In mid-2005, I informed Atty. Michael Kelly that Mark’s attending physician had asked me if pictures of Mark had been taken on the scene, as it was not clear from the autopsy report or the police report (which I had sent the doctor) if they were taken. When Kelly met in September 2005 with NYSP Sr. Inv. John Wolfe and Inv. Edward Kalfas, the lead investigator in my brother Mark’s death, Kelly was allowed to view the police photographs of the scene and was informed by Inv. Kalfas that no photographs of Mark had been taken on the scene.
In his very brief narrative in the police report, the first NYSP officer on the scene, Trooper David Chandler, does not record if he examined Mark before he was taken away by airlift to the burn unit of the Erie County Medical Center. Trooper Chandler apparently was on the scene before Mark was placed in the ambulance, since he records that his interview of Mark’s wife Susan began at 11:30 p.m. on September 23, 2003.
The first firefighter on the scene, Gary Wind, says in his witness statement that he was dispatched to the fire at about 10:59 p.m. The first emergency worker on the scene, EMT (and neighbor) Cheryl Simcox, says in her witness statement that shortly after her arrival on the scene a couple of minutes after being toned out around 10:55 p.m., firefighters arrived and then a State Trooper. Assuming that he was in fact present before Mark was taken away, as it appears he was, why didn’t Trooper Chandler take photographs of Mark to document the specific nature of his injuries?
It has without question been standard procedure for police to photograph on the scene victims of all types of injuries. As one instructor of forensic photography for police officers put it, “Since patrol officers are generally involved on the front end, the photographs [they] take may be the best representation of an injury's severity” (see www.policemag.com/patrol/article/13548954/how-to-photograph-injuries). That, however, did not happen in Mark’s case.
Surprisingly, Trooper Chandler notes in his entry in the police report that he was responding to a report of a male "possibly attempting to burn himself in his vehicle." By contrast, firefighter Gary Wind mentions in his witness statement that he responded to “possible entrapment in vehicle.” The second firefighter on the scene, Mark Ward, similarly says in his witness statement that a little before 11 p.m. his “pacer went off indicating a truck fire and possible entrapment at the Pavlock residence.” EMT Cheryl Simcox in a later conversation with me also stated that she was toned out for a “possible entrapment."
Where did Trooper Chandler get the idea that Mark was "possibly attempting to burn himself in his vehicle"? How did the notion of a possible suicide materialize on the very night of Mark’s truck fire? Trooper Chandler’s narrative is dated the very next day (Sept. 24, 2003); so, the events would have been very fresh in his mind. Was there a second 911 call? None is mentioned in the police report.
What specifically was in Susan’s 911 call? Sr. Inv. Wolfe initially told Atty. Kelly in September 2005 that he would retrieve the tape but then changed his mind and informed Kelly in mid-November that he would get the 911 tape as well as other things he requested only if the medical records indicated foul play (see post of August 31, 2023). When I later requested a transcript and audio of that 911 call, the NYSP replied that no such tape could be located (see post of September 22, 2011).
Was a rush to judgment about suicide made even before the investigation into Mark’s death really got started? It would appear that way. Is that, then, why no photographs were taken on the scene? Because they took no photographs of Mark’s horrific injuries on the scene, the NYSP failed to document the wounds to Mark’s forehead observed and orally confirmed by two firefighters on the scene (Wayne Frank and Gary Wind), which Mark’s attending physician at the burn unit told me that he observed as soft-tissue swelling and confirmed through a CT scan.
From a poor investigation in 2003 to a resistance to reconsider their insistence on suicide or accident in 2005, the NYSP’s behavior was far worse than unprofessional.
