DA's investigator was rebuked

A client in filed a complaint against the former private detective

DURHAM -- Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong's chief investigator in the Duke lacrosse case was reprimanded in 1997 by the state commission that licenses private detectives.

After an appeal of the board's decision was unsuccessful the following year, Linwood E. Wilson allowed his investigator's license to expire -- ending a 16-year career as a private eye that was marked by repeated complaints and at least seven formal inquiries into his conduct.

In a July 15, 1997, letter to the state Private Protective Service Board, Wilson complained that the reprimand would hamstring his ability to testify at trials.

"When a letter is placed in my permanent file it is open to the public and therefore could be damaging to my creditability in court," Wilson wrote. "I could be cross examined by any attorney who has gotten a copy of my file."

In a Jan. 24 article, The News & Observer reported that Wilson's file at the state board contained records of allegations from 20 years ago that he made false statements on the witness stand and set up an illegal telephone tap. In both cases, state investigators wrote in internal memorandums they thought Wilson had likely broken the law, but no charges were filed.

Wilson, 58, said in an interview last month that his integrity had never been called into question and that he "retired" as a private eye in 1998 because he was tired of the acrimony that comes with working divorce and child custody cases. He said Wednesday he has no recollection of the reprimand.

Since the earlier story, the state board located an additional stack of records about Wilson, including complaints filed by three of his former clients. The board took no action on two of the complaints, but the third resulted in a reprimand issued in June 1997.

Wilson's credibility would likely be attacked if the state Attorney General's Office proceeds to trial with the prosecution of three former Duke University lacrosse players facing sexual assault and kidnapping charges stemming from a team party last March. Two special state prosecutors were assigned to take over the case last month after Nifong was charged with ethics violations by the N.C. State Bar.

Skepticism

Defense attorneys for the players are openly skeptical of a Dec. 21 interview Wilson conducted with the escort service dancer at the center of the case. According to Wilson's report, the accuser changed her account of who assaulted her, how and when -- contradicting all her previous statements, records of calls to her cell phone, 911 records and time-stamped photos from the party.

The woman also said she could no longer testify that she was raped, forcing Nifong to drop that charge against the defendants. Wilson's handwritten notes and the typed report are the only accounts of his one-on-one interview with the woman in December. In a court filing, defense lawyers called the new story an implausible "do-over" that attempts to fill holes in the prosecution case.

Nifong hired Wilson in December 2005 to help find people accused of writing worthless checks. When the lacrosse case came up four months later, Wilson quickly became a key confidant of the Durham district attorney, despite an apparent lack of experience investigating criminal cases.

The 1997 censure sprung from a complaint filed by Sarah Beddingfield, a Durham woman whose divorce attorney recommended she hire Wilson to follow her husband. Beddingfield signed a contract with Wilson and paid the investigator a $1,500 retainer. She says she fired Wilson a little more than a month later because he didn't appear to be making any progress. She hired another private eye to do the work.