VEVAY — The rolling hills of southeastern Indiana are 2,175 miles and nearly eight years removed from one of the most sensational murder cases in U.S. history.

        It's here that Philip Vannatter wants to practice a quieter brand of law enforcement.

Haskell

Vannatter

        The retired Los Angeles Police detective pursued O.J. Simpson through two years of investigation, two trials and a 305-page book.

        Now, he's one of two candidates for the Republican nomination for Switzerland County sheriff in the May 7 primary. Four Democrats also are seeking the job. Sheriff Wayne Browning is not running for re-election.

        Mr. Vannatter, 60, was a lead detective in the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

        He was one of the first detectives to arrive at Ms. Simpson's home.

        He testified at length during Mr. Simpson's televised 1995 murder trial.

        But a year later, Mr. Vannatter retired and moved with his wife, Rita, to a 73-acre farm about six miles east of Vevay.

        Today, he says he's running for sheriff to give something back to a community he's come to love and cherish after 27 years serving a city of 4 million people.

        “I think I can make the department more professional,” Mr. Vannatter says. “And I think I can upgrade the service.”

The streets are quiet outside AJ's Diner in Vevay; most businesses in the town take Thursday afternoons off. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        But some of Switzerland's 9,000 residents question whether he is the right fit for a job that has been largely a personal and neighborly community leadership role.

        Violent crime is rare here, and the biggest news in the past 10 years was the building of Belterra Casino Resort in nearby Florence.

        “Phil's a big-city detective and we're a small, rural farming community,” says Pete Furnish, who considers Mr. Vannatter a friend. “There's just no comparison. There's a lot more to being a sheriff ... than a good police background. The sheriff is more than just a sheriff. He's a neighbor, and he's a friend.”
       

"It was our case'
        Early on the morning of June 13, 1994, Mr. Vannatter and fellow LAPD Detective Tom Lange were assigned to investigate the Simpson-Goldman slayings.

        “It made myself and Lange recognizable all over the country,” Mr. Vannatter says. “I was called out the night of the murders, and Lange and I had it through the whole thing. It was our case.”

        In 1997, Mr. Vannatter and Mr. Lange co-authored a book on the case, Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson.

        Mr. Simpson was acquitted in his criminal trial but found culpable in a civil trial.

        Phil and Rita Vannatter raise pleasure horses and have renovated a large two-story farmhouse.

        The county is home to scores of spacious farms and two tiny towns, neither of which has a full traffic light.

        It's a growing county, fueled in part by the opening of Belterra riverboat in late 1999. The casino generated $8.6 million for the county in 2001.

        “It's 180 degrees different from living in a large city,” Mr. Vannatter says. “It's more comfortable, the people are friendlier, the people are more willing to help you. It's a lifestyle that I want to adopt.

        “It's the greatest secret that's never been discovered by city people,” he says.

        One question is key: Can Mr. Vannatter's high-profile police career best a native son, albeit one who has no law enforcement experience?

John Haskell, a Republican, also wants the county sheriff's job. | ZOOM |

        Republican opponent John Haskell, 44, is a former dairy farmer who now sells used cars.

        “My advantage is that I know everybody in those small towns, and I know everybody out in the country,” Mr. Haskell says. “Very few people would know him.”

        Mr. Haskell spends his days off putting up signs, shaking hands and visiting farms. He has served 18 years on the Switzerland County School Board.

        Mr. Vannatter has been in Los Angeles since Thanksgiving working on unsolved slayings for the LAPD. He returns at the end of April.

        Vevay, the county's largest town, is an Ohio River community of 1,800. Most people have known each other for generations. Newcomers sometimes take years to fit in.

        The town shuts down every Thursday afternoon; the courthouse, stores and even some banks close for a siesta.

        The Republican sheriff primary has drawn some passing interest.

        Some residents wonder if Mr. Vannatter can be a sheriff who can provide the personal service they demand.

        “I think law enforcement in California and law enforcement in Switzerland County (are) entirely two different things,” says Martin Norman. “People here all know my problems, and if it were a health problem would be able to react to it right away.

        “Vannatter certainly isn't going to know that,” Mr. Norman says. “I don't think the people are ready for that high-powered stuff.”

        Walter Cotton was among the local Republican Party leaders who encouraged Mr. Vannatter to run but he acknowledges local ties help candidates.

        “The family is the most important thing down here,” says Mr. Cotton, a 15-year Vevay resident. “This is not an outsider community, and that's what you have to battle.”
       

GOP makes inroads
        In a county that is about 60 percent Democratic, the sheriff's office has switched between the parties the last 16 years. Two Republicans and two Democrats have each served four-year terms.

        Republicans are making inroads.

        “Many years ago you couldn't find a Republican on a ballot in Switzerland County,” says Jill Hutcherson, Switzerland GOP chairman. “We've been making gains yearly getting Republicans elected.”

        Whoever becomes sheriff will have to deal with a crime rate on the upswing.

        Authorities are investigating nearly 30 break-ins in the last several weeks, and traffic citations have jumped from 518 in 1998 to 683 last year, largely due to Belterra visitors.

        There still is little violent crime in the county.

        “Our demographics are changing so quickly our computers can't keep up with it,” says Deric Brown, director of communications for the county.

        In addition to the sheriff, the department has seven full-time deputies and several auxiliary deputy volunteers. That compares to 7,284 officers on LAPD.

        The county plans to build a new sheriff's office and jail.

        “The sheriff's department is going to have to grow to keep up with it,” Mr. Brown says. “The next sheriff is going to have his hands full. He'd better be ready.”
       

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