"investigators have considered ... that the 12-year veteran was murdered; that Drenth was killed and the scene was staged to look like a suicide; or that Drenth committed suicide"

Of course the Phoenix PD would rather make it look like Sgt. Sean Drenth was murdered because they could then portray him and cops in general as heroes.

The Phoenix PD probably doesn't want to admit it was a suicide because it would show that cops can be maladjusted nut jobs like the rest of us.

Source

Phoenix officers' DNA taken amid probe of sergeant's death

by JJ Hensley - Nov. 23, 2010 04:14 PM

The Arizona Republic

Phoenix police confirmed that an undisclosed number of police officers and other personnel were asked to provide DNA samples as part of the ongoing investigation into the death of Sgt. Sean Drenth.

The decision to request samples of genetic material from other officers and personnel on the scene of an emergency is not unusual, Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

But not all of the personnel who provided samples were at the scene of Drenth's death on Oct. 18 in a parking lot near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Jefferson Street and 19th Avenue, Crump said. Many of the officers who did not respond to the crime scene and were asked to provide DNA samples are under internal review for an alleged scam in which officers pocketed thousands of dollars in off-duty security work they did not perform at a low-income housing complex in south Phoenix.

Three officers and a former patrolman were indicted last week for their alleged roles in the off-duty security ring, and Drenth was implicated in the investigation.

Crump said the timing of the search warrants for DNA - days after the indictments - was not a coincidence. The announcement of the indictments led to investigators receiving more information about Drenth's death that they pursued.

Crump declined to discuss any physical evidence that might have been collected the night Drenth was killed, but said investigators had asked police personnel and first responders to provide boot-print samples, in addition to the DNA evidence they were trying to collect from emergency personnel and others who might have come in contact with Drenth.

"The source of the evidence we have at this point is unknown," Crump said. "There are a lot of sources we are trying to eliminate."

Crump laid out the three possible scenarios investigators have considered since Drenth's death: that the 12-year veteran was murdered; that Drenth was killed and the scene was staged to look like a suicide; or that Drenth committed suicide.

There are no Phoenix police officers who are considered suspects in Drenth's murder, Crump said.

"Do we have officers that we're looking at as leads right now," Crump asked. "We certainly do."