REVEALED: Cop that carried out Kansas newspaper raid 'was secretly recorded by a female officer making insulting and sexist comments before being reassigned to 'dogwatch' shift', police sources claim

The police chief that carried out a raid on a small town Kansas newspaper was secretly recorded by a female officer making insulting and sexist comments after being reassigned to 'dogwatch' shift,' the Kansas City Star reported. 

Gideon Cody, 54, was being investigated internally over allegations of sexist and inappropriate remarks directed toward a fellow female officer.

Cody reportedly called the female officer the next day, acknowledging his unprofessional behavior on the phone.

Unbeknownst to Cody, his coworker had recorded the conversation before filing a hostile work environment complaint against him with the police department, according to The Star. 

Cody left the department after being reassigned to work the 'dogwatch' shift, an undesirable overnight shift in the Metro Patrol Division, typically assigned to rookie officers. 

The police chief that carried out a raid on a small town Kansas newspaper was secretly recorded by a female officer making insulting and sexist comments after being reassigned to 'dogwatch' shift,' the Kansas City Star reported

The elderly woman, who was the co-owner of the newspaper, was subjected to the raid by five officers and two sheriff's deputies on Friday - which caused her to be 'stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief'

When the investigation concluded, Cody was informed that he would be demoted from Chief to sergeant, according to the Star. 

Cody did not accept the downgrade, and after 24 years, he left the department on April 22. 

He became chief of the Marion County Police Department in late April, after leaving the Kansas City police amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Cody led the raid on the Marion County Record on Friday and oversaw the execution of search warrants at the homes of its publisher and a city councilwoman. 

The police department claimed the raid was carried out because they had concerns of 'identity theft', after the newspaper obtained evidence of a possible liquor license violation.

But the news operation was sure the raid was due to their investigation of Cody. 

The identities of the police sources that spoke to the reporters were on the devices that were raided. 

Cody, was accused by newspaper owner Eric Meyer of using 'Hitler tactics' during the raid. 

The publisher's 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who co-owned the paper, died following the intense stress of the raid. 

Her son Eric Meyer, 69, said his mother was devastated at the seizure of computers and servers from The Marion County Record offices.

The Attorney representing the newspaper, Bernie Rhodes told KSHB 41 News, that has a forensics expert on hand to examine if the seized computers and phones were searched by law enforcement.

Joel Ensey, Marion County Attorney, ruled on Wednesday that there is 'insufficient evidence' to justify why a search warrant was issued in the first place.

The police chief, Gideon Cody (seen here during the raid at the paper's HQ) was being investigated internally over allegations of sexist and inappropriate remarks directed toward a fellow female officer

Joan Meyer, 98, collapsed and died following the intense stress and grief she felt when her home was raided by the entirety of the Marion Police Department in Kansas - headed by Gideon Cody

On Tuesday, it emerged that Cody was also being investigated by the newspaper over allegations of sexual misconduct. Cody became chief of the Marion County Police Department in late April, after leaving the Kansas City police amid allegations of sexual misconduct

Eric Meyer - Joan Meyer's son, and the co-owner and publisher of the Marion County Record, announced the death of his mother following the traumatizing raid  over the weekend

Despite the lack of equipment, the Marion County Record successfully went to print on Wednesday - with the front page reading: 'Seized...but not silenced.'

Ensey said he reviewed the affidavits - which are still sealed from the public - and found they did not establish enough probable cause to warrant pillaging the newspaper.

Alongside detailing why he decided to withdraw the search warrant that was signed off by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, Ensey also demanded all items be returned to their owners.

The major development comes just two days after the Kansas Bureau of Investigations took over the investigation - which triggered a First Amendment debate across the country.

However, retrospectively withdrawing the search warrant will not undo the most tragic aspect of this unfolding story in Kansas.

Newspaper co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, died from the grief and stress she felt after the entire Marion Police Department raided her belongings at her home for hours.

She was sobbing, couldn't eat, and died mid-sentence just 12 hours after the ordeal.

The Marion County Record received an 'outpouring of calls,' Eric Meyer said, claiming Cody had retired from his last police post to avoid demotion over sexual misconduct allegations.

Meyer said his newspaper was contacted by Cody's former colleagues about the claims of sexual misconduct, but that the six-plus anonymous sources ultimately never went on the record and reporters could not obtain Cody's personnel file.

Kansas City police have refused to reveal whether Cody was accused of sexual misconduct while working at their force.

Meyer said the identity of the sources was on the computer servers, which Cody's team seized.

'I may be paranoid that this has anything to do with it, but when people come and seize your computer, you tend to be a little paranoid,' Meyer told The Handbasket.

Cody became chief of the Marion County Police Department in late April, after retiring from Kansas City police

Footage from the newsroom raid shows officers entering with cameras on Friday

The offices of the Marion County Record sit across from the Marion County Courthouse in Marion, Kansas, on Sunday 

He told The Kansas City Star they had not yet published the story, because they had not completed their investigation.

'We didn't publish it because we couldn't nail it down to the point that we thought it was ready for publication,' said Meyer.

'[Cody] didn't know who our sources were. He does now.'

And Meyer told AP: 'This is the type of stuff that, you know, Vladimir Putin does, that Third World dictators do.

'This is Gestapo tactics from World War II.'

Marion County police department stated on Saturday that they were committed to upholding the law, without addressing the substance of the raid.

'The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police is to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of all members of the public,' the department wrote on Facebook.

'This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences, in order to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection, and the rule of law for everyone in the community.

'The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will nothing less.'