidden in the area where Greene was apprehended in Dallas County, Parizek said. In addition, Greene’s vehicle was also found in the area, “bogged down” in mud.

An explosive detection dog on loan from the ATF helped find the rifle. Parizek did not identify the make and model.

“There is absolutely no way anyone would have been able to find” the rifle without the dog's assistance, he said.

On trial for murder

It is difficult to know exactly when Greene could go to trial on the charges if he pleads "not guilty." Under Iowa law, a defendant has a right to a trial within 90 days of formal charges being filed; however, that deadline is routinely waived by defendants facing murder charges.

Robert Rigg, a criminal law professor at Drake University law school, said it would not be surprising if Greene’s mental state becomes an issue during pretrial litigation.

Interviews with acquaintances and at least one court document suggest Greene has struggled with depression and volatile behavior, possibly for more than a decade before the shootings.

Defense lawyers may eventually ask for a competency evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist to determine Greene's mental state, Rigg said.

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Corey Trott, 35, was the last defendant in Iowa to go on trial for murdering a police officer, after he shot Rockwell City Police Officer Jamie Buenting during a standoff in 2013.

He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but the proceedings against him were stayed for a time after his attorneys argued that he suffered from paranoia and delusions that rendered Trott unable to assist them in preparations for his trial.

Rigg also said it would not be surprising for defense lawyers to ask a judge to move Greene's trial to another county because of the intense local media coverage in Des Moines.

"Even if you move the case, where do you take it?" he said. "This was front page of the New York Times and the Washington Post. It was everywhere."

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Polk County Attorney John Sarcone declined to provide details about the evidence gathered in the case, saying doing so would be improper.

He did say he and others in his office have worked with investigators since being called at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, roughly an hour after the shootings.

“We feel terrible,” Sarcone said. “In this day and age when these things happen, these are the very people who protect us. And to see what’s happened is just a tragedy.”

Thursday morning, speaking before a room of media, Wingert made it clear that the slaying of two officers was a tragedy that was both undeserved and unwarranted.

“Tony and Justin did not deserve this,” said Wingert, his lips quivering as he fought to keep his emotions in check. “The Des Moines Police Department and the Urbandale Police Department did not deserve this. The communities that we protect and represent did not deserve this.

“But most importantly, there are two families that have been torn apart — and they certainly did not deserve this.”