I have written before of how it was that Henry happened to cross paths with Y and R. The two of them met my son after Y worked for a relatively brief time in the family business of Henry’s teenage girlfriend. That employment led to an ongoing relationship between Y and an adult member of Henry’s girlfriend’s family. And through that relationship, Y and R were introduced to my teenage son sometime in the winter of 2010.
Around 5:30 pm today, I spoke by phone with the grandmother and matriarch of that family – the family of Henry’s girlfriend. This grandmother and I spoke briefly last fall when I was only beginning to put all the pieces together. Today when we spoke, I was able to ask her some more specific questions, and she was very forthcoming.
The most important thing she told me today is that at some point during Henry’s hospitalization, or perhaps immediately following his death -she is unclear on exactly when the meeting took place – she called the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) and requested a meeting with a detective of whom she holds a high personal opinion based on previous interactions. She told him that she and her adult daughter had information related to Henry Granju’s case that she wanted to share with law enforcement.
The meeting was set, and sometime in May or June of 2010 (Henry died on May 31, 2010), she and her adult daughter went down to KPD Headquarters and met with the detective. They spent a period of time she estimates to have been at least one hour, and possibly longer providing this KPD detective with information they believed was important in investigating what had happened to Henry.
Here’s some of what she says she and the other woman shared with the KPD detective in that meeting:
-They told him that Y and R are methadone dealers, and she explained specifically how they know this.
-They offered the KPD detective information about where, how and when Y and R appear to get the methadone that they sell.
-They told the KPD officer that Y had called the adult daughter early in the morning of April 27, 2010, and had told her that Henry Granju was overdosing and in very serious condition inside Y’s residence.
-They told the KPD detective how Henry knew Y and R, and they expressed their belief that Y and R were likely responsible in some way for Henry’s death.
-They told the KPD detective that in their opinion, Y and R were dangerous criminals with access to weapons.
Again, this woman says she isn’t completely sure, but this meeting might have taken place BEFORE Henry died, but it definitely took place within a short time after his death. She says she and her adult daughter asked for this meeting because they wanted to be sure that law enforcement knew what they knew about Y and R, their drug dealing, and their connection to Henry Granju.
Just to clarify, the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) is not the same agency as the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO). Basically, we have two separate law enforcement agencies operating in our community because we don’t have a consolidated metro government structure. However, both agencies work with the same prosecutor – Knox County District Attorney Randy Nichols. Because the house trailer where Henry was found is located in the county rather than in the actual city of Knoxville, KCSO has been the law enforcement agency officially investigating Henry’s case since day one.
This was not the first time I’d heard that this family had approached a specific KPD detective with information about Y and R. In fact, I even tracked the detective down last fall, and met with him at KPD HQ. The date of that meeting was September 29. Henry’s father also attended. At the time, this KPD detective expressed strong interest in finding a way for KPD to become involved in investigating my son’s death.
This is the email I sent him following our meeting:
<Dear KPD Detective>:
On October 27, the KPD detective let me know via text on my cell phone that he would be meeting with an asst prosecutor in the DA’s office that day or the next day regarding Henry’s case. I sent him an email in response to the text, thanking him for letting me know, and asking if I could attend the meeting. I then got an email in response on 10/28 saying he’d spoken with the assistant DA, and that the assistant DA had some things he wanted to look at before meeting with both the KPD officer and me. I responded to the KPD officer with my thanks.
That was pretty much the last interaction I had with him, although I optimistically copied him on every email I sent to the DA’s office until just a month or two ago. When I never heard from him again, I assumed he’d lost interest in Henry’s case.
Clearly, this new information leaves me with a great many questions, on top of the ones I already had. What did the KPD officer do with the info the grandmother and the adult daughter brought to him very, very early in the investigation? If he turned the information over to KCSO, what did they do with it? If he didn’t, why didn’t he? The DA has never mentioned any KPD involvement in Henry’s case to me, or to anyone else. And as of today, neither the grandmother nor the adult daughter who say they came to the KPD detective with the information in May or June of last year has ever been interviewed a single time by KCSO or the DA’s office or anyone else.
