Ihejirika Death Investigation - Sat, Nov 17, 2018

Session opening context (in-game recap by the Handler):

• Two new civilians (“friendlies”) are assisting the cell:

  • Justin Smith — young coder who claims guidance from something he calls the “Hushfather”; previously recovered original security footage from Sutra Sandwiches.
  • Philomena Farrington Cowles — British Museum historian; received material from Drummond’s dead-man’s switch (Yelena Kalamatiano’s notes) and, under pressure, surrendered it to the team.

• Key recovered media and observations:

  • Sutra Sandwiches security video shows deputies pocketing evidence before crime scene technicians arrived.
  • ATM camera down the block shows a hooded man shadowing Jaz Ihejirika, stabbing/injecting his back, then disappearing.
  • The same LASD patrol car that later responded drove past minutes before the injection.

• Open questions framed: why Ihejirika was targeted (random vs chosen) and what actually killed him.

Location & time:

• Team gathers in the Wilshire Federal Building basement offices (Brentwood/Westwood area).
• Approximate time: ~4:30 PM (Monday, two days after the Saturday ~11:15 PM death).

Bringing civilians into the workspace:

• Justin and Philomena are signed in as visitors under supervision and brought into the non-secure office area.

Decision on record pulls vs hacking:

• Team reviews official FBI systems:

  • They could submit formal inter-agency requests (e.g., 911 audio, personnel files), but responses would take a day or two.

• Frank Booth instructs Justin to avoid official channels and seek covert access to LASD systems to reduce the chance of alerting LASD.

Account/credential situation:

• FBI systems have accounts for Frank and Matthew.
• Justin has no account (he wasn’t officially slated to assist).
• Plan: use Bureau access only to facilitate off-the-books LASD access.

Initial covert access attempt (computers):

• Justin searches for lingering credentials from prior federal investigations; attempts a targeted intrusion at –20 penalty (secure system).
• Result: near-success but fails; no viable internal foothold found.

Social-engineering plan (phone phishing):

• Team pivots to phone-based credential theft:

  • Identify LASD IT contact Samuel Vega.

  • First persuasion attempt (Frank/Booth) fails (persuade roll 94); target cites recent anti-phishing training.

  • Second attempt (Matthew McCarter) succeeds (persuade roll 09):

    • A low-level clerk is convinced to follow “IT” steps, yielding working credentials (including the necessary 2FA code during the call).

Scope of access with stolen credentials:

• Access enables internal querying of administrative/personnel and call/dispatch records.
• Restricted content (ongoing investigations, sealed case materials) remains inaccessible at this clearance level.

Pulling incident-day records:

• Who responded to the 911 call: Sergeant Freddie Sutton and Deputy Julian Sainz (both assigned to the Tactical Narcotics Unit at Sheriff’s Station Southwest).

• 911 call content: bystander reports a male acting erratically/possibly seizing and suspected PCP use; request for police.

• Police activity report (bare bones):

  • Subject unresponsive on arrival; later determined deceased prior to paramedic arrival.
  • Body sent to County Coroner for autopsy (pending).
  • No sign of violent crime logged; no charges; incident treated as medical.
  • Entry indicates “evidence submitted” (no itemization at this access level).

Cross-checking video observations (alignment with records):

• On the sandwich-shop and scene videos:

  • Both responding officers appear surprised by the gruesome outcome, but confer over the body for ~1 minute before calling it in.
  • Sutton is the heavier, older officer on video; Sainz is younger, fit.
  • The unknown hooded attacker wore tight-fitting dark gloves (leather or black nitrile); build cannot be confirmed from footage; not Sutton; possibly consistent with Sainz’s build (uncertain).

Personnel pulls — Sergeant Freddie Sutton:

• Age 37, White male; married (spouse Talia); no children.

• LASD service:

  • Joined 2003; Men’s Central Jail (Corrections) until 2007.
  • Patrol – Lynwood until 2010.
  • Promoted to Detective and Sergeant mid-2010.
  • Transferred to Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) in 2013.
  • Assigned to Tactical Narcotics Unit (TNU) at Sheriff’s Station Southwest in 2015 (current).

• Performance/evaluations:

  • Evaluations for years are consistently “barely passing” across physical, range, and psych.
  • Records show some leave periods (details sealed).

• Patrol patterns:

  • Essentially never on patrol in recent years; rarely leaves the station for field work.
  • His presence on patrol the night of Ihejirika’s death is unusual.

Personnel pulls — Deputy Julian Sainz:

• Age 26, Hispanic male; single.

• LASD service:

  • Joined 2013; Academy firearms scores among the best on record.
  • Twin Towers Correctional Facility until Aug 2014.
  • Transferred to firearms training staff at the Biscailuz Center (training).
  • Requested by Lt. John Marlin to join TNU (Southwest) in early 2015.

• Performance/evaluations:

  • Excellent evaluations; no adverse notes visible at this level.

• Duty patterns:

  • Works day shift routinely; rare night shifts (the incident was a recent exception).
  • Performs patrols without a partner.
  • No assigned beat noted; no prisoner transfers on his rosters.

