LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Editor's note: Some of the content in this story might be upsetting for some readers. Reader's discretion is advised.
Christmas Eve 2018, Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) Det. Deidre “Dee Dee” Mengedoht was in her parked cruiser, along I-64 under the Belvedere, during a traffic stop.
Suddenly, a Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) truck barreled into her car, killing her at the scene.
The driver, Roger Burdette, was impaired and was distracted watching porn on his cell phone, prosecutors said in the trial which led to his conviction.
That tragedy happened exactly one week after Mary Spalding, 72, was viciously attacked in her own home on the morning of Dec. 17, 2018.
Spalding had headed down to her basement to get clean socks from the laundry before work.
That’s when she was hit over the head.
“I heard pinging sounds, that led me to believe that I was being hit with something metal,” she said.
Spalding recalled how she ended up facedown and couldn’t see who attacked her. She soon went unconscious and finally came to about two hours later.
Bloodied, bruised and woozy she climbed the basement stairs and called her sister.
The injuries were glaring.
“The skull fracture, upper body bruising, hand injuries,” Spalding said. “Both of my hands were crushed.”
As EMS arrived, so did LMPD officers, including Mengedoht.
She took the lead on the case, and even though others on scene believed Spalding just fell, Mengedoht searched for clues.
She quickly found bloody shoeprints on the back steps, which to this day Spalding has not washed away as “a reminder” that justice still needs to be served.
Outside the exterior basement door, Mengedoht also found a leaf with blood on it.
“She was all about it, absolutely,” Spalding said.
With no signs of forced entry and nothing stolen in the house, it was clear the attack was personal.
In fact, Spalding said she was admitted under another name at the hospital.
That day of the attack, Mengedoht went to try to question the man Spalding had recently broken up with.
The detective tried again two days later without success.
“(She) repeatedly told my sister, I’m going to get him,” Spalding said.
Spalding said Mengedoht was not just determined, she was compassionate and kind, visiting her every day at the hospital and later came to check up on her at home.
Sadly, the visits suddenly stopped when Mengedoht died in the line of duty.
“It feels like I’m battling three different traumas,” Spalding said. “The trauma of getting attacked, the trauma of the lead detective getting killed, and then the trauma of no one investigating the case.”
Five years gone by on Spalding’s case -- which was Mengedoht’s last case -- and LMPD determined there has been insufficient evidence for an arrest.
“My case died when she died,” Spalding concluded.
She said it was night and day on how the investigation was handled when her case got transferred from Mengedoht to another detective, and then again to another detective.
“Neither one of those sat down and did an interview with me,” she said.
Spalding complained she’s always been the one reaching out for updates.
She had to find out for herself who her case got reassigned to, and she said she didn’t find out until earlier this year that her case was actually closed in June of last year.
As far as the evidence at the scene goes, Spalding pointed out that she was told tests on the blood on the leaf were inconclusive, while the bloody shoeprints failed to generate any leads.
“This was determined to be non-human blood, there’s only two things; either it wasn’t tested correctly or I’m not human, because I know it’s my blood,” she said.
Then there was the man in the alley behind her house carrying a white garbage bag on the day of the attack.
Spalding said a neighbor’s home security camera recorded him in the area right around the same time she regained consciousness.
Police never showed her that video, which she and her sister finally got to see through a representative with Louisville’s Office of the Inspector General.
When asked if she would have thought showing video or photos to a victim to help identify a suspect was basic police work, Spalding responded, “Yeah, I don’t know if I watch too much TV, but I would think so.”
Instead, Spalding said police told her the images were unidentifiable, even though she believes she could have identified “the clothing that (they) wear, their mannerism.”
Spalding is unaware of anyone ever being questioned in her case.
According to the case notes she obtained through an Open Records Request, detectives left business cards at her ex’s home requesting that he call them.
LMPD refused to sit down with FOCUS about the case, or address our specific follow-up questions.
Instead, the department stuck to this statement:
“Ms. Spalding survived a horrific attack and LMPD detectives have taken her case seriously, working diligently to provide justice. After Detective Mengedoht’s tragic passing, the case was reassigned in roughly two weeks to another detective. The detective combed through the evidence and worked leads. Detectives and supervisors have repeatedly met with Ms. Spalding on numerous occasions, via phone calls and in person, to review the evidence with her and hear her concerns. They have utilized all resources at their disposal to assist with the investigation. Detectives work to provide the Commonwealth’s Attorney with enough prosecutable evidence to support a conviction. Unfortunately, there has not been sufficient evidence for an arrest in this case. If new leads or information develop, they will be aggressively investigated with the hope of providing justice for the victim.”
Although the case is at a standstill, the Inspector General, Edward Harness, and his office have been reviewing how the police work was conducted by LMPD.
Harness told FOCUS that findings were expected to be presented to the Civilian Review and Accountability Board by next month.
LMPD’s history of policing and investigating was already under serious scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Included in a scathing report released back in March, the DOJ concluded that LMPD detectives routinely failed “to sufficiently investigate sexual assault and domestic violence cases.”
Most often failing to follow up on evidence and prematurely screening cases with prosecutors.
Even though signs point to it, Spalding said her case was never officially labeled as a case of domestic violence.
“They should be ashamed of themselves for claiming that an investigation was done,” she said.
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