I have emailed KPD Chief Rausch tonight to request a face to face meeting to discuss this issue.
(FYI, the adult daughter I am referencing here is the same “adult family member of Henry’s girlfriend” quoted in this article about Henry’s case: “The other witness, an adult family member of Henry’s girlfriend, said she received a call from the couple some three hours before. She also pleaded with them to call 911. That witness says she can provide investigators with testimony that the couple are known drug traffickers who smuggle methadone across Georgia state lines. This witness also says the couple refused to call 911 and, come to think of it, seemed rather ticked off that the kid had the audacity to OD in their trailer in the first place.”)
UPDATE PART II ————————————-
I have now spoken with the KPD detective on the phone to revisit all of this. He was just as friendly and communicative as he was when we met previously, last fall. I asked him specifically what he’d known about my son’s case, and when he had known it. I also asked him when he had relayed what information to the KCSO Detective assigned to Henry’s case.
He assured me in our phone conversation that he personally called the KCSO detective assigned to Henry’s case – Detective H – within “one or two days” after meeting with the grandmother and the adult daughter. The KPD detective says that after met with these two women so he could hear their information related to Henry’s case (a meeting he says took place in the grandmother’s home) he called the KCSO detective the same day, left a message, and then connected with him within “one or two days.” In that phone call, he says he relayed every single piece of info the two women had given him.
The KPD detective says he will check his notes and get back to me with the date of his meeting with the grandmother and the adult daughter, as well as the date of his call to KCSO Detective H. He believes it was in May or June of 2010, just as the grandmother recalls. The grandmother says her daughter has also met with this KPD detective on other occasions since that time to discuss “certain issues.” I don’t know what those issues might be.
But if the KPD detective provided KCSO Detective H with this important info about leads in Henry’s case when he says he did, this means that KCSO Detective H knew all of this information before or very soon after my son died, yet he never followed up.
He still hasn’t ever followed up.
That’s right, no one from KCSO or the DA’s office has ever interviewed the grandmother in this family, who hired Y to work in the family business and fired her less than 3 months later when she realized Y appeared to be a drug dealer. Nor has anyone from KCSO or the DA’s office ever interviewed the adult daughter who received that call from Y about Henry’s terrible condition early in the morning of April 27. These two women are the link between my son and Y and R, and they came forward to offer information very early on, yet no one has ever interviewed them. (Of course,these two women have reasonably believed for all these months that they HAD been “interviewed” when they proactively reached out to a local police detective, invited him into their home, and then gave him all the info they had – something they did SPECIFICALLY because they wanted to make sure the authorities knew that Y and R were dangerous drug dealers who needed to be considered suspects in Henry Granju’s case.)
Also, until this week, I had thought that **I** was the first person to bring the info about these two women and the phone call from Y, etc etc to the DA, but it turns out that the KCSO Detective assigned to Henry’s case had known all of this for five or six months by that point. Had he even TOLD the DA about any of this?
I checked my notes, and it appears that I first told the DA about this family and their info about Y and R in an email dated 11/7/2010. Here is the email I sent to the DA that day (names and identifying info redacted)
Dear Mr. Assistant DA:
L says she is very willing to share this info and more with anyone who is willing to try to get R and Y prosecuted, but that she had no idea that her testimony or phone records could be important to Henry’s case. I assured her that she is very important to the case….
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Please sign THIS PETITION asking Knox County authorities to undertake a real criminal investigation into the death of teenager Henry Granju, and please share the petition with as many other people as you can.
Please note that all comments on the Justice for Henry Granju website are moderated and thus, may take a little time to appear. Thanks for your patience.
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It seems that almost daily another layer is peeled off what is the center, the truth, of Henry’s case. For the love of all that is good, Katie, I hope so much that you can untangle the lies and get to the truth.
Thinking of you all the time from the southwest corner.
Claire
I can’t believe all the things that keep coming to light nearly a year later. I’m really surprised that they didn’t take “grandma” and her concerns more seriously, given her prominent position. I’m wondering how helpful it would be if SHE would go public with what she knows, and whether she would be willing to do so.
