aGameOfThrones
06-29-2013, 03:55 PM
MOSCOW, Idaho — The sister of a 19-year-old Pullman, Wash., man who committed suicide last weekend is seeking an apology from an Idaho sheriff's deputy she says harassed her brother via Facebook in the days before his death.
Alise Smith said her brother's decision to end his life was his own, but she believes the comments that Andrew Cain received about arrest warrants in Latah County became too much for him.
The sheriff's office Facebook page included a "wanted poster" and a post congratulating Cain on being the county's most wanted person of the month for June.
Smith, of Pullman, Wash., said a deputy also sent private messages to her brother on Facebook.
Sheriff Wayne Rausch told The Associated Press on Thursday that a deputy did exchange messages with Cain, but the printout he saw showed it was Cain who initiated the exchange by telling the deputy he liked his new wanted poster.
The deputy replied that if Cain turned himself in, he'd give him a copy.
"How this could be construed as taunting or rude or harassment or anything like that, I'm at a loss," Rausch said.
Smith said she understood the "wanted poster" but felt the "congratulations" comment and the private messages were an abuse of power.
Rausch said he told the employee who added the "congratulations" to the post that it was not appropriate and not to do it again.
Smith told KLEW-TV that she received a text from her brother early last week that said he felt like putting a bullet in his brain. The message included a screen shot of Facebook messages from a deputy, Smith said.
"Eventually, it all just got too much to handle because other people were texting him and messaging him on Facebook and he just couldn't handle all of the people telling him how awful a person he was," Smith told KLEW.
Cain fatally shot himself Sunday, Whitman County Coroner Pete Martin said.
http: //www. huffingtonpost .com/2013/06/27/andrew-cain-alise-smith-suicide-harassed_n_3512524.html?utm_hp_ref=crime
Alise Smith said her brother's decision to end his life was his own, but she believes the comments that Andrew Cain received about arrest warrants in Latah County became too much for him.
The sheriff's office Facebook page included a "wanted poster" and a post congratulating Cain on being the county's most wanted person of the month for June.
Smith, of Pullman, Wash., said a deputy also sent private messages to her brother on Facebook.
Sheriff Wayne Rausch told The Associated Press on Thursday that a deputy did exchange messages with Cain, but the printout he saw showed it was Cain who initiated the exchange by telling the deputy he liked his new wanted poster.
The deputy replied that if Cain turned himself in, he'd give him a copy.
"How this could be construed as taunting or rude or harassment or anything like that, I'm at a loss," Rausch said.
Smith said she understood the "wanted poster" but felt the "congratulations" comment and the private messages were an abuse of power.
Rausch said he told the employee who added the "congratulations" to the post that it was not appropriate and not to do it again.
Smith told KLEW-TV that she received a text from her brother early last week that said he felt like putting a bullet in his brain. The message included a screen shot of Facebook messages from a deputy, Smith said.
"Eventually, it all just got too much to handle because other people were texting him and messaging him on Facebook and he just couldn't handle all of the people telling him how awful a person he was," Smith told KLEW.
Cain fatally shot himself Sunday, Whitman County Coroner Pete Martin said.
http: //www. huffingtonpost .com/2013/06/27/andrew-cain-alise-smith-suicide-harassed_n_3512524.html?utm_hp_ref=crime