Sharon worked as a shift manager at a popular Hudson Valley, NY restaurant. The restaurant was attached to an indoor shopping mall. It was a very busy place. She had worked there for close to 10 years. She knew her job well. Closing up the restaurant late on a Saturday night was a normal task for her. The restaurant closed at midnight each Saturday. And on Saturday June 3rd into Sunday June 4th, 2006 it was no different.
Here’s the story of Sharon and what happened to her that night…(The following information was collected from various newspaper archives.)
Sharon was 42 years old. She lived just a few miles from the mall where she worked. She had a strong work ethic. A person can’t have a job like that in a busy restaurant unless they work hard. She was also a mother of 3. She had 2 teenage daughters and a son in his 20s. She had a nice boyfriend. Sharon lived a responsible life.
Then there was Paul. Paul was 20 years old. He was a waiter at the same restaurant as Sharon. He recently moved to the area from Michigan. He had only just begun working at the restaurant 2 weeks earlier. Paul had a very minor past criminal record in Michigan. Paul was not “wanted” for anything. But, Paul did get himself in a little trouble with the NY State police on the evening of June 3rd, 2006. He was pulled over for driving under the influence of alcohol. (Driving while ability impaired/he blew a .06)…This happened at 9:30pm. Paul had a friend with him that night. When Paul gave the State Police his identification, it was a different person/name. Paul told them his name was Dennis (a real person who lived in Michigan). The friend in the car with Paul went along with it. However; the friend somehow mentioned to the police, in passing, that Paul (pretending to be Dennis) was employed by the restaurant at the mall.
This is what the police suspect happened next…… Paul was worried that his false identification that he gave to police would catch up to him. So, he came up with a plan. If he could grab his employment/personnel records from the restaurant office, there would be no evidence of him working there. And then he wouldn’t be found out that he lied about his identity if the police came around to ask.
According to police statements, once Paul was released from police custody, he made his way to the restaurant. At this point it was 12:45 am and Sharon was doing all of the closing procedures. She was alone. It’s unclear if the door was unlocked or if Paul knocked on the door to have Sharon let him in.
Investigators say that it was likely that a confrontation ensued between Paul and Sharon when Paul was attempting to take his personnel records. What ever happened during that confrontation resulted in Sharon being stabbed by a kitchen knife 33 times. It’s important to note that, besides the stab wounds, Sharon was found with a bite mark on her body. Also, it was determined that $4,000 was stolen from the restaurant that night.
Sharon was found dead the next morning at 9:00 am when an employee showed up to prepare for Sunday opening.
As the police investigation began, they started making lists of suspects. One “red flag” they found was the fact that Paul called out sick for work the next day, the day Sharon’s body was discovered. This definitely put Paul on their radar.
The investigation was ongoing when suddenly something unexpected happened! Paul ended up passing away on June 19. Just 2 weeks after Sharon’s death. How did he die – you ask? Paul jumped out of a moving vehicle after leaving a party. Paul mentioned leaving his shirt back at the party house, opened the door, and jumped out of the fast moving car. So random, right ?!
After Paul’s death, police started shifting the investigation in his direction based on the information they were continually collecting.
After waiting for the results, it eventually came back that Paul’s dental records matched the bite mark on Sharon’s body.
Police did not close the case right away. They still had to consider if the friend who drove away with him from the police should be charged with “hindering prosecution”. Paul did not drive himself away from the state police barracks the night of June 3 after being booked for driving with impaired ability. I couldn’t find anything else about that in my research. If any of you who read this knows the answer , please let me know.
To add even more intrigue to this story; Paul was actually interviewed, after the killing, by a Daily Freeman news reporter – who actually LIVED with Paul at the time. And Paul talked about Sharon with kind words.
Paul was quoted in the June 7 news article as saying Sharon “was always full of life and was motivated to keep us working hard.” He went on to say “As a person, she was very sweet and kind,” Paul told the newspaper. “She had major ambition, and you could tell that she really loved her job. She really was dedicated to her job, and she was a kind person.”
There were more than 500 people interviewed during this investigation and 50 investigators from several agencies working on the case. Town of Ulster police were assisted by detectives from the state police, Kingston Police Department and Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. Police are also worked closely with the Ulster County District Attorney’s office.
In case you didn’t know the name of the restaurant, it was The Ground Round located at the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, NY. The victims name was Sharon Inger.
A close friend of the family was quoted as saying “We will continue to try to talk about how we will try to get through each day and how to ease the pain that everybody feels. We will remember that she was not The Ground Round victim. She was Sharon Inger. We will miss her.”
Sharon was an unfortunate victim . She didn’t ask for any of this. She was trying to make a living for herself and her family.