Leslie – I think it would matter a great deal if she would. And we may get to the point where I ask her to do that. I am not sure what she would say if I asked. – Katie
How frustrating! There has been so many details they have overlooked – it is really unacceptable. Keep your strength and focus… Hopefully the right people will take notice.
Inexcusable. Here’s a case that could have been solved – the victim was alive and willing to cooperate. Could have been solved and by doing so, could have saved many, many others from suffering like Henry. They had evidence, they had admissions, the KPD had statements . . . and for 38 days, they had a victim willing to talk. It might not have been open/shut, but seems to me there was an overwhelming head-start toward getting a corner of Knoxville cleaned up – and who knows how far-reaching that clean-up would have been, since they travel out of state. This is beyond wrong. Katie, I pray for all of you – for your strength and for justice to be served.
It makes it even more galling that you were told that Y and R were “good samaritans”.
Why isn’t the local media all over this? It seems like a great opportunity for a blow-your-mind piece of investigative journalism.
I am going to try and contact Jamie Satterfield with KNS to see if this in on her radar. I just don’t understand how it can’t be…something doesn’t add up.
It seems law enforcement are the ones who need to be investigated. Could you FOIA them? Obtain all email communications pertinent to Henry’s case? They have to give you the info…..
Heather – as long as there is an open criminal investigation, state law shields all records. Of course, we WANT an open criminal investigation if an investigation is actually taking place.
Katie – doesn’t that incent KCSO to never officially close Henry’s case (while not doing anything about it), since you will obviously request all the records under your state’s Sunshine laws as soon as they do?
There must be some oversight of these agencies – it shouldn’t be possible for KCSO to shield itself indefinitely from review simply by keeping the case open.
My heart just aches for you and your family, but admire your courage in talking openly about what happened to Henry. Preventing those same people from preying on more young people is a real tribute to your son.
Best wishes.
This is infuriating me. Could you contact someone at the DEA or FBI level? This involves drug dealers and local law enforcement is doing nothing about it. Both agencies have “tip” lines. I bet the DEA would be thrilled to go in and clean up a bunch of low life drug dealers and weed out any dirty cops, if there are any involved. I just… I just want to help you and I feel like escalating this and sounding an alarm at every level of law enforcement may be an option. Someone is going to hear that alarm and respond.
Here’s the deal with the feds. They want the biggest fish. The DEA investigates drug rings for YEARS. Not only that, but the federal government doesn’t frequently prosecute crimes that are not exclusively federal. So unless Y and R sold drugs across state lines, or there were other federal elements involved, they are unlikely to step in.
Y and R diverted drugs across state lines.
What do you mean diverted?
Here is some good info on the issue of drug diversion. It’s a specific type of dealing related to Rx drugs: http://www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/domestic/Diversion_slides.pdf
Y and R get their “legal” methadone supply from a clinic in another state, and then “divert” it within Tennessee (“divert” since they don’t always sell it for $$s).
I put in a FOIA request with the US govt more than 6 months ago for information regarding my daughter and have heard NOTHING. The “freedom” of information act isn’t exactly free in my opinion.
That surprises me. My husband is a Commander in the Navy and when a FOIA request comes in, he pretty much has to drop everything and get it done. It goes straight to the top of his to do list and his regular job is put on hold until it is done. You’d be amazed at the money wasted/time spent on some of these requests because they do have to get done, regardless of how insane they are.
How frustrating. I don’t know how you deal with the injustice and lack of protection and representation you’re receiving (or, not receiving) from the people who are in place to serve and protect you and your community.
I’ve been umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether I’d say this, for fear that it could be misconstrued as though there would any situation where you /wouldn’t/ fight tooth and nail for your child, BUT: I heard on the news (here in Australia) a few weeks ago about a young man who died in similarly tragic circumstances, and there were a number of legal ducks to get a row to bring justice for him. Unfortunately, his parents didn’t seem to quite have the same abilities (as far as being able to articulate and investigate like you do), and I fear for them that they mightn’t be able to achieve what they want to achieve because, even though they have a lot of love for their son and are fueled by the determination to serve him, they might not be able to raise their voice in quite the way you have/do. My point: you (rightly) talk about how incredibly blessed and lucky you are to have had sweet Henry in your life, but I hope you are at least occasionally humbled by the fact that HENRY is beyond lucky to have a mama who never gave up on him, never will, AND who is so incredibly intelligent and determined to make things right, even in the worst imaginable circumstances.
