O'Connell: Cunning or incompetent?

Two-part seriesSunday: For former detective Sean O'Connell, criminal investigation is go slowToday: Detective's track record pock-markedFormer Sandusky County sheriff's detective Sean O'Connell leaked his entire case file of his investigation into Heather Bogle's murder to a personal friend, but that report has never been made public. He focused the probe on three different suspects, all three black and all of whom were later exonerated.One of those defendants was represented by Tim Braun.WATCH: Cleared suspects asks, 'How do I get my life back?'Sheriff Chris Hilton, who was elected last year after the former sheriff's meltdown, and his new team of detectives and agents from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation moved quickly in the homicide case, as he promised he would do during the election campaign. They identified a suspect just weeks after he took office in January.Deputies arrested Daniel R. Myers, 48, in June, charging him with murdering Heather Bogle, whose body was discovered in the trunk of her car in a parking lot of a Clyde apartment complex. Myers worked with Bogle at Whirlpool in Clyde, on the same line and same shift and had a history of domestic violence.It's not known why O'Connell didn't interview Myers, or other co-workers during his investigation. And while some family members feared he was intentionally failing to solve the case, it's unknown if that was a motivation, if he wasn't accorded the same access Hilton got, or if general incompetence caused him to botch the probe.But O'Connell has a history of botching criminal investigations dating back to 1999, when he failed to interview a suspect in the death of 21-year-old Lee Naus, who was killed after he was tossed into a dumpster after a night of drinking, allegedly by a sheriff's deputy, and crushed to death by the compactor of a trash truck.Individuals interviewed during the investigation said the deputy tossed Naus into the dumpster as a joke, county records show.Other cases O'Connell handled that caused families to complain include the jailhouse death of Craig Burdine, who died inside the county jail after being dragged inside handcuffed and shackled, apparently unconscious and then electroshocked with a Taser. A state investigation concluded that while O'Connell told Burdine's family he was conducting and investigation and claimed he did, no legitimate investigation had ever been done.The family of Jacob Limberios also claimed O'Connell mishandled the investigation of their son's death, and provided them misinformation about it.Everything's a dealEarlier this month an inmate in the same state prison as Overmyer reached out to Howe-Gebers alleging "a long running history of corruption" in Sandusky County, which he said "has been the home to open drug sales and traffickers (with) authorized permission to freely operate."The corruption allowed some drug dealers to transact business unfettered while other traffickers faced consequences, the inmate claims. Business was conducted inside and outside the county "in return for a consistent stream of orchestrated drug sales and convictions."The inmate also claimed local officials, including Dewey and Braun, are in a "damage control" mode, withholding information from disclosure.Records that are being withheld include the O'Connell report on the Bogle investigation he provided his friend, parts of the Lorain County sheriff's report, and all of the Ashland County sheriff's report.It's not known if a special prosecutor appointed in July, Henry County Prosecutor Gwen Howe-Gebers has reached out to the inmate, who was convicted on a charge of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and has a prior record, as well.Howe-Gebers would appear to have a wide berth regarding her investigation, given the language in the court order, but it's not known what the scope of it is. She did not respond to a written inquiry about that, or a request for a status update about whether she would be bringing anything forward to a grand jury.While being interviewed during Between the Lines on Friday, Keyona Bor talks about how she was falsely accused as a suspect during the Heather Bogle investigation by former Detective Sean OÕConnell.Howe-Gebers, O'Connell, DeweyDaniel R. Myers was arrested June 2, 2017, morning by the Sandusky County sheriff's office and charged with murder. He worked with homicide victim Heather Bogle at the Whirlpool plant.