Probe of officer's slaying 'not a surprise'

SANDY — Utah Department of Corrections chief Tom Patterson has reviewed the conclusions of a state investigation into an officer's slaying during an escape attempt by a white supremacist inmate.

But he won't say what the investigation found.

"While the intent is not to hide anything from the public, we want to put focus where focus needs to be made: Making sure that human error is addressed, and we avoid this from ever happening again," Patterson said Monday.

In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Patterson declined to talk about specifics in the Utah Department of Public Safety report into the death of officer Stephen Anderson. He did say the results were "not a surprise."

"We had been looking at it very closely," he said. "The report was consistent with some of the things we've seen. It was helpful in adding credibility to our observations."

Claiming officer safety, public safety and the pending criminal case against Curtis Allgier, corrections officials have designated the report "protected" and will not release it. News media requests for the report under the Government Records Access Management Act have been denied.

Patterson would not say if the report found any corrections policy violations or mistakes made in transporting Allgier, but said he would focus on "the presumption that we can do better." In the aftermath of Anderson's death, corrections officials implemented new procedures for transporting inmates.

"We've already made several of them," Patterson said.

Two corrections officers will transport an inmate. Those officers, who will be wearing body armor, will be armed with Tasers. A prisoner's risk status will be determined by at least two sources.

On June 25, police said Anderson, 60, had taken Allgier to the University of Utah's orthopaedic clinic for an MRI. Prosecutors said Allgier, 27, overpowered Anderson and shot him in the chest and head.

The heavily tattooed, white supremacist inmate then escaped from the clinic, carjacked an SUV and led police on a chase across the Salt Lake Valley that ended at an Arby's restaurant on Redwood Road. Prosecutors said Allgier ran inside, put a gun to the head of an employee and pulled the trigger. He missed, and a customer overpowered Allgier before he was taken into custody again.

Allgier is now facing numerous charges, including aggravated murder, aggravated attempted murder and escape. Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty against Allgier, who will return to court in February 2008 for a two-day preliminary hearing to decide if he should stand trial for the crimes.

Until then, Allgier remains in the Salt Lake County Jail.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com