Wishing for continued courage and strength for you, Katie.
(Also, I have a good friend in Knoxville and I will be sure to make sure he sees the petition and hands it on to his local friends too. Keep making noise.)
Wow!! You would think the city of Knoxville and the county would want to get what are obvious dangerous criminals off the street. I cannot understand why they are not following up on Y & R. I hope and pray for your family that justice will eventually be served. Getting these people off the streets if worth it to save even just one more life.
Katie, I am astounded by the fact that so many new, important facts keep emerging – so many people care deeply and are forthcoming with information, but how many more people who might have valuable data to share are too absorbed in their own lives to seek you out? What mountains of clear evidence there are already – and how much more there might be if only law enforcement were doing its job? It is so deeply frustrating, maddening, enraging to me that you have to fight this battle that we all pay taxes for and should be able to count on having done for us, not undertaking as private citizens. For Henry’s sake, the sake of everyone else who has suffered a crime in Knoxville, and all the other teens and their families who are battling addiction, I am glad you are out there fighting the good fight.
THIS IS BEYOND INFURIATING. Why is it that someone who is only peripherally involved with this case is able to pick up the phone and get a 1 hour face to face discussion with KPD while Katie and company have to beg and plead for any form of attention?!!?
Surely to goodness there is a log somewhere with the meeting of these people and KPD written down, right? If you can’t (or don’t) file a criminal suit, is it possible to file a civil suit against KCSO? If there’s a written record, is it possible for your lawyer to subpoena it in a civil suit?
I continue to be amazed about what you are finding out. I only hope and pray that perhaps they are putting together a sting that has taken month, and months to put together…and this is why they can’t be forthcoming. I know that is probably not the case, and they are probably just covering their butts.
I’m just surprised that the KPD Detective did not come through, unless they silenced him too…
this story has more twists and turns than any fiction writer could expect a reader to believe……. KCSO has so much to account for here. It is hard to see how they can continue to ignore the information they are presented with. KNOXVILLE residents deserve KCSO to be accountable for investigating ANY allegations of illegal activity, much less behavior that includes kidnapping, sex trade, drug trafficing and now weapons. I would assume Y &/ or R might already have some sort of record that might make the weapons a violation. Do you know much about any previous record ?
Mare
I can’t get over how much this stinks to high heaven. I may be a simpleton, but I just don’t flippin’ get it.
I know there are creepers who follow Ms.Granju’s blogs and quietly think to themselves that what has happened to her son is a shame, but life happens. I want you ALL to remember that this could be YOUR nightmare just as easily. Yes, this could happen to YOUR child. If you are a member of the police force you should be ashamed of yourself for not doing the right thing. Step from behind that Blue Shield Of Silence. You eagerly joined the force with high ideals. What happened? There is no justification for ignoring this case. This family has done everything humanly possible to help you do your job. Why are dismissing this family’s pain with such coldheartedness? Is it because you don’t want to admit your mistakes? Everyone makes mistakes, but that shouldn’t stop you from correcting them and doing what is right and just. It’s never too late. You joined the force to help people. Your heart was in the right place. Don’t continue to allow the horrors of your job make you feel dead inside. Please HELP these deserving people.
Katie,
This case is surreal to me… for so many reasons. I just can’t believe that the KCSO has been so BAD in this case. A case that most importantly is about your precious child, Henry, and justice being served for him… But everyone in this community needs to realize that this case is way bigger than that…a case that affects every single person living here…These drug dealing monsters need to be behind bars to make this a safer community for all of us!!! The KCSO needs to hire you as an investigator! keep fighting Katie…You have many of us behind you…We are all touched in many different ways by your precious childs story…I happen to have a son who reminds me so much of Henry…He is still alive today…but continues to use…and going down a very bad road. It is the most helpless feeling ever as a parent who just wants her child to be okay… i love you Katie. I feel connected even though we have never met…Maybe someday!
