‘He was proud of what he did.’ Benton deputies say ex-sheriff admitted to crimes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Deputies testified ex‑Sheriff Jerry Hatcher admitted domestic violence and tampering.
- Top commanders said Hatcher coerced his ex to retract claims and dictated the letter.
- Several deputies allege retaliation, PTSD diagnoses, and seek millions in damages.
Multiple members of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office command staff say recalled ex-Sheriff Jerry Hatcher admitted to domestic violence and witness tampering, but got away with it anyway.
The deputies testified under oath this week in a civil case against Benton County in Walla Walla Superior Court. They claimed that not only did Hatcher admit he choked his ex-wife Monica Hatcher in 2019, but he bragged about dictating her retraction statement resulting in the charges being dropped.
“They can only charge me with witness tampering,” Hatcher allegedly told then-Lt. Mat Clarke in 2021, because the statute of limitations had expired on the domestic violence allegations.
Clarke is one of six current and former deputies and members of the Benton County sheriff’s command staff suing the county over Hatcher’s behavior. The group, who are asking for millions in damages, are Mat Clarke, Jason Erickson, Jon Law, Erik Magnuson, Steve Caughey and Todd Carlson. Two of them, Caughey and Carlson, allege they were forced out of their jobs.
‘No question it happened’
The conversation came during a 6 a.m. meeting when Hatcher was allegedly demanding loyalty from Clarke.
He said it was one of the defining moments of his career, leading to him nearly giving up on his long career in law enforcement rather than continue to be around Hatcher.
Clarke is now the commander of the sheriff’s office patrol division, but at times under Hatcher he said it wasn’t clear whether he would be demoted or fired if he refused to fall in line. Clark said that when he tried to push back against the former sheriff’s behavior, as he said he did in this meeting, he was threatened with demotion.
“I have the elected sheriff standing in my office admitting to me as a law enforcement officer those crimes happened,” Clarke told a Walla Walla jury Tuesday.
Clarke said he was shocked that charges were dropped when Hatcher had allegedly admitted to committing a crime.
“In all my law enforcement career I don’t know how a case can go in front of prosecutors and be dismissed within several days,” he said. “I have no idea how that happens.”
Undersheriff Jon Law gave similar testimony Monday, saying Hatcher admitted he told his ex-wife what to write in order to stop a Washington State Patrol criminal investigation. Law was a commander at the time, but still the top deputy until an undersheriff was named near the end of Hatcher’s tenure.
“Jerry confessed to doing it, we had all this information from Monica and then suddenly ‘bam’ it’s gone,” Law testified. “There’s no question it happened. I was worried about what was going to happen (to Monica), is it going to repeat itself?”
Law said when he pushed back on the sheriff, he was also met with a demand for loyalty.
“Jerry told me, ‘This is a matter between my wife and I, and we’re done here,’” Law said. “His story was they met up, he helped her write this letter. She was typing it, and he was talking about how he was going to send it off to the state patrol.”
“He was proud of what he did,” Law said. “He didn’t say this, but you could tell he was proud of changing the course of this investigation.”
New criminal investigation
Both men said they were ashamed to have supported Hatcher’s bid for sheriff and the taint he’d placed on the office they revered.
It’s unclear who reported Hatcher’s claims to the Washington State Patrol, but the investigation into witness tampering was reopened in 2021.
After sending the letter retracting her accusation in the initial investigation, Monica Hatcher had told WSP investigators that her ex-husband had pressured her, but it appeared there was never enough evidence to pursue charges.
This week’s testimony from two of the top commanders at the sheriff’s office appears to be the first public acknowledgment that they attempted to report that Hatcher had allegedly admitted to the crimes.
Clarke testified that in the subsequent interviews, he told WSP investigators that Hatcher had allegedly admitted it. Benton County’s attorney, Andrew Cooley, pointed to this as evidence that investigators were doing their job to hold Hatcher accountable.
In a sidebar discussion with the judge without the jury present, Clarke said that soon after the investigation was reopened Hatcher made an excuse to put him on leave.
Hatcher allegedly used a pursuit that ended in a wreck as an excuse to put Clarke on a brief leave of absence in retaliation for his role in the WSP investigation and recall campaign.
Clarke said he was pressured to change the report in a way that would implicate Erickson had ordered his patrol deputies to violate department policy during the pursuit. He refused.
This portion of the conversation happened without the jury in the room due to an earlier order by Judge Brandon L. Johnson to keep the trial focused on how Hatcher’s actions impacted deputies, not the county’s policies or ability to stop Hatcher.
With the jury back in the room Cooley argued the leave was not disciplinary in nature and allowed Clarke to fully focus on cooperating with investigators without having to deal with Hatcher at the time.
Afterward, Cooley asked for a mistrial – his third one since the trial began. Judge Johnson denied the motion.
A special prosecutor was assigned to review the witness tampering case, but never brought charges against Hatcher with the statute of limitations also expiring. Hatcher was removed from office by voters in August 2021. He has since moved out of state.
Long road to recovery
As with the other deputies, Cooley also questioned whether Clarke completed the recommended mental health care plans.
Clarke said his personal life was falling apart, and his wife forced him to get into therapy.
Most of the deputies had been seeing the same counselor after the recall election.
When the therapist’s adult daughter was killed by a spouse and many of the deputies responded to the crime scene, she was unable to continue providing their care.
“(Hatcher) beat us down, and he beat us down and everything was our fault,” Clarke told the jury. “I was placed on administrative leave, my career was in jeopardy. It wrecked me as a person, it wrecked me as a father.”
Clarke, Carlson, Erickson and Magnuson were diagnosed with PTSD. Caughey and Law were diagnosed with chronic adjustment disorder.
Clarke said he still struggles with the fallout and plans to continue counseling after the trial is over.
