Coach suspected of videotaping players in shower found dead

Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 13, 2018

Associated Press

BELLINGHAM — An assistant basketball coach who was under investigation for videotaping players while they showered has been found dead in a Spokane hotel room, police said Wednesday.

Two men from the semi-professional Bellingham Slam basketball team contacted Bellingham police last week, saying they believed they were being video recorded while showering after a game at Seattle Pacific University in late August.

The assistant coach, Western Washington University employee Kip Leonetti, was identified as the suspect, and he was interviewed and placed on administrative leave Sept. 6.

Investigators conducting an initial analysis of Leonetti’s cellphone confirmed seeing the images, police said.

The Spokane Police Department notified them Wednesday that Leonetti was found dead Monday in a hotel room of an apparent suicide.