Katie – I’m impressed that the grandmother is now willing and interested in speaking with you, and I wonder why she didn’t take the opportunity to do so earlier in the past year. Whatever her reason for waiting this long, the facts that (a) she did wait, and that (b) she has finally spoken with you, lead me to additional questions. For instance – I wonder what about the situation has changed that was significant enough in her mind to convince her to open up? Also, given her apparent reluctance to reach out to you to this point – how forthcoming (or selective) do you feel she has been with you regarding the details of her communications with the KPD?
Maybe I’m misinterpreting what Katie has written, but it sounds like what has changed is that Katie had very specific questions to ask the grandmother, and that Katie initiated the conversation. The grandmother answered the questions – for all I know, she would have been willing to answer those questions at any point during the past year.
I don’t see anything to indicate either willingness or reluctance to “reach out” to Katie. She and her adult daughter apparently felt an obligation to tell law enforcement what they knew, and it sounds like they did that.
I have been frustrated in the past when I read comments speculating about cover-ups and criminal involvement on the part of the authorities in Knoxville. I thought that amounted to libel and that pure human incompetence was more likely to blame.
But now I am converted. I won’t speculate on what it is, but something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
have you wondered if the grandmother’s status/position/whatever (i have no idea who she is or what she does) and involvement has anything to do with why there’s been no investigation? that seemed to come up at one point and then sort of went away. until now (at least in my thinking).
Curiouser and curiouser. . . . .
the part about this that absolutely baffles me is going back over that time right near Henry’s hospitalization and death where KCSO insisted, unequivocally, that they had thoroughly investigated these people and there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever they were simply Good Samaritans. In fact I remember you initially thinking that was wonky and when you questioned it before you even knew anything at all, they firmly and directly insisted there was absolutely no prior relationship there.
I would be very interested to examine Y&R’s family tree. I’d bet the farm you’d find a very close branch right in that office. Just reminds me way too much of how the police dispatcher was the mother of the guy who intentionally ran my brother off the road (and killed him). She recognized his car from the info the people gave who called in and conveniently did not mention this when sending out the dispatch. This meant he wasn’t caught until several days later, making drug and alcohol screening a bit impossible. Iowa law at that time didn’t recognize one could run someone off the road intentionally WHILE SOBER and so he got off with just reckless driving. Had he tested over the blood alcohol limit, he would have been in jail for two counts of manslaughter, particularly with all the corroborating evidence of people who saw him threatening my brother and his friend (who also died) beforehand.
Our story does not have a happy ending. Despite the dispatcher’s error and negligence being uncovered, it was determined this was a human error due to shock and surprise, and not a malicious attempt to obstruct justice. She was given a written warning and remained (and remains to this day 14 years later) employed.
Worried that y&r may be dealing drugs to the kcso.
Maybe they are dragging their feet as an attempt to cover something or someone up? Maybe one of their children or friends is somehow involved and they want to keep it all quiet?
Curious … what was the KPD officer’s general attitude and demeanor like upon being informed that his efforts to give this information to the KCSO was in vain? It seems as if he was very willing to help, and answer questions – and even made sure that the information was given to officers who had jurisdiction. I would think that, given such integrity and care for rule of law, he would be fairly perturbed and irritated to find out that his brothers in blue are shirking their sworn duty. Is it possible that he may be of some assistance in your quest for justice?
Another thought … if I recall correctly, Y came into the city limits and picked up Henry in Ft Sanders. Is it at all possible that he was given and ingested the meth while inside Knoxville city limits? If so, that would place at least part of the crime scene in the jurisdiction of KPD, wouldn’t it? (The lawyers that lurk about can correct me if wrong)
That there is someone connected to the KCSO and/or DAs office and/or city or coumty officials involved somehow is all but apparent. And wouldn’t be terribly surprising, given the recent events involving another county official and his drug issues, and who all he was tied to.
I keep reading updates with a heavy heart but hope for a just ending to this ‘story’.
