SOUTH BEND — An investigation is ongoing into the custodial death of Curtis S. Kirschbaum, 42, inside the Pacific County Jail on Oct. 7. The man’s death marks the second death inside the facility in the past two years.

Pacific County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Chief Criminal Deputy Randy Wiegardt is leading the internal investigation into what exactly happened — although suicide has been ruled the preliminary cause of death. An autopsy is being conducted by the Thurston County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the official cause.

Along with Wiegardt, PCSO Detectives Cory Nacnac and Kevin Acdal are investigating the potential motive behind the death. Kirschbaum was held in the jail on a $5,000 misdemeanor warrant for failure to appear for a hearing and only faced minimal charges — felony charges for two alleged criminal mischief incidents were dismissed.

He was not facing significant jail time.

What we know

The Raymond Fire Department and South Bend Volunteer Fire Departments were dispatched to the report of “CPR in progress” inside the jail at 5:02 p.m. Two deputies from the sheriff’s office also responded to the scene. Medical crews cleared the scene at 5:40 p.m.

The incident occurred during mealtime inside the jail, which might have temporarily diverted the attention of corrections officers. Three corrections officers were working at the time of the incident and did not hear anyone in distress.

At 7:10 p.m., it was confirmed that an inmate inside the PCJ had perished by what was believed to be “suicide.”

The following day, Oct. 8, at 1:12 p.m., the sheriff’s office confirmed the individual was Kirschbaum and that the next of kin were notified — and added that the name could be released. This distressed some family members, who later said not everyone knew at the time of a news report. (In general, the Observer doesn’t report details about suicides. However, in the case of deaths in jail, where there is a legal duty to keep inmates safe, there are public-policy reasons for complete examination of the circumstances.)

Investigators have interviewed corrections officers and inmates; additional interviews are scheduled this week. At the moment, no one has reported that Kirschbaum showed any signs that he was contemplating taking his own life.

No outside investigation

The sheriff’s office has opted not to bring in external investigators to investigate Kirschbaum’s death, and will instead only carry out an internal investigation at this time.

The agency plans to wait to get outside eyes on the investigation until an unexpected death panel is formulated — State law requires a diverse panel to be called to order within 120 days of an unexpected custodial death.

The panel would be tasked with reviewing the entire investigation, determining whether anyone should be held accountable for the fatality, considering criminal charges, and making any recommendations that could prevent a similar incident from occurring again.

“If it was more suspicious like in the case of Ms. Greenler, then absolutely [we would bring in external investigators],” Cmdr. Michael Parker said. “But also, back then, we did not have the capability to investigate something like this internally.”

“Since we have sent Randy [Weigardt] and Sgt. [Kyle] Pettit out to an internal investigation course, they both have the investigative knowledge and experience to go ahead and handle this one in-house,” Parker added.

Parker plans to have the unexpected death panel be composed of professionals and experts from outside the area who have no local ties or interests. He aims to acquire individuals without knowledge of the area or the case.

The case Parker mentioned in his comment referencing Ms. Greenler is regarding the in-custody death of Crystal R. Greenler on Dec. 13, 2022. She died inside the jail from pneumonia — and mistakes by a corrections officer and physician’s assistant have been blamed for her death.

The Pacific County General Administration and Pacific County Commission have little involvement in the investigation. The incident was handed over to the county’s insurance provider, the Washington Counties Risk Pool. The agency will likely carry out a separate investigation.

The risk pool does have the authority to demand and require an outside agency to investigate the incident. County Risk Manager Marie Guernsey has not specified what action the risk pool may or may not take moving forward — she has declined to make any comments while the investigation is ongoing.

There is no timeline for when the investigation will be finished.