SHERIFF: SLAIN CANDIDATE FACED INVESTIGATION

Harlan Official Approved Making Video of Browning

HARLAN, Ky. -- Slain Harlan County sheriff's candidate Paul Browning Jr.
was under criminal investigation for drug-related activity when he was
murdered two months ago, according to the county sheriff.

Sheriff Steve Duff acknowledged for the first time this week that he
authorized the making of a video recording that showed Browning taking cash
from Dewayne Harris, a man with several drug convictions.

No one has been arrested in the murder of Browning, 57, whose remains were
found March 23 in his burned pickup truck in Bell County. Bell County
Coroner Clyde Creech said the cause of death was a gunshot in the head.

Browning had been running an aggressive political challenge to Duff leading
to Tuesday's primary. But Duff said his investigation of Browning had
nothing to do with politics.

Browning, who lived in Cumberland, was a former Harlan County sheriff who
was removed from office 20 years ago after being convicted of conspiring to
kill two political opponents.

Duff said that the videotape of Browning was made as part of his
investigation and that it was Harris who approached him about making it.
The tape showed Browning taking money from Harris -- Browning believed
Harris was selling drugs, Duff said -- and offering Harris protection.

Browning's family contends the videotape, since it was released to the
media, has diverted too much attention from the murder investigation.

Paul Browning III, Browning's son, said the making and release of the tape
were politically motivated efforts by Duff and Harlan Circuit Judge Ron
Johnson to discredit his father before the primary.

Johnson, who prosecuted the elder Browning in 1982 before Johnson became a
judge, has acknowledged leaking the tape to the news media.

The younger Browning said his father met with Harris as part of a complex
effort to expose drug-related corruption in the sheriff's office.

"He hoped to break something open prior to May 28," the younger Browning
said. "He didn't want to beat Steve Duff. He wanted to humiliate Steve Duff."

Duff, a former state trooper who arrested the elder Browning 20 years ago,
said he turned the videotape over to the U.S. attorney's office because he
felt uneasy about people regarding it as a political ploy.

Commonwealth's Attorney Henry Johnson defended that action.

"The consideration of political motivation was what made the sheriff back
off and go to federal authorities," said Henry Johnson, who is unrelated to
the judge.

U.S. Attorney Greg Van Tatenhove in Lexington declined to comment on
whether he'd seen the tape or whether there is an investigation.

Capt. Mike Reichenbach, commander of the Kentucky State Police post in
Harlan, would not say whether anyone with drug ties is a suspect in
Browning's murder but that "a lot of motives from a lot of people" could
have led to the crime.

"In a small rural community, where you have a well-known victim and you
don't have an arrest, the conspiracy theories start quickly," Reichenbach said.

He said the videotape, which state police didn't receive until after
Browning's death, raises questions about Browning's involvement with Harris.

Harris, who owns a sports memorabilia shop, has past drug possession
convictions. In September 2000 he was charged with two counts of cocaine
trafficking, but those charges were dismissed.

Duff declined to say whether Harris has worked as an informant for the
sheriff's department.

Harris, through his attorney Otis Doan Jr., declined to comment.

Doan said his client got the video recording equipment from investigators
- -- he declined to say who -- after Harris went to them with an audiotape.

Henry Johnson, the commonwealth's attorney, said he listened to the
audiotape. He said it provided enough evidence to justify investigating
whether Browning was trying to shake down Harris for money.

On the videotape, Browning said he planned to kill a former deputy who
testified against him in the 1982 trial. Browning also vowed revenge on Ron
Johnson and Duff.

"I owe him more than anybody," Browning said of Ron Johnson. "He's on top
of my list."

The judge, in an interview, acknowledged he wanted to keep Browning out of
office for personal reasons, noting that Browning moved next door to him in
1998.

Jayne Browning, Browning's wife, said moving next door to Johnson was
purely coincidental.

The judge, whose courtroom trials are broadcast on local cable television,
harshly condemned Browning while sentencing a drug dealer on March 22, the
day Browning disappeared. The judge said the county's efforts to combat
illegal drugs would suffer if Browning were elected.

"I had to deal three or four years with that devil. He doesn't give up,"
Ron Johnson said. "Sometimes I think we have to pray for Michael the
Archangel to come down and do his business."

In Christian tradition, Michael -- usually depicted as a warrior -- is the
conqueror of Satan.

Ron Johnson reiterated his feelings toward Browning in an interview. "The
guy was just evil," he said. But he said he had no role in Browning's death.

Browning's son said his father, an avid reader of murder mysteries and
political thrillers, tended to take things too far when he had a goal in
sight, but had no intention of carrying out the threats on the videotape.

The elder Browning had made a similar argument at his 1982 trial, saying
that remarks about finding someone to kill a Fiscal Court magistrate and a
school board chairman were part of an effort to find out who had made an
alleged attempt on his life.

At the trial, a former sheriff's deputy testified that Browning staged the
attempt on his life to win sympathy.

Browning's son, meantime, said police should make solving his father's
murder their first priority.

Before his death, the elder Browning had accused Duff of being lax on drug
enforcement during his seven years as sheriff. Browning promised to
aggressively combat corruption and drug dealing if elected.

Browning was elected sheriff in 1981 but was arrested the next year amid
allegations that he conspired to kill the magistrate and school board
chairman. Neither was harmed.

Browning was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served three years before
being paroled in 1985. He first moved to Ohio but later returned to Harlan
County, and Gov. Brereton Jones restored his civil rights in 1995.

Despite his past, Browning's tough talk on drugs appeared to help him make
headway among voters.

Browning's son said investigators need to take a closer look at the grudges
that Duff and Ron Johnson harbored against his father.

Ron Johnson and Browning, Vietnam War veterans who Browning's son said got
along well before the 1982 court case, engaged in a battle of wills in the
four years leading up to Browning's death.

Browning's presence in the neighborhood rattled the judge's family, and
Johnson said he sometimes practiced shooting in his back yard to show
Browning he wouldn't be intimidated.