April 11, 2011

Dear Whatcom County Employees and Elected Officials,

I’m sending you an e-mail that I’ll be sending to Sheriff Elfo. He’s up for re-election and there
are things that have happened under his charge that need to have the light of day shed on them. There’s
a reason that two of his own deputies are running against him.

My husband, Paul Murphy is a deputy with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office. He’s honorable
and trustworthy. If you were ever the victim of a crime, you could count on him to do his utmost to help
you. I have written a couple of letters explaining in depth a situation regarding one of the sheriff’s
deputies, Steve Cooley and have posted them on Scribd an online publishing site:
http://www.scribd.com/notcrazyyet/shelf. Along with the letters I’ve posted the documents that
support my allegations. As public servants and fellow citizens of Whatcom County, I hope you’ll take the
time to read them.

With thanks,

Lori K. Murphy

Dear Sheriff Elfo,

For reasons unknown, you have chosen to wrong my husband, Paul Murphy. You started on this
path over five years ago, after my husband turned in an information memo about then Sgt. Steve
Cooley. The investigation showed that the allegations against Deputy Cooley were sustained. He
provided alcohol to a minor. He abused his position of authority. He failed to conduct his private life
morally. He “sullied” his private life. He was punished and then you promoted him to Patrol Lieutenant
and put my husband back on patrol. My husband sincerely hoped that Lt. Cooley would put the past
behind him, i.e. not get back at my husband for reporting him. As you well know, that did not happen.

It flies in the face of reason that you promoted Steve Cooley merely because he was remorseful
for his actions. In your capacity as Sheriff, you fired Andy Koch for making a lewd, crude remark in
public to a woman who was not his wife. Somehow, that seems rather minor in comparison to what
Deputy Cooley did and yet, Andy got fired. It’s not relevant that the firing was contested and that your
office settled out of court for wrongful firing. It’s an example of a blatant application of different
standards to different individuals. Lt. Ferry was fired for alleged sexual harassment of an intern but Sgt.
Cooley doesn’t get fired for his misdeeds? Chief Moyes got demoted all the way down to sergeant for
misappropriating a water cooler bottle (that’s what I’ve heard) but Sgt. Cooley didn’t get demoted back
to patrol deputy?

In my opinion, such actions are not just an example of a double standard but are a reflection of
corruption. That’s my letter posted on a social network, my opinion, my writing stating that there is
corruption within the WCSO. Paul has spent the past five years in a hostile work environment thanks to
you. He is an honorable man, hardworking, intelligent and exceedingly thorough. We’ve been married
for over 26 years so I’m a credible witness about his character. He did not go public with the
information about Steve Cooley. That was me. I’ve reached the breaking point. I will do my best to
inform the public of your actions. You have no idea how stressful the last five years have been and this
last internal investigation against Paul was a mockery of justice. I mean, “Chief Cooley” conducted the
interview. How could anyone think that Cooley would be able to regard Paul without malice or bias?
Cooley would have to be a saint to rise above those feelings and he’s already demonstrated that
sainthood is not on his “to do” list.

As a lifelong, fourth generation county resident, I don’t want a Sheriff who promotes a man with
such low morals and unethical behavior as Steve Cooley. I don’t want a Sheriff who will tell a lie about
one of his deputies by telling people that “Paul was blowing it out of proportion” in regards to Cooley’s
malfeasance. The memo of discipline against Cooley backs up everything Paul claimed. Therefore, your
subsequent actions are not only inexplicable but are those of a man without integrity. You should be
ashamed of yourself. It is my request, that you withdraw your candidacy for Sheriff. I think that like
Undersheriff James, Deputies Barriball, Smith, Huntoon and others, it is time for you to retire from law
enforcement.

Sincerely, Lori K. Murphy