Attorney general’s office to review investigation into death of Dr. John Marshall

An investigative team from the Washington State Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the investigation into the mysterious death of Dr. John Marshall.

Marshall, interim Chief of Surgery at Mann-Grandstaff Veteran Affairs Medical Center, went missing in January 2016 and a day later was found dead floating in the Spokane River.

Marshall’s widow, Suzan Entwistle, raised questions about the Spokane Police Department’s response to her husband’s disappearance and their subsequent investigation.

Four years later, the SPD has asked the attorney general’s Homicide Investigation Tracking System, or HITS, team to review its investigation of Marshall’s death.

The family has raised quite a few questions, said Sgt. Terry Preuninger, a police spokesman.

“We welcome somebody else to come take a look,” Preuninger said.

The HITS team receives about 800 requests for information or assistance each year, said Brionna Aho, spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office.

The team reviews investigations and provides a different perspective, the HITS website says.

Entwistle, a former trauma surgeon, repeatedly raised concerns that SPD and the medical examiner’s office were not being forthright about the evidence related to her husband’s death.

After years of advocating for further investigation and review in her husband’s case, Entwistle has become an advocate for other families who believe their loved one’s deaths were not properly investigated.

While the HITS team is not starting a new investigation, Preuninger said a review is still done by investigators who will ask their own questions.

Entwistle did not immediately respond to request for comment.