Douglas Culbreth, Retired Philadelphia Detective Who Investigated Abu-Jamal's Murder Of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, Has Died at 73

Robert Moran at the Philadelphia Inquirer offers an obituary of retired Philadelphia Detective  Douglas Culbreth.

Douglas Culbreth, 73, of Upper Roxborough, a retired Philadelphia police detective who investigated the 1981 fatal shooting of Officer Daniel Faulkner by Mumia Abu-Jamal and remained a firm believer in Abu-Jamal's guilt, died Friday, Dec. 26.

He suffered an apparent heart attack, said Aisha Perry, a family friend. He had fallen ill at home and was taken to Roxborough Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mr. Culbreth, a Vietnam War veteran, also served as an investigator for the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where he worked for 18 years until his death.

Morris Tolbert, a longtime friend, said Mr. Culbreth was a "straitlaced, straightforward" man who was "really frustrated" by the advocacy of people contending that Abu-Jamal was innocent.

"He would get upset when people said [Abu-Jamal] didn't do it," Perry said. "He said there was no doubt Wesley Cook - Mumia Abu-Jamal - killed that officer."

You can read the rest of the obituary via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20141227_Douglas_Culbreth__73__investigated_Abu-Jamal_s_shooting_of_Phila__officer.html

You can also read my Crime Beat column on convicted cop killer Abu-Jamal via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2012/11/crime-beat-column-cop-killer-look-back.html

And you can read my American Crime column at greathistory.com on Officer Faulkner's widow's book via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/04/american-crime-blog-widow-of-slain.html