Murder charge dismissed against Kansas deputy in jail death investigators long ago determined was no crime 

A judge dismissed a murder-or-manslaughter charge against a Wyandotte County, Kansas, deputy Thursday in the 2025 death of a combative and medically compromised jail inmate. 

Heartlander News first revealed exclusively nearly a year ago that a Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) investigative affidavit of the July 5 death of inmate Charles Adair, 50, never even cited a crime in the incident – not even an unintentional one. 

Deputy Richard Fatherley, who had joined others in restraining a quarrelsome Adair while they tried to remove his handcuffs in his cell, had been charged by Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree’s office with second-degree murder/reckless or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter.

The case was thrown out Thursday after a three-day preliminary hearing. Dupree says he’s going to appeal the dismissal.

The dismissal caught the eye of no less than the New York Times, perhaps because of the racial component: The inmate was black, the deputy white.

But both a criminal justice system veteran and Fatherley’s attorney, James Spies, told Heartlander News back in October they’d never seen a criminal affidavit of any kind that doesn’t even make note of a crime.

When asked if he found that remarkable, Spies said, “I find a lot of things about this case remarkable. So, I think, yes, I do find that remarkable.”

Heartlander News also asked the criminal justice veteran of 25 years, who asked for anonymity, if he’d ever seen another KBI affidavit that doesn’t address criminal charges. 

“I’ve never seen one from the KBI, the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office, or any other law enforcement agency,” he said. “It’s something I’ve never seen.”

Medical complications

What the KBI affidavit did address was Adair’s various medical conditions – quoting the autopsy report as listing “hypertensive cardiovascular disease and hepatic cirrhosis due to chronic alcoholism” as “contributory causes” to his death.

The KBI affidavit also cited untreated diabetes, leading to a prior hospital recommendation that his leg be amputated, “but he has refused.” The affidavit also says Adair told jailers of a pacemaker; blood clots in his left arm; high cholesterol and elevated fat levels in his blood; hypertension; and schizophrenia.

In addition, the affidavit says when Adair had previously tried to turn himself in to the jail “on numerous misdemeanor warrants and an NCIC warrant out of Johnson County,” he was turned away “due to a large infected wound on Adair’s left leg.”

He received treatment at Providence Medical Center for “osteomyelitis,” described as “an inflammation of the bone and bone marrow, usually caused by bacterial infection.”

The criminal justice veteran who spoke with Heartlander News, and who viewed bodycam video of the incident, said he found Adair’s pre-existing leg wound stunning in its size and scope, and the medical response to it in the jail striking. 

“If you were to see the video from the examination and the treatment up in the medical unit – if you were to see that or even just a couple of still shots from it that showed the wound from the deputy’s body cam – your jaw would hit the floor.

“I mean, it is the most remarkable wound I’ve ever seen.”

Media misconceptions

If Dupree wanted to make the case about Fatherley’s actions, he failed utterly – judging not just from the case’s remarkable dismissal Thursday, but also from what Heartlander News was told.

While Kansas City’s NPR station KCUR claimed last year that Fatherley held Adair down “for more than a minute” in “‘prone restraint,’ where an arrested person is placed face down on the ground so their arms can be pulled back and handcuffed,” and compared it to the 2020 death of George Floyd, the KBI affidavit and the criminal justice veteran say otherwise.

In fact, both say Adair’s hands were cuffed in front of him; he was kneeling with his torso on the bunk; and Fatherley’s knee was toward the lower back, not above the respiratory system.

KCUR’s headline on the case’s dismissal reads, “Wyandotte County deputy charged in inmate’s death gets criminal case dropped by judge.” It might well have read that the DA’s office simply didn’t prove a crime was committed by Fatherley or anyone else.

Indeed, the DA’s failure is all the more noteworthy by the fact that at the preliminary hearing that ended Thursday – intended to establish whether Fatherley should even face trial – the prosecutor’s burden of proof was much lower than at trial. The preliminary hearing burden of proof is known as “probable cause,” meaning simply more likely true than not.

It’s a much lower burden of proof than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” making the DA’s intent to continue seeking a finding of guilt beyond any reasonable doubt somewhat curious.

Red flags ignored

Both Spies and the criminal justice veteran told Heartlander News last October there was good reason to surmise the KBI simply didn’t believe a crime was committed. Last week, a KBI agent confirmed it in testimony.

On Monday, Spies told Heartlander News that despite the KBI’s telling Dupree’s office there was no crime in Adair’s death, the DA insisted that the KBI send over a criminal affidavit.

That affidavit, which Heartlander News has seen, provided no evidence of a crime and no recommendation of any charges against anyone.

Yet, armed with a KBI affidavit that he insisted on and that provides no basis for criminal charges, Dupree not only filed charges against Fatherley, but is now appealing their dismissal.

Moving on

“Obviously relieved” is how Spies describes Fatherley’s feelings after the dismissal, though adding he’s “a little frustrated that they’re appealing, as I’m sure you can understand. He was hoping to move on with his life and get back to work. But we have to continue on with the fight.” 

Besides in the Kansas Court of Appeals, that fight will also take place in the court of public opinion – where having been charged with a crime and being demonized in some media will no doubt be a lingering wound.

Spies said the case was odd to begin with, given that the KBI affidavit didn’t support it.

“Oftentimes prosecutors won’t file charges unless they believe they can prove a case beyond reasonable doubt,” Spies says. “That’s not what the law requires as far as charging goes. You only have to have probable cause. But some prosecutors will hold themselves to that ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard before they even file charges.”

Yet, there’s no doubt the case will haunt in some quarters.

“We’ve already seen a lot of commentary online with people who had no idea of what the facts are, because they weren’t present in court, who believe that he should be prosecuted further, and should not continue working in law enforcement,” Spies says. “And that’s, again, based upon what they think the evidence is, rather than what they heard in court, because most of these people weren’t in court.

“So, I’m definitely concerned about the stigma that attaches in a situation like this and wondering if he will ever truly be able to move on with his life.”