What Was in the 911 Call?

Two previous posts (September 22 and October 27, 2011) reported on my FOIL requests to obtain the audio and transcript of the 911 call made by Mark's wife the night of his truck fire on September 23, 2003.  As mentioned, the State Police replied as follows: “Please be advised that a search of our files failed to locate any records responsive to your request.”  The Cattaraugus County Clerk's office explained, "Because this was not our case, we did not maintain a copy for any reason of the recording. Also, any recordings that were not previously recovered prior to Nov. 2010 are gone. This is due to the replacement of our recording system."

As previously mentioned, I was concerned about a statement by Trooper David Chandler, the first N.Y.S.P. officer on the scene of the truck fire, whose report immediately precedes Inv. Kalfas's in the narrative section of the police report.  He says that he “responded to Whalen Rd, Great Valley for a report of a male subject possibly attempting to burn himself in his vehicle.”  When I mentioned that statement to her, Mark's neighbor and EMT Cheryl Simcox was very surprised, explaining that the call summoning her to the scene made no reference to a possible suicide. 

Trooper Chandler must have arrived some time between 11:00 and 11:30 (he took Susan's statement between 11:30 and 11:45 p. m.) and clearly stayed past midnight (according to Kalfas's narrative, the Trooper and Sgt. Frankowski showed him the truck and the general scene when he arrived at 12:30 a. m.).  His brief report itself (dated September 24, 2003) does not make any claims of suicide (“Motive and cause of fire still under investigation”).  But, as indicated by the phrase “report of a male subject possibly attempting to burn himself in his vehicle,” the possibility of suicide must have been explicitly stated or strongly suggested to Trooper Chandler before he arrived.

Other posts have discussed how Mark’s character and overall behavior strongly argue against suicide (see December 11, 2010, and March 27, 2012).  More concretely, that pool of blood in his driveway and the wound on his forehead cannot reasonably be explained in connection with a suicide.  Neither really can the burning clothes found near where Mark lay, which he must have pulled off in an effort to extinguish the flames after gasoline was poured on him and ignited.  My brother would never have burned himself to death, as he himself made clear in a public statement at the scene of what appeared to be a self-immolation in a vehicle (see post of February 14, 2013).

But it’s not Mark’s words that concern me here.  It’s these: “a report of a male subject possibly attempting to burn himself in his vehicle.”  Trooper Chandler was quoting or paraphrasing words relayed to him right after the 911 call.  Had someone interpreted Susan’s 911 call in such a way?  What exactly was said in her 911 call?  It is important to know.  Her words were the first public statement about that truck fire.

Back in 2005, when asked about the 911 call, Inv. Kalfas replied that he had listened to the recording but couldn't remember what it said.  Sr. Inv. John Wolfe then indicated to Atty. Michael Kelly that he would retrieve the recording of the call but later changed his mind.  Given his seemingly casual attitude about it, Inv. Kalfas apparently had not used the 911 call as a potentially important investigative tool.  However, others heard that 911 call, and almost eleven years later, not everyone has entirely forgotten it.  An official source informed me that Susan’s 911 call was very problematic.  Is it really possible that Inv. Kalfas forgot that call?