FEDERAL PROSECUTOR FINDS POLICE KILLINGS OF TWO MEN TROUBLING BUT NOT CRIMINAL

A yearlong federal investigation has concluded that two undercover drug
agents were not in imminent danger when they fired 21 shots, killing two
unarmed men as one tried to escape arrest last year on the parking lot of a
Jack in the Box restaurant in Berkeley.

But the investigation also says that because the agents believed they were
in danger, they were justified in shooting and did not violate the dead
men's civil rights.

One of the chief investigators, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender, said Wednesday
that he found some aspects of the case "troubling." He said he was taking
the extraordinary step of releasing the facts in great detail because of
strong public interest in the case.

"It was unfortunate that so much distrust was caused by this information
not getting out" earlier, Gruender said of the shooting 15 months ago.

Gruender met Wednesday with nearly a dozen civil rights leaders, and some
of them later said they were far from satisfied with his decision that the
agents broke no civil rights laws.

"I am very disappointed," said Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr., D-St. Louis,
after getting a report from an aide who attended.

Gruender said civil rights law, the only federal statute that applies, is
so narrowly worded, it requires proof that police who shoot someone were
acting with malice.

"At the end of the day, we could not so conclude," he said.

The two drug agents, working with 11 other members of the St. Louis County
Police drug unit, were conducting a sting outside the restaurant on June
12, 2000.

But the bust went awry, and the agents shot and killed Earl Murray, the man
they planned to arrest, along with a passenger in his car, Ronald Beasley,
who was not suspected of any wrongdoing.

Gruender called the agents before a federal grand jury. They testified they
had fired because Murray, the driver, tried to run them down.

"Our investigation found that they were wrong," Gruender said.

The agents were standing about 10 feet in front of the car. They testified
that they yelled "halt," drew their guns and fired as the car lurched
toward them.

In fact, Gruender said, the car never did move forward toward the drug agents.

Physical evidence showed that Murray's car moved only in reverse. Its rear
end struck a police vehicle parked behind it so hard that two other
detectives were jostled out of the vehicle's opened doors.

Altogether, 12 shots struck Murray, 36, the suspect in the sting.

Four shots struck Beasley, also 36. He was Murray's friend and apparently
just along for the ride.

Gruender said there was no evidence that the agents had intended to shoot
Beasley, about whom they knew nothing.

Gruender said investigators asked the agents why they fired instead of
simply stepping aside from what they believed was an oncoming car.

The prosecutor said the agents replied:

"We were afraid."

And that, Gruender said, was the key to the case. He said there was no
credible evidence that the agents had not been in fear of their lives.

Gruender's office jointly conducted the investigation with the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division. The investigators were two FBI agents,
an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and an assistant
prosecutor here with 10 years experience in civil rights cases.

Gruender announced the results to a roomful of reporters at the Thomas F.
Eagleton U.S. Courthouse downtown.

Immediately after, Asa Hutchinson, the new DEA administrator, issued a
statement saying he was pleased that the investigation had "exonerated" the
two drug agents.

One of the agents works for the DEA; the second is a police officer for
Dellwood in North County. During the sting, both were working under the
direction of the county's drug unit.

The unit consists of about 60 detectives and supervisors, under the command
of a county police major. About 40 county detectives are joined by
detectives from 13 municipal police departments.

Although the race of the officers, both white, was not made public until
Wednesday, some civil rights activists assigned racial overtones from the
beginning, since Murray and Beasley were African-American.

Protesters staged several demonstrations, aimed mainly at trying to get St.
Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch to release copies of
a restaurant surveillance tape that captured part of the incident. He
refused until all investigations were complete.

The county's investigation

At his own press conference Wednesday, in Clayton, McCulloch kept a promise
to release police reports and handed out copies of what little the
restaurant's cameras recorded. He also identified the officers involved as
DEA agent Keith Kierzkowski and Dellwood police Detective Robert
Piekutowski Jr., the first time their names were made public.

The poor-quality pictures did provide a way for investigators to determine
just how fast everything happened. Murray and Beasley were dead just 25
seconds after Murray stopped his Ford Escort in a parking space, and just 6
seconds after Murray tried to flee.

The two officers had just 1.2 seconds to decide whether to fire, McCulloch
said.

"From my view, they acted in justifiable self-defense and a reasonable
fear" that they were facing a life-threatening situation, he said,
repeating his view from August 2000, when a county grand jury found no
criminal wrongdoing under state law.

