SALT LAKE CITY — A group of University of Utah police officers made inappropriate comments about explicit photos of a student who had submitted the pictures as evidence in an extortion case shortly before her shooting death, an investigation found Wednesday.
Utah’s Department of Public Safety opened an investigation after the Salt Lake Tribune unearthed allegations that an officer had shown off the images of 21-year-old track athlete Lauren McCluskey before her 2018 slaying.
Her shooting death at the hands of a man she had briefly dated has roiled the institution and raised serious questions about how it handled her repeated reports that the man was harassing her before her death, including extorting her with the images she had sent him when they were involved.
University officials have acknowledged mistakes and made changes to policies and procedures. But they maintained that there’s no evidence her death could have been prevented.