http://www.sierratimes.com/03/09/10/ap_dead_fed.htm
Defender of Waco Killers Found Dead in Texas
The Associated Press
SOUR LAKE, Texas (AP) - A former federal prosecutor who defended the U.S. government in a lawsuit filed by surviving Branch Davidians was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
A police officer checking on an abandoned vehicle found the body of former U.S. Attorney J. Michael Bradford shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
``He found a BMW, which was unusual, because it's a nice vehicle and it was parked out in the woods ... it had a briefcase in it, clothes and a sports jacket in it, so he started looking around,'' Hardin County Sheriff Ed Cain said.
He said the officer found the body and a shotgun about 75 feet from the car. Cain said it appears the gunshot wound to the head was self-inflicted.
``It's pretty clear as to what happened,'' he said. ``We have no indication of foul play.''
Bradford had been reported missing for about a day, investigators said.
Cain said Bradford had some business affairs and other things, including a note, left behind that indicated that he planned to kill himself. Cain did not know what was in the note.
Bradford represented the federal government in the 2000 trial of a $675 million wrongful death suit that surviving Branch Davidians and family members filed after the fiery end to the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco in 1993.
Bradford, who had been in private practice recently with a Beaumont law firm, was appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas in 1994. He served until May 2001. Before his appointment to the district that stretches from far southeast Texas to the Dallas area, he was a state district judge and a federal magistrate.
He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
Defender of Waco Killers Found Dead in Texas
The Associated Press
SOUR LAKE, Texas (AP) - A former federal prosecutor who defended the U.S. government in a lawsuit filed by surviving Branch Davidians was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
A police officer checking on an abandoned vehicle found the body of former U.S. Attorney J. Michael Bradford shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
``He found a BMW, which was unusual, because it's a nice vehicle and it was parked out in the woods ... it had a briefcase in it, clothes and a sports jacket in it, so he started looking around,'' Hardin County Sheriff Ed Cain said.
He said the officer found the body and a shotgun about 75 feet from the car. Cain said it appears the gunshot wound to the head was self-inflicted.
``It's pretty clear as to what happened,'' he said. ``We have no indication of foul play.''
Bradford had been reported missing for about a day, investigators said.
Cain said Bradford had some business affairs and other things, including a note, left behind that indicated that he planned to kill himself. Cain did not know what was in the note.
Bradford represented the federal government in the 2000 trial of a $675 million wrongful death suit that surviving Branch Davidians and family members filed after the fiery end to the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco in 1993.
Bradford, who had been in private practice recently with a Beaumont law firm, was appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas in 1994. He served until May 2001. Before his appointment to the district that stretches from far southeast Texas to the Dallas area, he was a state district judge and a federal magistrate.
He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.