TNU team composition (from records & podcast cross-ref):

• Lt. John Marlin (age 41, White, single): LASD since 2000; Men’s Central Jail to 2008; SEB trainer thereafter; leads the TNU (Southwest) since 2015; still affiliated as an SEB trainer.
• Sgt. Freddie Sutton (see above).
• Sgt. Anton Gulley (listed member).
• Deputy Julian Sainz (see above).

Dondre Daycare raid (context checks):

• Sainz was on the TNU at the time; Sutton also on the unit then.

• Post-raid status:

  • No administrative leave periods reflected for Sutton/Sainz tied to the raid.
  • Sutton took a round to the vest in the raid (injury noted as bruised ribs).

• Internal files on the raid are sealed/ongoing litigation, inaccessible at this clearance.

Additional system queries:

• Internal complaints/discipline on Sutton/Sainz require higher clearance; not accessible.

• Patrol proximity on the incident night:

  • Unit was nearby when the 911 call came in.
  • Their station (Sheriff’s Station Southwest) is roughly 1.5 miles from the scene.

Public/news search for similar “weird overdoses”:

• Attempts by team members (including Jay, base Search 20, roll 25) fail to surface other incidents via open sources during the session.

Discussion on coroner & toxicology:

• Autopsy is pending; no toxicology results or drug screens yet visible.
• Team expresses preference to avoid tipping the coroner/LASD; considers independent chemical/blood analysis if samples can be obtained.
• Jay states he has nurse training and could help interpret or assist if needed.

Mapping & movement context:

• Scene: Sutra Sandwiches and Ihejirika’s collapse across the street (Sutra Ave. & W. Vernon, in-game).
• Sheriff’s Station Southwest located ~1.5 miles south (Crenshaw area).
• Ihejirika’s apartment is north of both.
• Direction of travel at time of attack aligned with heading toward the cross street that would lead back toward his apartment.

Decision point — next steps:

• Options considered: interview Nalina Estevez (attorney), visit Ihejirika’s apartment, approach coroner, or question deputies.
• Team prioritizes apartment search (with possibility to contact the attorney the next morning).

Apartment entry (evening operation):

• Time on arrival: approximately ~10:00 PM.
• No police tape or signs of an official search.
• Justin (Locksmith 60%) picks the lock successfully; no disturbance in the hall.

Apartment observations (one-bedroom):

• Front/living room set up as a podcast studio (backdrop, tripod, recording gear).
• Laptop on a desk with Beats headphones; bedroom somewhat messy/bachelor-pad state; bathroom needs cleaning.
• Curtains are drawn/closed by the team for discretion.
• Notably absent from the apartment: cell phone, wallet, keys.

Laptop access & review:

• The laptop has no password; team immediately gains access.

• Show files/notes for Off the Brim:

  • Draft/plans for the next episode: revisit the Dondre lawsuit.
  • Notes that he had engaged “people in city/county government”—specifically contacts under the County Board of Supervisors—to push disciplinary action against TNU members.
  • No named sources in the notes (generic references only); no “smoking gun” documents found.

• Emails:

  • Regular but not frequent correspondence with Nalina Estevez focused on fundraising, public awareness, and coordination around the Dondre lawsuit.
  • Mentions of his government contacts and increasing traction.

• Photos:

  • Camera roll/photos from earlier the day he died are present; nothing distinctive flagged during the session review.

• Phone location (Find-My):

  • Last ping recorded ~3 hours after Ihejirika’s death, about 0.5 miles south of the death scene (general direction toward Sheriff’s Station Southwest, not on a direct line).
  • Current status: phone off/unreachable.

On-scene digital actions by Justin:

• Uploads Ihejirika’s Dondre lawsuit research folder to Justin’s cloud storage for later analysis.
• Installs a backdoor/monitor on the laptop to receive alerts if it wakes or is accessed later.
• The team leaves the laptop in place to avoid signaling a break-in.

Additional context gleaned during apartment search:

• No indication that the apartment had been tossed.
• The absence of phone/wallet/keys aligns with earlier observation that Sutton removed an unknown item from Ihejirika’s pockets at the scene (the actual contents remain unknown at this access level).

Team considerations & plans:

• Attorney contact: plan to call Nalina Estevez the next morning.
• Coroner/tox: keep options open for independent testing if they can obtain samples; avoid alerting LASD.
• Covers/IDs: idea floated to print FBI badges using the FBI badge printer in the building (deferred; not executed this session).
• Contacts: phone/laptop contact lists identified; they note potential close friend(s) to contact if needed (no outreach made this session).

End of night:

• Team relocates to their hotel near the federal building (Philomena is moved to the same hotel for control).
• Matthew McCarter sleep roll: 20 under 20 — succeeds and manages to sleep.

Session wrap & next hook:

• Next action anticipated: make contact with attorney Nalina Estevez (Attorney at Law) the following day.
• Badge-printer idea logged as a possible future action.