Photo credit: Getty Images | Whitney Houston performing at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. Grammy-winning pop legend and actress Whitney Houston, 48, was found dead on February 11, 2012 in a Beverly Hills hotel, police said. (July 03, 1988)
LOS ANGELES - A Beverly Hills police sergeant responding to the scene of Whitney Houston’s death made “inappropriate comments” about the singer’s appearance after lifting a sheet covering her naked body, according to a claim filed by a former Beverly Hills SWAT sergeant.
In the claim, Sgt. Brian Weir alleges that on the day of Houston’s death in February 2012, Detective Sgt. Terry Nutall arrived at the scene, and “for no legitimate law enforcement inquiry, investigative, or other proper and legal purpose … removed the sheet and/or other covering from the body … to an area below the pubic region.” The claim also alleges he “made comments to the effect that the former pop star “looked attractive for a woman of her age and current state” and “Damn, she’s still looking good, huh?”
The 48-year-old singer was discovered submerged in a bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined she died of accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.
Weir said in the claim that as the senior patrol sergeant on duty he responded to the death scene. After he complained to his superiors about the alleged misconduct, Weir alleged that the City of Beverly Hills and its police department “retaliated” by removing him from his position with the SWAT and K-9 units, stripping him of various privileges and subjecting him to various forms of harassment.
The claim said Nutall’s actions included “disturbing and/or moving the body of the decedent from the position of death without the permission of the coroner,” “treating the dead body of the decedent in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities,” “contaminating potential DNA” and “harming the integrity of the scene.”
Beverly Hills Police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino said Tuesday that the department was aware of the claim, but said he could not comment further because it had been filed with multiple agencies.
Hoshino previously told NBC News that the Beverly Hills Police Department was not aware of “any inappropriate behavior or any inappropriate comments.” He said the department stood behind the death investigation “100 percent.”
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