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| Ex-cop Canan gets release from federal prison |
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9/25/2008
By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer
Mt. Sterling native Bill Canan, a purported member of “The Company” profiled in the book The Bluegrass Conspiracy, was released from federal prison Sept. 3.
Canan, 63, is a former narcotics detective with the Lexington Police Department, where he helped establish the narcotics division in the 1970s. He later turned to dealing drugs in the 1970s and was part of a drug smuggling ring known as “The Company.”
The ring came to light when one member of the ring, former fellow officer Andrew Thornton jumped to his death from a small plane over Knoxville, Tenn. Authorities say his parachute didn’t open because it was strapped with 75 pounds of cocaine.
Publications like the 1989 book The Bluegrass Conspiracy exposed the extent of The Company’s illegal activities.
Canan was convicted in 1993 and given a 17-year-sentence on charges of cocaine trafficking, threatening witnesses and carrying a fake badge identifying himself as federal drug officer.
He was also considered a suspect in the 1977 disappearance of Melanie Flynn, his onetime love interest and sister of former Major League Baseball Player Doug Flynn. Melanie Flynn’s body has never been recovered.
Canan, according to media reports, told some Lexington reporters that Flynn worked for him as an undercover agent. He reportedly told others that he suspected she left Kentucky of her own will.
Canan joined the Lexington police force in 1971 after serving a 14-month tour in Vietnam. By the time of Flynn’s disappearance Canan and Thornton were flamboyant detectives, according to Bluegrass Conspiracy author Sally Denton.
“Canan and Thornton had gained a reputation for their fast-paced lives that included the best parties and nightclubs, flashy rolls of hundred dollar bills, guns discreetly tucked into their ankle or shoulder holsters, and fast cars loaded with high-tech audio equipment—all ostensibly, in the name of the war on drugs,” Denton, a former WKYT reporter, wrote.
“Like Drew, William Taulbee Canan wanted to be a legend in his own time,” she added.
Denton described Canan as a short and stocky man who used his muscular physique to intimidate his adversaries.
“He bragged about his Black Belt karate expertise, his macho command of all types of weapons, his purported ties to the CIA and DEA, and his supposed training by the military’s elite special forces,” she wrote. “On and off duty, he wore an eight-inch dagger on his belt and stalked his nervous suspects into local bars. As an undercover agent he could wear jeans and long hair and drink alcohol during his shift.”
Another linked to The Company was former Fayette County deputy sheriff and legislative aide Henry Vance. Prosecutors said he coached a Lexington woman to gun down a Florida prosecutor in 1982.
Canan’s new place of residence was not immediately known.
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