MARION, Ohio -- He kept it to himself, but Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey had become increasingly suspicious of Deputy Joe Russell's ongoing battle with cancer.
Bailey had a nagging suspicion because of Russell's overall healthy appearance. But he hesitated to share that with his staff, who rallied around Russell and willingly gave more than 600 hours of their own sick-leave time for his recovery.
"I was alone," Bailey said. "There was really no way to find this or determine this. What I beat myself up over is, 'What could I have done?' "
Medical privacy laws prevented Bailey from delving into the illnesses of his deputy, who supposedly was sick off and on for four years. On Sept. 30, Russell committed suicide, shooting himself in his Delaware home. Deputies in dress uniform attended his funeral on Monday, perhaps wondering if his struggle against cancer had become too tough to bear.
But an autopsy revealed that Russell was not suffering from cancer. The 39-year-old deputy had scammed his friends and co-workers.
Russell likely fabricated it all -- the notes from doctors and the claims that he had, in quick succession, fought cancer in his lungs, brain and testicles, Bailey said.
Looking back, he thinks Russell also shaved his eyebrows and head and might have used tanning beds to make his skin appear red from cancer treatments.
Russell was married and had two daughters. Bailey said it appears Russell might have tricked his wife, Megan, who is a nurse, into believing that he was sick.
The couple attended a Fraternal Order of Police fundraiser in Marion in September 2007 at which Russell was a guest of honor. Organizers sold $15 tickets for a spaghetti dinner and auction.
Hundreds of people attended, some waiting in line an hour or two for a meal, said James Fitsko, president of the local union and a Marion city police detective.
The event raised $40,000. Half of the proceeds went to Russell for what organizers thought was experimental cancer treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore that was not covered by health insurance. The other half went to Marion Police Officer Cory Winfield, who had been injured in an off-duty motorcycle crash caused by a drunken driver.
"Everybody is absolutely, totally shocked," Fitsko said. "It's mind-numbing to imagine that this happened."
Bailey outlined Russell's cancer scam at a news conference yesterday, recalling how deputies would visit their "sick" colleague at his home and sit by his bedside.
Sheriff's employees donated more than 75 days of sick-leave days so that Russell could receive time off for cancer treatments.
"I'm just furious over it that he would do it," Bailey said. "I do not want the people in the community to think this is the way we operate at the sheriff's office.
"His personal friends in the department did not see any of this coming. They were just blasted."
The sheriff's office is conducting a review that will include a breakdown of Russell's time-off requests since he started at the sheriff's office in September 2004. Through September 2009, he had used 455 hours of sick time, but it's unclear how much of that time was requested for cancer-related treatments or recovery. Investigators are also trying to determine whether Russell was enrolled in the county's health-insurance plan and whether any fraudulent claims were filed.
Russell first said in 2005 that he was undergoing treatment for lung cancer, the sheriff said. He appeared to be successful in battling it.
In 2007, Russell said cancer had been discovered in his brain, intensifying sheriff's office efforts to assist him with a fundraiser and the donation of co-workers' unused sick leave.
This year, Russell said at least one testicle had been removed after cancer was found there, Bailey said. The autopsy found both testicles were intact.
"Basically, the shocker was that he said he had cancer and there's no evidence he had or ever had cancer."
Russell, who joined the office in 2004, was deputy of the year in Marion County in 2007. The sheriff praised Russell for his strength in battling brain cancer through "extremely difficult procedures and treatment."
Delaware Police Capt. Bruce Pijanowski said Russell's death was being investigated. His wife called police at 7:40 a.m. on Sept. 30 to report that Russell was threatening to kill himself. Officers found his body in an office in his home. He died of a gunshot wound to the head.
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