Beasley's blood contained a significant level of heroin, which had been
taken within hours of his death, according to an autopsy report included in
more than 100 pages of records McCulloch made public.

The report also showed Beasley's blood alcohol level was nearly 0.07
percent, almost at the current 0.08 threshold of intoxication under
Missouri's DUI law.

Murray's autopsy showed no drugs or alcohol.

Among other new details:

One officer fired 10 shots, the other 11.

Murray was hit by 12 shots, five from each officer and two slugs too
damaged to tell. They made 24 wounds.

Beasley was hit by four shots, one from each officer and two slugs too
damaged to tell. They made five wounds.

Beasley was hit mainly on the left side, bolstering the police contention
that Murray, sitting to his left, was the intended target.

The videotape was a series of still pictures from eight cameras, displayed
four at a time and switched every 1 1/2 seconds. Only the view in the upper
left quadrant of the screen had major significance to the investigation.
Much of the action is out of view.

The events unfold

The police reports and videotape tell the story of an attempt by the drug
unit to arrest Murray on what was to have been his third sale of cocaine to
an undercover informer.

The investigation started two weeks before, when the informer told
Detective Chad Rackers of Jennings that Murray was selling crack cocaine.

On June 1 and June 8, Rackers said, the informer bought crack for $250.
Murray drove the Escort the first time; he was a passenger in a tow truck
the second.

On the day of the shooting, Rackers said, he asked the U.S. Attorney's
Office and the DEA if they wanted to make a federal case against Murray.
Federal and local officers met at the Ferguson police station to plan the
arrest, and later regrouped at Berkeley High School.

Murray had arranged a meeting at the Amoco service station near Hanley Road
and Interstate 70, east of Lambert Field. His buyer suggested the nearby
Jack in the Box lot instead.

DEA agents and police from several municipalities manned two unmarked Ford
Explorers that would be used to box in Murray's car. Piekutowski,
Kierzkowski and two other officers were the "primary" arrest team, with
Kierzkowski driving.

On the parking lot besides Kierzkowski and Piekutowski were three other DEA
agents and four other officers from departments in Jennings, Richmond
Heights, University City and Chesterfield.

Rackers and the informer arrived as arranged. Murray arrived about 20
minutes later, with Beasley riding along, and parked about 50 feet away.
The informer walked toward the Escort but retreated when officers moved in.

Kierzkowski pulled his Explorer in front of Murray's Escort while the DEA's
other sport utility vehicle blocked it from behind.

Piekutowski said he and Kierzkowski jumped out, wearing blue vests
emblazoned in yellow with the word "POLICE" and badges around their necks,
and approached Murray's car.

Kierzkowski said that as they did, the demeanor of the Escort's occupants
changed from casual to panicked.

The Escort lurched backward and struck a DEA vehicle with such force the
two officers in it tumbled out the open back doors. The impact caused a
shift in the position of the Escort, which ended up facing Piekutowski and
Kierzkowski.

Kierzkowski said the driver then looked directly at him and reached toward
the center console. The engine was screaming and smoke was pouring from the
spinning tires.

Piekutowski said the suspect's car began to move toward him and he feared
for his life and Kierzkowski's, so he fired at the driver. He said
Kierzkowski, at arm's length to his right, fired too.

"I thought I was going to get killed, I thought I was going to die,"
Kierzkowski told investigators.

DEA agent Arnie Baratti, who had been in the Explorer with Kierzkowski,
Piekutowski and University City police Detective Cheryl Whitley, said they
all yelled at occupants to turn off the engine and surrender. He said
Kierzkowski and Piekutowski were directly in the path of the vehicle.

Murray and Beasley died in the car.

Van left the scene

Watching the video later, investigators could see Murray parking beside a
van that leaves when the officers rush Murray's car.

The FBI eventually tracked down the driver, who said he had been there to
ask Beasley to do repair work on his car. That man testified before the
grand jury that he had his air conditioner and radio on and didn't see the
shooting, McCulloch said.

He told the grand jury he then drove to the Murray home and told relatives
that Murray had been shot, the prosecutor noted.

McCulloch said Murray was already on parole and faced substantial prison
time from what would have been a third drug conviction.

The prosecutor said other witnesses corroborated police statements that
they screamed for Murray and Beasley to surrender.

"If he had just sat there," he said, "none of this would have happened." Also:

* Black leaders denounce decision; demonstration is held at restaurant

* Jack in the Box timeline

* Dellwood police chief says officer in shooting is exemplary

Tim Bryant of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.