Investigator Who Brought in Dana Point Killer Is Honored

As Orange County sheriff's investigator Mike Thompson was about to receive a Medal of Merit today, he recalled how his first homicide case led to the honor.

It started with no body and unproven suspicion about a con man who engineered a complicated fraud scheme and disappeared before being corralled with help from TV's "America's Most Wanted."  See their report here.

Thompson said it was a good thing he worked in the economic crimes unit before being promoted to homicide investigator.

"I had a background in fraud, so that certainly helped me get the financial records," he said, referring to the 15 five-inch-thick, three-ring binders he ended up with.

Smooth-talking had a lot of explanations for the disappearance of his "investment partner," Robert Vendrick, Thompson said.

"We were convinced early on in the investigation that he was murdered," and that the most likely suspect was Shawkey, who convinced Vendrick to invest $1.2 million in a series of projects that all failed, the investigator said.

"The toughest part was proving Mr. Vendrick was not alive," Thompson said.

Shawkey at one point said he went to Mexico and saw Vendrick, who he claimed had gone there to "disappear" with $500,000 in cash.

"His story just wasn't reasonable to us," Thompson said, adding Shawkey had never been to Mexico before and didn't speak the language.

Shawkey was used to conning investors, but he had less luck with interrogators, Thompson said.

"I think he thought he was going to talk his way out of this, too," Thompson said.

Shawkey was sentenced to life in prison without parole, though authorities never found Vendrick's body. He was last seen at Dana Point Harbor on Feb. 16, 2008, where he had gone to meet Shawkey.

Recipients of the Medal of Merit, besides Thompson, were Sgt. David Harrington, Sgt. John Hollenbeck, Deputy Ashraf Abdelmuti and Deputy Quyen Vuong.

Medal of Courage winners were Deputy Jerry Contreras, Deputy John Gomez, Deputy George Miller, Deputy Thom Spratt, and Senior Deputy Coroner Bradley Olsen.

The Distinguished Deputy Medal was awarded to Lt. Robert Wren, and Tustin police Officer Tim Carson was honored with a Plaque for Courage.