Also, The Ground Round never reopened for business after that fateful day. Never.
In addition… Paul’s personnel records were never recovered. Neither was the $4,000.
It appears the police matched up the motive, means, and opportunity to determine Paul as the killer. Then the teeth marks sealed the deal.
A few unanswered questions that I have : Who was the friend that drove Paul from the police barracks that night of the murder? Did this friend also drive Paul to the mall after being in police custody ? If so, did he or she witness Paul coming out of the Ground Round bloody?
Karen Wilson Age 22 University at Albany Student Senior / Political Science major
5 “ 3’/Brown eyes/Brown hair Last seen:: March 27th, 1985
She left campus and went to Central Avenue to shop and go tanning at the Tanning Hut in preparation for a Spring Break trip to Florida. She was last seen around 7:20pm. There is a cut through road between SUNY campus and Central Ave. It is called Fuller Road. It can often get dark and has much less activity once you pass the ramp to Interstate 90 and the Northway. That can be an easy location to abduct anyone who is walking on that road. Authorities gave a sketch of a man (never identified) who was seen in that area around the time of her disappearance. Karen’s parents do not think she is alive.
Name: Larry Atkins Age: 44 Death: August of 1992 Address: 1836 Sawkill Park Rd., Town of Kingston, NY Cause of death: Asphyxiated
Name: Robert Gordon Age: 61 Death: October of 1996 Address: 249 Route 28, Town of Ulster, NY (Near West Hurley) Cause of death: Asphyxiated
These two men both died by homicide in their own homes. They both lived in homes that were debris-filled and had no electricity. Their homes were left to them by family. Both of these men walked everywhere they went.
Each of these men were found with hands and feet bound and hog-tied, their faces covered. Both causes of death were by asphyxiation.
Their homes/shacks were located not far from each other.
Being from this area, and knowing the location of these murders… There is not a direct road to connect these two houses. A hilly, tree filled piece of land separates them. Jockey Hill. If you take a car, the distance between each location it is about 5 miles. If you cut over/across Jockey Hill (Bluestone Wild Forest) by foot, their homes were 2.8 miles apart.
Locations of the Homicides
Larry Atkin’s story: Larry lived at 136 Sawkill Park Road, Town of Kingston/Sawkill, N.Y. He was a recluse who walked where he needed to go. He was found by a neighbor who decided to check on him. The neighbor hadn’t seen Larry for quite some time and Larry’s grass had not been cut (which was one thing Larry kept meticulous.) Larry lived off of $400/month in Social Security benefits. He also earned money by helping a friend deliver eggs for a local farm. He was found dead in August of 1992.
Fast forward 4 years…
Robert Gordon’s story: Robert lived at 249 Route 28, Town of Ulster, N.Y. (Between Kingston and West Hurley.) He was a loner who avoided contact with most people. He walked whenever he needed to go somewhere. He was found in October of 1996 by a State Trooper who was asked to check on him. Robert Gordon was found inside his bathroom, the door barricaded by a dresser.
In 2016, the Times-Herald Record did a story that gave some information on these cases. “The Record” interviewed some NY State Police investigators. The police said that they have long believed that these two cases are linked. The story mentioned that there were rumors that each of these victims carried caches of money. It was noted that Robert Gordon’s money pouch, that he was always seen with, has never been found.
According to a State Police Investigator: –Gordon was bound with black tape and clothesline. –Atkins was bound by colored tape, novelty handcuffs, and a heavy duty rope with red and blue strands woven into the fibers. The tape used on Atkins was a specialty item used for underground power lines.
Both of these cases have been entered into the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Programs with no matches found in regards to similar homicides across the country.
With DNA technology constantly progressing, law enforcement is hopeful that they will someday solve these crimes. If you have information that could help with these cases, please contact the State Police at 845-338-1702.
Austin Eubanks took the time to share his story with me .. Here it is .. Part 1
Back on April 20, 1999, Austin Eubanks was 16 years old. He showed up to school like it was any other Tuesday school day. Austin was a student in the 11th grade at Columbine High School, in Littleton Colorado.
Austin was a good kid.
HE NEVER TRIED DRUGS.
He loved to spend time with his best friend, Corey Depooter. Austin and Corey liked to golf together. They also liked to go fly fishing together. They were two 16 year olds with their whole lives ahead of them.
Sometime between the hours of 11:30am and 12pm Mountain Standard Time on April 20, 1999… Austin and Corey found themselves together, again. This time …very close together… Hiding and trying to protect themselves …under a table in their high school library.
Most of you know the events of that fateful day. Two students by the name of Eric and Dylan decided to go on a murder spree throughout their high school. Marching into the school with loaded guns and wearing trench coats. This was a planned out attack as there were planted homemade explosives in the building as well.
