In an entry for December 30, 2003, in the police report of my brother’s death, Edward Kalfas, the lead N.Y.S.P. investigator in Mark’s case, records the Cattaraugus County District Attorney’s conclusion about the case. I quote it verbatim: “After examining all associated paperwork, D.A. Sharkey states “despite rumors and innuendo, there is no evidence to support the possibility of homicide or suicide. The case will be classified as an accident, consistent with the findings of the Medical Examiner’s office.” Although the investigation was not officially closed until August 17, 2004, it is clear from Kafas’s entry that D.A. Sharkey had already made up his mind.
Sharkey obviously did not agree with Kalfas’s view that my brother’s death was most likely a suicide (on the view of the N.Y.S.P., see esp. post of January 27, 2014). There was, in fact, no evidence to support that position, in spite of the claim to me by Mark’s daughter (which she subsequently denied to Kalfas) that my brother had left her a suicide letter (see esp. post of November 23, 2013). One cannot determine anything about the 911 call made by my brother’s wife (though one individual who heard it when it was being taped found it problematic), since Kalfas does not mention it in his narrative in the police report and, when I tried to obtain a copy through a FOIL request, the N.Y.S.P. claimed that it could not be located (see post of June 30, 2018).
It is surprising that Sharkey could rule out the possibility of a murder as early as December 30, 2003. Although Sharkey cites “the findings of the Medical Examiner’s office,” M.E. Baik performed Mark’s autopsy in Erie County the day after his death but at that point would have had no knowledge of the broader circumstances surrounding the truck fire. On December 25, 2003, a nephew informed me that Mark’s attending physician at the burn unit of the Erie County Medical Center had stated to him that in his opinion Mark’s death was not an accident. I immediately reported that information in a letter to D.A. Sharkey, but he appears not to have followed up on it.
At the time of my letter to Sharkey of December 26, 2003, I did not know the identity of my brother’s attending physician at the burn unit. But nothing in the police report that I obtained through a FOIL request indicates that Kalfas interviewed Mark’s attending physician. (On my later conversations with Dr. Edward Piotrowski, who was very concerned about the severity of Mark’s burns, and the failure of the N.Y.S.P. to interview him, see esp. post of March 31, 2018).
How much information did D.A. Sharkey actually have and assess before deciding on accident and ruling out the possibility of murder?
Did Kalfas inform Sharkey that my brother had got into a (reportedly nasty) argument at a local club with Salamanca police officer Mark Marowski, who called the Salamanca police on my brother as soon as he left the club, resulting in my brother’s arrest for DWI the very day before his truck fire? There is no mention of that argument in the police report (see post of February 28, 2021). When Marowski himself was later arrested for DWI and speeding, D.A. Sharkey appointed a special prosecutor, explaining (as the court record indicates), “[B]ecause the defendant is a police officer for the City of Salamanca, therefore, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a member of this office to prosecute this case.”
Was Sharkey aware of the pool of Mark’s blood found on the driveway the night of the truck fire (see posts of May 24, 2012, and August 31, 2020)? That pool of blood is only briefly mentioned in Kalfas’s narrative in the police report. Referring to an interview with Mark’s wife, Kalfas states in the entry for 12/12/03 that Susan “has no explanation for the blood located in the driveway.” No rush order was made for that blood, and test results did not come back until February 23, 2004.
Did Sharkey know about the wound on Mark’s forehead (see posts of January 29, 2019); April 30, 2020; and August 31, 2020)? It would appear that he did not, since there is no reference to the wound at all in the police report. As mentioned previously, Dr. Piotrowski, who noticed swelling on my brother’s forehead and ordered the CT scan that revealed deep soft tissue swelling, stated that no one ever questioned him. Firefighter Wayne Frank, who saw a wound on Mark’s forehead that looked as if someone had hit him with a nine-iron, was also never interviewed (see most recently October 31, 2020).
D.A. Sharkey appears to have reached a conclusion precipitously without the knowledge or consideration of the full scope of facts surrounding my brother’s death. Mark deserved better.
