Family of Accused Former Pasco Officer Claims His Innocence

A former Pasco police officer of the year has found some support from family members, who say he is innocent on murder charges relating to the death of a Spokane prostitute in 1986.

At a press conference Friday outside the Spokane County Courthouse,  Richard J. Aguirre's mother and two sisters called the Spokane police department's treatment of this case "Misleading (to) the court and the public."

Tina LeDoux read a statement from the family, saying Aguirre's cases have been handled "unethically," and said prosecutors were dishonest when they accused Franklin County Sheriffs and Pasco police of leaking information about the case to Aguirre.

The family accuses authorities of trying to pin a 31-year old murder on the former Pasco detective.