The story of what specifically happened to Austin and Corey is as follows: Austin and Corey were hiding underneath one of the library tables. There were several students hiding under several library tables that day. These were young high school students, all confused and afraid for their lives. They could hear gunfire in the distance and then getting closer.
The 2 perpetrators made their way into the library. They began picking and choosing who they will shoot. They eventually made their way next to the table Austin and Corey were under. A gun pointed at Corey and the gun fired. Corey was shot and it quickly became obvious that he was killed. Austin was shot as well. A bullet hit him in the hand and in the knee.
When the perpetrators eventually left the library, they left behind a combination of injured and dead students … Those who were able to run out of the building did so. Austin was able to escape the building.
Austin told me that he left that building and never came back inside. EVER.
I remember watching the events of this day on television. It was before any type of social media existed, so it was watched on the evening news and breaking live news on CNN and all the main news tv channels. Those images of the students fleeing the Columbine High School will forever be engrained in my brain.
You will learn in the story, as I did in my conversation with Austin, that the 20 minutes that Austin was in the Columbine High School library were the very moments that DEFINED him for a very long time. Those bullets caused a lot of pain, beyond the physical pain from the gunshots. The physical pain from the bullet wounds ended 4 days later… There was additional pain that he tried to stop. He tried to stop it by taking prescription pain medication (amongst other drugs) and a lot of it…!!!!
This is a story will quickly switch gears to a story of addiction.
Drug addiction.
The rest of this story will be about Austin and what transpired in his life after “Columbine”.
It will answer questions such as…
Did Austin finish high school?
Did he go to college?
Does he forgive the perpetrators?
What was the turning point in his life that motivated him to have lasting recovery from his addiction ?
THE FOLLOWING IS A SYNAPSIS OF 7 MURDERS NEAR MY HOMETOWN:
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Carol Bosch
Date of death: March 4, 1981
Age 48
4th Grade Teacher at Meagher Elementary School
Crime scene: Town of Ulster/Hillside Acres/Kingston, NY
Mrs. Bosch was my 4th grade teacher. She was shot and killed inside her residence on the evening of March 4, 1981…(when I was in 5th grade.) I will never forget when I walked into school to find out the sad news the next morning. It was awful.
Basically, Mrs. Bosch was home alone that night. I am fairly certain that her house was on the market..For Sale sign in the yard. Police suspect she heard a noise in her garage and when she opened the door she was shot by an intruder. Mrs. Bosch was able to dial her telephone and dialed the operator. The operator then patched her to Kingston City Police. She requested an ambulance and stated she had been shot. Kingston Police then contacted State Police. When the State Police arrived on the scene she was found dead.
I am unsure of any conclusions that the investigators have made regarding this case. Was it a robbery gone wrong? I don’t know. What I DO know, from a close source, is that there were a handful of home break-ins in the Hillside Acres neighborhood around that time. The break-ins mysteriously stopped after the murder.
This case is still unsolved.
All of my Meagher School friends will never forget Mrs. Bosch. She was a wonderful teacher.
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Albert D. Barnhart, Jr.
Date of Death: December 6, 1987
Age 13
Crime scene: Port Ewen, NY
Albert was 13 years old at the time of his death. He was found in an area known to locals as 40 Bumps. It was a wooded area that some teens used as a hang out.
Albert was found about 300 feet from a burned out campfire at 40 Bumps. He was missing for a few weeks before being found. It was reported that he died with severe burns over 90 % of his body.
Police definitely suspect this was a homicide. There is a lot of information regarding suspects (people who were with him that day) and their stories.. I will let you all google that information.
So far, nobody has been charged for causing his death.
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Linda Holgerson
Date of death: November 4, 2007
Age 57
Last seen: Kingston, NY
Location where body was found: Prattsville, NY
Linda Holgerson was developmentally and physically disabled. She went missing on October 19, 2007. She was last seen leaving The Bank of America branch on Broadway in Kingston. She was seen leaving the bank before getting into a white vehicle driven by someone else.
Her body was then discovered 16 days later … On November 4th, 2007…. 50 miles away in Prattsville, NY. Her body was discovered just off Rt 23A. The autopsy ruled the death a homicide without giving out any details to the public.
3dozen officers and investigators from State Police, City of Kingston Police, and Ulster County Sheriff’s Office worked on this case.
This case is still unsolved.
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Michael Kleiman
Date of death: July 25, 2008
Age 59
Crime scene: Town of Ulster/(East) Kingston, NY
A fire call had come in from a person across the Hudson River who reported black smoke coming from a wooded area in the distance. When the firefighters arrived on scene at about 2:45 in the afternoon, they made a gruesome discovery. They found a burning pick up truck way back on a makeshift road that was between two parallel roads in East Kingston (Between 1st Ave. and Rt 32) . They discovered there was a body burning in the back of that truck. It was later released that the body was decapitated and without hands.
