County retains attorney for Kofoed

The Douglas County Board has hired a private defense attorney to represent county employee David Kofoed in two ongoing civil lawsuits.

On Tuesday, the board retained Steve Lefler — at $200 an hour — to defend Kofoed, director of Douglas County's crime scene investigations, in lawsuits filed by two men who were wrongly accused of the slayings of a Murdock, Neb., couple.

Lefler, who has defended Kofoed throughout the case, said he normally charges $250 an hour.

"I want to fulfill my responsibilities to Dave, and I thought I could do that in the civil case as well as the criminal case," Lefler said.

In June 2006, cousins Matthew Livers and Nicholas Sampson were charged in the shotgun slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock, who were killed inside their rural Murdock home.

Soon after the slayings, Kofoed reported finding Wayne Stock's blood inside a car that was seized. That discovery helped authorities prepare their initial case against Livers and Sampson, who spent several months in jail. The charges against the two were later dismissed.

Kofoed also faces a felony charge of tampering with evidence in Cass County. The trial is scheduled to begin March 15 in Cass County District Count, Lefler said.

Lefler also defended Kofoed in a high-profile case last September, when Kofoed was acquitted of four federal charges — mail fraud, falsification of records and two civil rights violations. After the acquittal, Lefler filed a claim with the county in October asking for $25,640 in legal fees and expenses.

The county is still reviewing the matter, said Deputy County Attorney Diane Carlson.

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