Online Journalism in Action (Part 4)

Here is the latest update of the breaking news story (note how more and more details are being released by authorities and subsequently being incorporated into the story):

Former FDLE adviser died from self-inflicted gunshot, cops say

Susan Jacobson and Gary Taylor - Sentinel Staff Writers
2:38 PM EDT, September 23, 2008

The Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office determined that former Florida Department of Law Enforcement legal advisor Steven G. Brady died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, New Smyrna Beach police Sgt. Michael Brouillette said this afternoon.

But an autopsy on the body of his wife, Pamela Palmer Brady, did not determine the cause of death, Brouillette said.

There were no obvious signs of trauma to the body. Investigators are awaiting toxicology results to help determine the cause of death.

Brady and his wife, a Seminole County elementary-school teacher, were found dead Monday in their New Smyrna Beach home, police said.

Brady, 58, retired recently after 23 years as regional legal adviser to the FDLE's Orlando operations center. Pamela Palmer Brady, 56, was a 27-year teaching veteran for Seminole County Public Schools. She helped open the new Crystal Lake Elementary School three years ago.

Police went to the couple's home on Cedar Avenue about 9:35 a.m. after Pamela Brady failed to show up for work at Crystal Lake Elementary School in Lake Mary, where she was a second-grade teacher, Seminole County Schools Superintendent Bill Vogel said.

"We're very saddened by this tragedy," Vogel said.

Grief counselors will be on hand at the elementary school, a Seminole County Schools spokeswoman said. Staff "are very involved, at the school site, with taking care of the needs of the children and staff, and getting the school back to everyday routines and the business of education," she said.

In a statement, Joyce Dawley, special agent in charge of the FDLE in Orlando, praised Brady's professional dedication.

"Steve was both well-known and widely regarded, and was a friend to many within the law enforcement profession," the statement reads. "He touched all he knew with his sense of humor. His FDLE family will miss him deeply."

Brady, a Melbourne native and a 1977 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, FDLE spokeswoman Sharon Gogerty said.

He was placed on leave with pay about a month ago, she said, but she would not say why.

A Port Orange man sought an injunction for protection against Brady last month, claiming he was physically attacked and had his life threatened after catching the man and his wife in a sexual relationship.

Douglas C. Canter filed paperwork Aug. 15 requesting the injunction against Brady, but a week later filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of the action.

The FDLE placed Brady on paid leave Aug. 15 and he retired Sept. 15. The state agency would not release details about the paid leave because it is part of an open internal investigation.

In the paperwork Canter filed seeking the injunction, he said that he had contacted Brady's boss.

Canter said that after he walked in on Brady and his wife, Brady placed him in a choke hole until he lost consciousness.

Canter said Brady said, at least five times: "I am going to kill you."

Brady "is a law enforcement officer and carries multiple firearms and is fully capable of carrying out [the] threat," Canter wrote.

Canter also said that Brady tried to run him over while he was standing in his driveway, "striking me with his vehicle and knocking me to the ground."

Brady, a former Seminole County prosecutor and Orange County public defender, also was a published author. Murder Revisited: A True Story of Deadly Deception was published about a dozen years ago, co-written with a true-crime writer and based on a case Brady worked on with FDLE agents in Tampa.

Susan Jacobson can be reached at sjacobson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-540-5981. Gary Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7910.