Supervisors: Detective’s career has been first-rate

Phil Lakin was commended for his interviewing skills, his open-mindedness and staying on top of his investigations.

His fluency in Spanish adds to his value to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. He shows a flair for investigating and has aspirations of becoming a cold case detective.

All of the above and more are revealed in his personnel file, which spans more than a decade of service. It is filled with sterling reviews from his supervisors.

“Detective Lakin’s strongest quality is his interviewing techniques with suspects, victims, witnesses and/or informants,” wrote his supervisor, then-Sgt. Billy Beetz. “Detective Lakin is the top interviewer amongst his peers and is called upon when an important interview needs to be completed.”

Beetz stated in the same December 2007 evaluation that Lakin had “obtained many confessions through his short career as a major case detective” and “continues to strive in this area to be the best.”

Before becoming a Hernando County Sheriff’s deputy, Lakin taught criminal justice classes in Hillsborough County.

A U.S. Army veteran, Lakin was reassigned to major cases in June 2006. He was promoted to patrol sergeant four years later and then reassigned again to major cases earlier this month, where he advises and supervises the detectives in the unit.

He earned “Deputy of the Quarter” honors in 2007 and has received numerous commendation letters from prosecutors and law enforcement officers in other counties and states.

Brooksville defense attorney Jimmy Brown wrote a letter to Lakin’s supervisor showing his appreciation for the delicate and professional way the detective questioned his client.

Lakin provided “a textbook example of how such an interview should be conducted,” Brown wrote.

Among those who expressed the deepest display of affection for Lakin were Sonsee Sanders and Kyle DePalma, the grandchildren of Pat and Evelyn DePalma, an elderly couple discovered slain inside their Masaryktown home in October 2006.

After the guilty verdict of the man responsible for the deaths of his grandparents, Kyle DePalma thanked the sheriff’s office and, in particular, Lakin for his dedication.

In December 2008, Beetz wrote Lakin had worked closely with the victim’s family since being assigned to the case the previous year.

“He has developed an excellent rapport with them,” he stated. “They have been nothing but appreciative of (his) performance.”

Nothing in his personnel file included any perceived mistakes in the DePalma investigation.

A notice of a civil action has been filed by an attorney who had represented David Alexander Bostick.

While a high school senior, Bostick was arrested, jailed and charged in the murders of Pat and Evelyn DePalma. Lakin led the investigation and did most of the interrogating.

Bostick was a distant nephew of the couple. Prosecutor Pete Magrino did not formally file the murder charges and has said he believes Bostick had nothing to do with the double homicide.

Unfounded accusations

Lakin was assisted in the DePalma murder case. He had help from Beetz, former Detective John Cameron Sr., Deputy Jeffrey Swartz and Maj. Alan Arick among others.

Swartz was first assigned to the case. While his supervisor stated he had “done a good job,” he was reassigned and Lakin took his place.

He remained behind the scenes in April 2008 when Bostick was interrogated.

While back on road patrol, Swartz was charged with domestic battery and an internal affairs investigation was opened on him following allegations he assaulted his wife in their home in 2009. The charge was abandoned and his IA allegation was unfounded. He returned to duty, but received a written reprimand from then-Sheriff Richard Nugent.

Lakin’s own personal and employment records weren’t devoid of mistakes and punishments.

He noted in his application he received an Article 15 – a non-judicial punishment – while in the Army for being AWOL. In 1996, he filed for bankruptcy. Ten years earlier, he was arrested in Chelsea, Mass., on a charge of disorderly conduct, which later was dismissed.

In October 2010, he missed an off-duty detail and was suspended from the program for one month.

Twice in 2004, Lakin was investigated by internal affairs, according to public records. His allegations were either not sustained or unfounded.

In the first case, he was suspected of carrying on a relationship with a female deputy, who accused him of battery and other “inappropriate activities” with another co-worker, according to his file.

In the second case, he was accused of using excessive force and profane language following a 911 response. He also was accused of making “disparaging remarks” in front of witnesses, records show.

Details of those investigations were not available because the records have been purged.

A thorough detective

Arick, who retired from the sheriff’s office and now serves as a worship leader at the First Baptist Church of Brooksville, agreed to speak briefly on the subject of the Bostick arrest.

“It seemed like the right decision to make at the time,” said Arick. “Hindsight is 20-20.”

He recalled watching Lakin interrogate Bostick and the joint decision – which included input from Nugent – to proceed with an arrest.

“Basically, the sheriff had the final decision on it,” he said. “He was going to leave it up to the lead detective.”

Arick said one of the considerations was that Bostick, who they thought played a part in the murders, would have fled the area or communicated with accomplices had he been released.

“Later I guess, that proved not to be the case,” he said.

Arick also recalled Magrino’s reaction.

“He was not happy about it the next day, let me tell you,” he said.

Efforts to reach Bostick for this series failed. Two phone numbers on record have been disconnected, along with phone numbers of at least two of his relatives. An email sent to him was not answered.

Brown, who has cross-examined Lakin in open court and defended several suspects investigated by him, said he and the other detectives who handle major cases generally have worked ethically and effectively.

“There’s usually too much of a tendency for those in law enforcement to trust the instinct of the investigator, but if I were a sheriff, I would rather lean more that way than calling everything into question,” Brown said. “It’s a very delicate balance and I don’t think this agency is doing a particularly bad job of that.”

Magrino said detectives and those above them have learned from the Bostick experience. He also thinks they’re more inclined to listen to suggestions.

“Every case is a training exercise and since that case, the sheriff’s office’s administration became more receptive to the input I have made,” he said. “Their eyes became widely open as a result of that case.”

Eight months after Bostick’s arrest, Beetz still lauded Lakin’s performance on his evaluation, citing his “excellent” work on the DePalma case. He credited him with “finding additional leads.”

Based on court records and statements at his trial, Jardin’s arrest hinged on a DNA match.
Beetz believed otherwise.

“With his thoroughness … it was a big part of how the double homicide was solved with an arrest,” he wrote about Lakin.

Beetz also stated Lakin’s interviewing skills were “an extreme strength” and that is why he was sent to Boston to attend a special interview and interrogation class.

“I have used his interviews as a teaching component for newer detectives,” Beetz wrote.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or [email protected].