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Decorah police chief defends death investigation
The Decorah police chief is defending an investigation that ruled the death of a Luther College student an accident caused by hypothermia.
Bill Nixon said Wednesday his department investigated all avenues in the Jan. 1 death of Nabby Baffour-Awuah, and their findings back the ruling that he froze to death after a night of drinking. Nixon says "there was no evidence to suggest there were suspicious circumstances or foul play."
The chief issued the statement after Baffour-Awuah's family members criticized the investigation as inadequate. They say there is evidence to suggest Baffour-Awuah was assaulted or chased before his death, including a frantic 911 call he made shortly after getting into a cab with strangers.
The driver says Baffour-Awuah jumped out of the cab and started running for no apparent reason.
This undated photo provided by the Decorah Police Department shows the broken cell phone of Nabby Baffour-Awuah outside a Luther College building in Decorah, Iowa, where he made a 911 call shortly before he died of hypothermia on Jan. 1, 2011, according to police. Family members broke their silence in a statement issued to The Associated Press, saying they believe the 24-year-old from Ghana was assaulted and/or chased before his Jan. 1 death on the campus in Decorah. (AP Photo/ Decorah Police Department)
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