The LAPD's Ghoul Book: Kobe Bryant's death pics are just part of SICK trend
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: On Friday, August 12, a former LA cop revealed a sick tradition incorporated by other police officers. The officers allegedly maintain journals containing gruesome images of deceased superstars and other famous individuals, like Kobe Bryant, for their amusement. According to veteran LAPD special detective Adam Bercovici, his colleagues save special mementos of tragedies related to renowned individuals and exchange them with one another in changing rooms and other informal situations.
Bercovici testified, "These death books are widely spread and well-known. Officers keep them as souvenirs and they have no investigative value." On the third day of the hearing for the federal case of Vanessa Bryant v LA county, Bercovici testified as an expert witness. He stated that when he was working as a cop, he was handed a "ghoul book" depicting Nicole Brown Simpson's virtually beheaded body. "It was a random Polaroid and I said to myself, ‘That’s not supposed to be going around.’ I said, ‘That was not cool.’ It was very graphic," he said. He also mentioned that this issue is common throughout Southern California's police departments.
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Judge says Vanessa Bryant cannot show ALL horrifying messages she got after Kobe’s death to jury
On January 26, 2020, NBA star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident. Several weeks after the horrific crash, the partner of an LA County fireman testified that she witnessed a firefighter sharing images obtained from the incident with his coworkers. According to testimony from Luella Weireter, Tony Imbrenda of the LA County Fire Department was seen showing off the tragic pictures at an awards ceremony on February 15, 2020. Luella, who was connected to Keri Altobelli, a woman who perished during the same disaster as Kobe, reportedly felt disgusted and broke down in tears after seeing the pictures.
"He had his phone in front of him and they were looking at his phone. When I did glance, I saw them staring at his phone. I was just disgusted, shocked, and was just trying to hold my composure but I was emotional," she expressed. Despite the dangers associated with her spouse's employment there, Luella claimed she eventually filed a report with the Fire Department around three weeks afterward. "What [Imbrenda] did was wrong. Something had to be done … I didn’t want to see it happen again."
A bartender stated on Thursday that a deputy from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department had shown him images of the horrific accident scene involving the deceased NBA star. There is no proof that the horrendous pictures were disseminated publicly, according to the statement written by Los Angeles County's legal team.
Bercovici said the National Transportation Safety Board and the County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner are the only ones who should be permitted to collect photos of a crime or accident scene. The former cop had been compensated $28,000 as a plaintiff's consultant. "There was no reason for (deputies) to take the photos, and if they did that, the photos should become evidence and should be preserved. You need clear, specific policies that applied to multiple situations. You have to have accountability when these policies are violated," he said.
Bercovici claimed the county Sheriff's Department did nothing to protect the photos that had been exchanged by officers and emergency officials. He also claimed to have read through a plethora of reports in 40 hours. He continued by explaining that the officers' cells ought to have also been retained for any domestic inquiries into the incident or the federal probe. According to Bercovici, the officers and first responders were, however, instructed to delete any evidence of the images from their private devices. "You’re missing everything to conduct an investigation... in order to get to the truth of what happened," said the veteran.
Vanessa Bryant alleges in her complaint that officers and firefighters exchanged pictures of the wreckage of her deceased spouse after a helicopter crash in January 2020. In the collision, her 13-year-old daughter Gianna also perished. The lawsuits of Bryant and Chris Chester, an Orange County financial consultant who lost both his wife, Sarah and 13-year-old child, Payton, in the tragedy, were combined by US District Judge John Walter. In the basketball squad that the NBA legend taught at Mamba Sports Academy, Gianna Bryant and Payton played as teammates.