Trisha Clark successfully unseated longtime incumbent Frank Flaspohler for Howard County Coroner in Tuesday’s election, finishing with 54.58% of the vote.

Mr. Flaspohler has served as the county coroner here for 28 years and said that during his time in office he considered himself a constant advocate for the deceased. “I want to thank all the voters for Howard County. The ones who voted for me I want to thank for the support. And for the ones who said I get to retire finally, I appreciate that.

“The one thing I’ve learned as coroner in 28 years, is that life can be short. You need to remember that. Remember your family, they’re what’s important.”

Mrs. Clark recently returned to Howard County after serving in the U. S. Navy, and then as a crime scene investigator in Florida. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Missouri Southern State University. Following the announcement of her victory on Tuesday, she thanked supporters for their confidence. “It was a very difficult road. We walked a lot of miles and knocked on a lot of doors.”

Mrs. Clark has an extensive resume. From 2007 to 2015 she served as a property and evidence technician for the Ocoee Florida Police Department and a crime scene investigator for police departments in Orlando, and Melbourne, Florida. She earned certification in 2015 as a crime scene analyst by the International Association for Identification. From 2015 to 2018 she served as a medicolegal death investigator for the District 9 Orange and Osceola County Medical Examiners Office in Orlando.

During her time in Florida, she investigated more than 1,100 deaths and was worked the mass shooting brought about by Islamic terrorists at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were massacred.

The office of coroner here has been steeped in controversy over the past decade. Questions surrounding a possible flawed autopsy in the death of a 27-year-old Fayette man, and a lawsuit brought by the Glasgow School District in the wake of a coroner’s inquest has brought international attention to the office, and specifically, to Mr. Flaspohler. 

Jay Minor still does not know why his 27-year-old son Jayke passed away in 2011. Mr. Flaspohler initially ruled the cause of death to be a drug overdose, but a toxicology report two years later refuted the finding. Accusations that Mr. Flaspohler lost a blood sample taken from Jayke Minor and other alleged missteps further intensified the controversy.

Mr. Minor has been a constant critic of Mr. Flaspohler ever since. He and his partner, Debbie Fergusson, championed Mrs. Clark’s candidacy. “It feels really good,” he said with tears in his eyes immediately following Clark’s victory. “I’m still thinking about my boy.”

The office of Howard County Coroner is also embroiled in a lawsuit brought by the Glasgow School District in the aftermath of a coroner’s inquest from 2017 following the suicide death of rural Glasgow teenager Kenneth Suttner. Mr. Flaspohler refused to hand over transcripts from the public inquest to the school district’s attorney, citing legal advice that was later called “horribly deficient” by Judge Scott Hayes. The lawsuit has been ongoing for three years and came to a possible conclusion in July when Judge Hayes ruled in favor of the Glasgow school’s request for reimbursement of legal fees, totaling $73,259.50, and sentenced Mr. Flaspohler to a fine of $500 for violating the Missouri Sunshine Law.

The ruling leaves county taxpayers on the hook for the judgment, as well as Mr. Flaspohler’s legal fees. 

Mr. Flaspohler’s attorney, Richard B. Hicks, in August filed an appeal with the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals which, if heard, will likely not take place until after Mrs. Clark has assumed office. And since the suit was brought against the Howard County Coroner and not Mr. Flaspholer personally, she inherits the lawsuit.