Turner unfit to be coroner

I am writing this letter to oppose the candidacy of Dennis Turner for county coroner. I believe this matter to be of public interest and of an urgent plea to this community. I began investigating Mr. Turner after several discrepancies in the finances of a business for which he was the appointed manager. I have current litigation pending against him in civil court.

Mr. Turner has made statements to this community that he is a retired detective with vast amounts of investigative experience. I conducted a personal investigation pursuant to Ohio Sunshine request. His statements are over-inflated. He was a part-time patrol officer for the city of Bainbridge and the South Russell Village in Ohio. He spent most of his full-time career as the director over security at an amusement park called Sea World. He sued the prior township he worked for as a patrolman for age discrimination once he arrived in Missouri.

Mr. Turner and his wife moved to Ralls County, Missouri almost five hours from Cape Girardeau in 2007. Turner was appointed a deputy coroner in 2006 and our county paid Turner from 2007 to March 1, 2008 despite him living in a county five hours from Cape Girardeau County.

He proclaims to be a Republican but he submitted his application for candidacy in Ralls County as a Democrat (2/2008) prior to even resigning his position as deputy coroner in Cape County.

When I created a public group page to expose this information, Jeff Hine, attorney of Turner, sent my attorney threats to seek a restraining order for posting the public information and expressing my political views.

Political speech is a protected right and voters should be able to voice political speech without fear. This community has a legal right to know where their tax dollars have been spent and determine if they are being utilized appropriately.

Ralls County residents have provided poor publicly posted reviews of Mr. Turner on Facebook. For the benefit of all tax paying citizens I have written this letter. I hope residents will consider this information Aug. 4 when they vote.

Shannon Nevil-Masterson, 2062 Steven Dr., Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63701