My God, it’s like a tv show. And not in a good way. It is just baffling how this new information keeps coming up. What in the world is going on?! Something shady, that much I am sure of. Keep doing what you’re doing, Katie… the truth has to come out in the end!
Is Detective H not a public employee? Why are you giving him a pseudonym? He ought to be publicly shamed — he should not be able to hide behind his initials. Please start using his full name!
I agree with the idea of involving the Feds, but not to investigate Y and R — rather to investigate KCSO. Seriously, when misconduct charges are brought by the Feds against a local law enforcement agency, how does that ball get rolling?
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This is very difficult and time-consuming. Here in Hades, our sheriff has been in office for over 15 years and only recently has come under federal investigation. Red flags were publicly raised after several years, but it has taken many years for the body of evidence to grow such that it can no longer be ignored. The very public fight between him and the supervisors helped things along. However, he is still in office and has no plans to relinquish his post voluntarily.
Knoxville isn’t there yet. It’s not public enough, with only Katie speaking out. There needs to be more cases and lots more publicity. Shine some klieg lights on the sheriff’s office and see what scurries out the back. You need citizens and press and the help of good politicians and even then it is a long slog to get anywhere at all.
I don’t mean to be discouraging. I hope I’m being realistic. No one person can do this alone. All of you who live in Knoxville or have connections there or in nearby areas need to step up. Find cases where the sheriff’s office has dropped the ball. Find cases where citizens have sued the sheriff or county for abuse, neglect, mistreatment, etc. Beat the bushes and find the stories and make them public. They’re out there somewhere. It takes a lot of that kind of publicity over a long time to accomplish the goal.
The issue here isn’t just KCSO, but also the DA’s office. The behaviour of both entities is extremely suspect. Something is very, very wrong with the system of law and order in Knox County. It is both baffling, and frightening.
You need a good investigative journalist to look into what is going on here, most likely from outside Knoxville (I tried emailing Mark Bell to interest him in this story, but he never replied. Mark Bell won an award for an investigation he did in a story involving wrong-doing by a (now former) sherriff’s detective and a police cover-up. Thought he’d be the right sort of person for the job. Oh well…).
I wish more people would jump in and help — journalists, forensic experts, law enforcement (retired). Nobody should have to go through this to get the death of their child investigated.
I am convinced why R and Y are left alone, can only be contributed to the fact that someone within the police force is protecting their own kind. There is no other reason. By going after these two people, it would shed light on something that could potentially ruin the career of some Knoxville public servants/investigator/police men. The “old boys club” is watching out for each other, sad but true.
Now we know the “methadone” answer…http://justiceforhenry.com/2011/05/featured-reader-comment/
If I’m remembering the facts correctly and Y was let go from her job for either dealing, stealing, or abusing drugs from the office while working for the grandfather (i.e., husband of “grandmother”), is there any documentation of the incidents that led to Y’s dismissal? Is the reason she was let go from her job on-record *anywhere*? Y’s behavior at work would seem to establish or support a pattern of illegal drug-related behavior that – at the very least – would make her relationship with Henry more viable vis a’ vis “connecting the dots” between Y (and R) and Henry in the eyes of law enforcement. (Yeah, right – they “just met him” …
)
Or is is hypothetically possible that the grandparents are hesitant to be totally forthcoming to the police and sheriff’s office with even *more* incriminating info about Y and R because that additional info might also implicate them (if they didn’t report Y for her crimes)? Could they hypothetically be persuaded to be even more transparent with law enforcement if promised immunity from any possible prosecution, perhaps?
*****
Katie, I feel in my bones as though you are within a finger’s breadth of breaking things wide open. The tangle of threads still looks incredibly massive and daunting, but with your unwavering undetermination, savvy, and patience it feels as though you are soooo close to getting them all unravelled. I suspect that – once they are finally exposed from the “tangle” – some of those “threads” will have long-lasting, dramatic ramifications within your city and county. I hope that you’re staying safe and being careful, as paranoid as that sounds; when things blow open, it seems that the reverberations will really rock your community. But make no mistake: FBI, ATF … whatever it takes, you WILL see justice for Henry, and help get this crap off of your streets. You and your family are in my thoughts daily. <3