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Thursday, May 25,2417

Dave Aronberg, Esq.
State Attorney
401 North Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Re:

May 16,2012 Shooting Death of Seth Adams by
PBSO Sergeant Michael Guster

Dear Mr. Aronberg:

Richard and Lydia Adams again respectfully request that you re-open the investigation

into the shooting death of their son, Seth, by Sgt. Michael Custer of the PBSO.
Previous requests have been refused on the basis that the decision not to prosecute
was made by your predecessor, Peter Antonacci, and that there was no "rìew
evidence", These are specious arguments at best.
Peter Antonacci was an interim State Attorney, appointed by Gov. Scott and, therefore,
not accountable to the voters like you are.

The evidence proving Sgt. Custer's guilt has been there all along; it was just ignored by
the PBSO as will be discussed in detail below.

Accompanying this letter is a transcript of the trial testimony of Det. Christopher
Neuman of the PBSO, who was the lead investigator; a transcript of Hon. Daniel T: K.
Hurley's comments regarding the "shocking" inadequacy of the investigation; and a
summary of the evidence and testimony which contradicts Sgt. Custer's version of the
events. We wíll also provide you with all depositions taken in the civil action; reports
from all of our expert witnessesl; all exhibits introduced at trial; and all other discovery
which we obtained during our investigation.
Stephan LeClainche, our paralegal Tatum Whiddon, and I request a meeting with you,
your attorneys, and investigators to explain what the evidence and testimony establish.
Sgt. Custer explained under oath in his initial statement taken by Det. Neuman, during
his pretrial deposition, and at trial his justification for shooting and killing Seth Adams.

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 Dave Aronberg, Esq.
May 25,2017

Page2 of 4

Sgt. Custer was work¡ng undercover and had parked his unmarked SUV in the parking
loi of A One Stop Garden Shop without permission from the property owners and in
violation of clearly posted No Parking signs. When Seth arrived home, Sgt. Custer
testified that he immediately began yelling obscenities and acted like a "lunatic". Sgt.
Custer claims that Seth exited his vehicle, charged Custer, and grabbed him by the
throat "as hard as a man can grab you". Custer broke the grip and a fight ensued.
Custer pulled his Glock pistol, placed Seth under arrest, and ordered him to get on the
ground. lnstead, Seth ran to his truck, against Custer's direct orders not to go there and
began rummaging around in the cab. Custer, fearful that Seth was obtaining a weapon,
grabbed him by the head and shoulders, and tried to pull him from the cab. Seth then
épun out of his truck and Custer fired his first shot at point blank range, then continued
to fire and fall back, discharging his fírearm a total of four times. Custer then took up a
defensive position behind his vehicle and Seth ran off into the darkened nursery, At the
time he was shot, Seth was located between the open door and the frame of his truck.
Custer never approached him again after the shots were fired'

Agent Drummond was a member of Custer's tactical unit. He was headed West on
Okeechobee Rd., then made a U-turn at A Road. As his headlights passed over the
parking lot, he saw Seth standing by the left front quarter panel of his truck, facing east
toward the nursery. Custer was exiting his vehicle and seemed to be sayÍng something
to Seth. There was no confrontation; no yelling; and nothing seemed to be amiss.
Drummond did not stop. The gunshots were fired less than two minutes later.
We know from gun powder residue that when the first shot was fired, the muzzle of the
Glock was one to two feet away from Seth's right forearm. This bullet entered the
outside of his forearm, exited the inside of his forearm, grazed his abdomen and came
to rest BEHIND Seth's truck. This bullet was analyzed microscopically and was found to
contain bone fragments imbedded in it as well as cotton fibers consístent with fibers
taken from Seth's T shirt. There is no doubt that this projectile, marked in the photos as
stanchion 6, was the first shot fired by Custer. lf Seth was standing inside the open
door of his truck when he was shot, as Custer contends, the projectile could not
possibly have come to rest behind his truck.
Both the ME and the treating surgeon testified that the wounds to Seth's forearm would
have begun bleeding "immediately and copiously". However, there was no blood on the
inside of the door of Seth's truck and the blood trail started approximately eight feet
away, between the truck and Custer's SUV.

Three of the four shell casings were to the rear of Seth's truck and between the two
vehicles. They could not have come to rest at that location if Seth had been shot
standing inside the open door of his truck.
There were spatters of Seth's blood on the back of the left lower leg of Custer's jeans,
Blood spatter experts testified that Custer had to have been standing within one foot of

 Dave Aronberg, Esq.

May 25,2017
Page 3 of 4

Seth AFTER he had been shot and was dripping blood onto the ground. This is totally
inconsistent with Custer's testimony that he withdrew after he began shooting.There
were no marks on Custer's neck or hands indicating that he had been grabbed by Seth
or that they had fought.

Custer's PBSO cell phone was on the ground after the shooting within the taped off
crime scene. Custer, however, retrieved his phone and attempted to hide it under the
seat of his car. Despite having been found by one of the CSI's, Sgt. McAfee (Det.
Neuman's supervisor) instructed her not to take it into evidence. Later, after a
preservation letter had been received from the Adams' attorney, Sgt. McAfee, Capt.
Wallace, and Sgt. Custer intentionally disposed of the phone. After pressure from the
Adams' attornêys, PBSO conducted an internal affairs investigation into the
disappearance of the phone which resulted in Capt. Wallace merely receiving "verbal
counseling",

Richard and Lydia Adams in utmost good faith believe that the shooting of their son was
unjustified and that the subsequent investigation by PBSO was a "disgrace", in the
words of Judge Hurley. The previous State Attorney could not possibly have performed
an open and adequate investigation based upon the information provided by PBSO.

According to Det, Neuman, it, was not his job to solve this case, to try to reconcile
inconsistencies in the evidence, or even to review reports of experts hired by PBSO
which contradicted Sgt. Custer's version of the events. His job was simply to, "compile
the evidence, all the information, and send it to the State Attorney's Office for them to
decide whether they are going to file criminal charges against Sergeant Custer or any
officer who is ínvolved in the shooting".

As Judge Hurley correctly stated, "The community has a right to know that

an

investigation is being conducted properly," Based upon the evidence presented during
the civil trial, it is beyond dispute that the investigation by PBSO amounted to nothing
more than a "whitewash" justification for the use of deadly force.

It goes without saying that when evidence exists from which to do a thorough and

careful criminal investigation, reliance upon an investigation that is "slipshod, shoddy,
and a disgrace" should never form the basis for a State Attorney's decision to decline
prosecution.

Here the evidence is available, is scientific, and ovenruhelmingly establishes that Sgt,
Custer lied about the shooting of Seth Adams. As the public official in Palm Beach
County charged with the duty of investigating and prosecuting crimes, the failure and/or
refusal by your otfice to review, analyze, and act upon the substantial evidence in this

 Dave Aronberg, Esq.
May 25,2017
Page 4 of 4

case wh¡ch proves that Sgt. Custer's shooting of Seth Adams was illegal and unjustified
amounts to an abrogation of your responsibilities, and a breach of the public's trust,
Accordingly, it is past time, Mr. Aronberg, for you to do your job and properly investigate
the unjustified death of Seth Adams.

We request that you notify us of your intentions within one week of your receipt of this
letter,
Sincerely,

Stephan LeClainche, Esq.
WBM:tw
Encl.

Cc: Richard and Lydia Adams