Attorney General Addresses Platte Tragedy

Prior to a scheduled event in Sioux Falls, Attorney General Marty Jackley addressed the latest developments surrounding the death of the Scott Westerhuis family.

The family of six was found in their home south of Platte on the morning of Thursday September 17. Monday evening Jackley’s office issued the preliminary autopsy results as a preemptive measure to bring the truth to the forefront.

“Platte has had a major tragedy and there needs to be a healing process,” said Jackley. “They are also seeing law enforcement on the scene and questions are being asked. We wanted to make sure the community knew that while this is a tragedy, this has been isolated and there would not appear to be any evidence of any further danger in the community.”

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Jackley also says a detailed account will be provided once the final results are available. “The evidence would seem to indicate through the preliminary autopsy results and other physical evidence found at the scene of an apparent suicide. The hope is once we’ve completed a thorough investigation, that we will be able to give more substantive value to that position.”

As to the financial component of the investigation, Jackley says there was no criminal probe before the fact. “The Department of Education and the Legislative Audit are cooperating with Law Enforcement and providing that financial and audit information when they do see matters of criminal concern they typically turn that over to law enforcement. That was not done in this case. We are trusting their work, but as part of this process we are verifying.”

Jackley did not indicate when the full report of what transpired on September 17, 2015 will be released to the public. However Jackley anticipated that the financial component of the investigation would take the longest.