By Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News
July 12, 2003

SHENANDOAH, Iowa - James Turney never got along with his former mother-in-law and they "stayed away from each other" at family gatherings, a family member said Friday.

The mother-in-law, Rosella Orme, is the reason why Turney was suspended with pay as a Denver police officer after he shot and killed a teenager.

Orme phoned Denver police July 4 to report that Turney had threatened her in a phone call at her home here. Turney's ex-wife, Teresa Orme, lives a few blocks away from her parents.

The call was transferred to the internal affairs office, which was closed for the holiday. Orme's message was retrieved the following Monday and an investigation began.

In the meantime, Turney shot Paul Childs at his northeast Denver home after responding to a call for help from the teen's sister.

"From the beginning, she didn't think he was good enough for Teresa," Rick Orme, a cousin of Teresa Orme, said about her mother. "He wasn't good enough for her, he didn't have no purpose in life. To her, being married to a cop - because that was always the plan - is not a good thing."

Rosella Orme and her husband, Ronald, declined Friday to discuss last week's call to Denver police. Teresa Orme was at work in Omaha and unavailable for comment.

"That's my decision," Rosella Orme said. "It has nothing to do with the Denver Police Department."

Rick Orme, an Iowa prison corrections officer who befriended Turney and Teresa Orme before their divorce in 2001, wasn't aware of the fatal shooting before being told by a reporter. But he rushed to Turney's defense.

"Just knowing the man, there was a reason for him to pull that gun," Orme said.

Orme said he's around plenty of gung-ho cops, "the kind I wish didn't even have access to guns."

That isn't Turney.

"He's a pretty calm guy," he said. "I liked him really well."

Turney wasn't impulsive or aggressive, Orme said.

He also disdained gossip and would turn the conversation if someone began to talk about others.

"He would say, 'Let's not talk about something we don't know about,' " Orme said.

Nor did Turney like to discuss his work. Instead, the pair mostly talked about pheasant hunting, fishing and race cars.

As for the Childs shooting, "it would be a shock to me if it wasn't legitimate," he said.

Still, "Something could have snapped since the divorce," Orme said. "Life's got a way of tearing you up."

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