SANDUSKY COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - Strong words in the courtroom Thursday as a former Sandusky County Sheriff's detective, was sentenced.
"And you have not only dishonored yourself, Sean O'Connell, you have dishonored all of the thousands of police officers across the country, men and women that get up everyday, risk their lives for our good," said Judge Patricia Cosgrove.
Sean O'Connell, will send 24 months in prison, after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence in the Heather Bogle murder case.
"He not only failed my sister, but he also failed all of the citizens of Sandusky County. How he can even consider to say that he tried his best to solve her case is completely beyond me," said Jennifer Bogle, Heather's sister.
Jennifer said her family has gone through over three years of anguish over O'Connell's investigation.
But instead of following all potential leads, it seemed O'Connell was too focused on three individuals who lived at the apartment complex that Heather's body was discovered in April of 2015.
One of those people, Keyona Bor, said her life was ruined after being falsely identified as a person of interest in the case.
"Three years later and I'm still trying to get my life back. I've lost all credibility in the community. I have lost numerous jobs, I have lost everything that I have owned," said Bor.
While being questioned, O'Connell admitted to not giving all of his case files to the county prosecutor and only giving a synopsis that focused on those three individuals and not other leads.
O'Connell said he only sent the synopsis to "throw the prosecutor a bone" to show what he had in the case and that the whole case file was never seen by the prosecutor before the case was taken from him.
O'Connell also admitted he didn't personally track the cellphone ping from Heather's phone on the night she was murdered.
"I am not technology savvy, if you will. Meaning, I relied heavily on BCI to get what I needed pertaining to anything pertaining to phone analysis." said O'Connell
O'Connell claims he was simply following the leads put before him, even though he acknowledge that he dismissed other leads that both the prosecutor and judge said could have lead to an arrest in a matter of weeks.
Including an email from a Whirlpool employee implicating Daniel Myers as a potential suspect 3 days after the murder.
Daniel Myers was arrested ans charged with the murder of Heather Bogle in 2017 after the investigation was picked up again by the Sandusky County Sheriff's office.
O'Connell even told Heather's family he still believed he did not purposefully undermine the murder investigation.
"I can assure you that I was just doing everything in my power, as a police officer, to find those persons responsible for Heather's death," said O'Connell.
Visiting Judge Patricia Cosgrove said police officers should be held to a higher standard because of the innate trust in them from the community and to lessen the sentence for O'Connell would demean the crime.
Ketona Bor said she is happy that O'Connell us being made an example for all of law enforcement.
"There's so many other people that have been falsely accused, that actually went to prison, that are actually spending time and had their lives destroyed. So, for someone in law enforcement to actually recognize that as a judge, that was a good thing," said Bor.
Now with the investigative side of the Heather Bogle Murder case now wrapped up, the next step is the Daniel Myers murder trial that is set to begin on October 22nd.
