Cape County coroner candidate answers accusations with training certificates

Responding to suggestions he had not completed mandated training, Cape Girardeau County coroner candidate Dennis Turner on Thursday provided certificates indicating he had completed training in 2018 and 2019 with a group other than the state coroners/medical examiners group.

Turner, chief deputy coroner for Cape Girardeau County, emailed certificates from the Las Vegas-based International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners showing he completed 24 hours of training at the group’s Advanced Medicolegal Training Symposium in July 2018 and again in July 2019. The group canceled its 2020 training because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an email, Turner said he opted for the group’s training, rather than training provided by the Missouri Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, because of scheduling concerns.

“I started participating in their training because (deputy coroner) David Taylor and I can’t both be out of the county at the same time, and he has been on the board of the state association for several years and his attendance is required,” he stated. “Additionally, my goal for our department is to become accredited by the international association.”

He added he paid for expenses — beyond the registration fee, which he said is less than the state association’s training registration fee — himself.

A call to the international association’s office to verify the certificates was not returned as of presstime.

Turner had been challenged on training attendance the past four years, and by telephone Wednesday said he could “not speak to” records indicating his attendance at training in 2016 and 2017.

Turner is one of three Republicans vying for the post held by John Clifton, who announced in early July he will retire at the end of this year. The other candidates are K. Gerald “Jerry” Swan and Wavis Jordan.

Addressing the accusations, Turner said he has remained above the political fray.

“I’ve not responded to all of their hate because I refuse to engage in that type of campaign,” he wrote in an email. “I think it neither honorable nor Christian-like, and it will only devolve into a ‘he-said-he-said’ argument.”