The internal Winslow Police Department investigation into the death of Dean Fowler, 59, who died in a WPD holding cell on Aug. 18, of last year remains ongoing nearly 10 months after his death, but Police Chief Ernie Cano said he expects it to be completed by the end of June.

The internal investigation is separate from the criminal death investigation conducted by the Show Low Police Department, which found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Winslow police staff or officers. The Show Low report, released last year, found Fowler appeared to lose consciousness within minutes of hanging himself and went unnoticed for nearly an hour before officers found him unresponsive.

According to the Show Low report, Fowler was placed in the holding cell at 8:46 p.m. after being arrested in connection with a shoplifting call at Walmart. Shortly after being placed in the cell, Fowler removed the drawstring from his sweatpants, tied it to the cell door, looped it around his neck and gradually lowered himself until he lost consciousness. Investigators found no cell checks or welfare observations were conducted between 8:46 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., when Fowler was found unresponsive.

The internal investigation is expected to determine whether any WPD policies were violated before the full evidence is made available to the public.

Cano told The Tribune in March that he had issued an extension to the internal investigation because the officer in charge of Fowler, Preston Arend, was on unrelated leave. Cano said at the time that final interviews would be conducted after Arend returned and the investigation would then be able to close.

Arend returned a few weeks later, but the investigation remains open. In an email to The Tribune last week, Cano said his March comments, “ended up not being a good estimate” because of the time needed to complete the investigation and prepare the final report.

Cano said the delay was caused by several factors. After Show Low police completed the death investigation, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) had originally agreed to conduct the internal investigation for WPD, but there was a short delay because its investigator was out on medical leave. When the investigator returned, NCSO determined there was a conflict of interest because the investigator had been working at WPD as a sergeant during a prior incident involving Fowler.

Cano said he then reached back out to Show Low Police but the department declined because its internal affairs staff were assisting Round Valley. Cano said City Manager David Coolidge later authorized him to use WPD’s new professional standards officer to conduct the investigation, who is employed full time with the department.

“Professional standards is doing the investigation and what I told you in March ended up not being a good estimate on my part,” Cano wrote. “I can say that Sergeant Lesperance is doing a thorough investigation and I also did not account for the time needed to prepare the final report.”

Cano said the extension is approaching its deadline and the investigation will be completed before then. “Because of the delays and staff not being available I did grant an extension which is actually approaching at the end of the month (June) so it will be finished for sure before then,” Cano wrote in an email to The Tribune.

The Show Low report also documented that Fowler had previously attempted suicide while in Winslow police custody in 2019. In that incident, a dispatcher saw Fowler attempting to hang himself with his belt and immediately radioed officers, who intervened before he could injure himself.

The 2025 report stated dispatchers had not been asked to monitor Fowler on camera and that dispatch logs did not contain any notations about visual checks or monitoring. The report also noted that an automated external defibrillator inside the police department did not power on when officers attempted to use it after Fowler was found unresponsive.