Investigators used DNA to identify the body due to the condition of the remains. They had suspected it was Michael Kleiman because the truck was in his name.
Here is some information about Michael Kleiman. He lived in Kerhonkson, NY. He worked for a children’s mentally ill facility in WestChester County, NY. Also, Michael was gay and he lived a quiet lifestyle. He did not use much technology. This makes it even harder to solve this case because investigators have no cell phone or computers to use to track Michael’s activities.
The police have released some information to the public, over time, to help them solve the crime. Most recently they released a photo of a missing ring that was on Michael’s hand hoping someone would recognize it.
This case is still unsolved.
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JOHN DOE CASE FROM 1970 IN WEST SAUGERTIES, NY
John Doe
Date body discovered: February 1, 1970
Location of body when discovered: West Saugerties, NY
State Police, 50 years later, are still working on putting a name to a man whose body was found within a few days of his death.
On February 1, 1970 ….John Doe’s body was found – dumped – 50 feet down a steep embankment below Platte Cove Rd. in West Saugerties. He was shot in the back of the head.
Check out what this guy had on !!! He was dressed in layers.
He was wearinga raincoat topped over a green pinstriped suit… Topped over a pair of pajamas. He had on black dress shoes covered with those rubber overshoes that people put on in the rain. He had on a silk tie with the label “Playboy.” He had on a very fancy watch, a gold ring, and a fake ruby ring. He also had $156 in his pocket. Much of the brands of clothing he was wearing was Brazilian. Even the bullet that he was shot with was from a Brazilian brand of bullets (say that 10 times fast).. 🙂
Word on the street is .. Back at that time, there were members of the mob who owned homes at the top of Platte Cove Rd. Perhaps it was mob related.
Still, no one has come forward to identify John Doe. He is currently buried in the Blue Mountain Cemetery in West Saugerties.
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So, I was thinking of 2 more cases that were actually considered solved… But, they do not have closure for the families.
Nicole Palmer. Age 24. (Kingston, NY) Police know who killed Nicole, but the suspect is already in prison for life and he was never convicted of murdering Nicole. He was convicted of killing young Rickel Knox back in 1995. I will let you google the details of Nicole’s death. It was gruesome. Her family has seen so much tragedy.. Even beyond Nicole’s passing. I only wish they would have had closure. I remember Nicole from Meagher School. Her fun personality and her beautiful smile is what I recall the most. We would sometimes walk the same route home from school and that is how I will always remember her.
Mrs. Yim L. Eng. Age 43. (Hurley, NY) This is disturbing and sad. Basically, she was kidnapped by employees of her husband’s restaurant from her home in Hurley. She was never to be seen again. There was ransom money involved.. . People were arrested and charged, but Mrs. Eng has never been found.See article and link below …
Last year I received a random message from a Facebook friend. His name is Jim. He is a friend from middle school and high school. Jim is now a contractor who specializes in kitchen remodels.
The message read “Did you lose an airline ticket? I just found it.” He included a photo of an old fashioned looking boarding pass. The boarding pass info: Pan American Airlines Passenger: Colleen Dymond Departing: JFK International Airport Arriving: Beijing Capital International Airport, China Date of flight: December 3, 1973
I didn’t know Jim enough to have his cell number. So I replied to him. “I am so confused. Can you call me? 845-399-****
Jim called me pretty much right away. He explained that he is remodeling a kitchen. He just blew out one of the walls and found this behind it.
It didn’t take me long to realize that the people who now own my childhood home are remodeling their kitchen and this was in the wall ……
Here is the problem. I would have been 3 years old at the time of this boarding pass being purchased. I’ve never been to Beijing. No one in my family has ever been to Beijing. My parents (who are now deceased) had never even been on an airplane. I’ve never owned a passport or traveled outside of the U.S. until 2019. And this was found in our wall !! What ???!!!!!!!
Jim stopped by my job at the YMCA when he took a lunch break and gave me the airline ticket.
The ticket is exactly as you would imagine it would look. It is rectangular shaped. It has the “Pan Am” logo in the upper left corner.. It has a very dingy color with old stains on it. The stain is round like a can or a glass left it there. It has the perforations on the right side of it so it can be torn when boarding the airplane.
The first thing I did was text my siblings. I texted the photo and explained the situation. They were all confused and curious. They have no idea how this even exists and why it exists.
I started to get a little freaked out.
I started to make a list of people who could give me some answers to this mystery. Perhaps extended family, neighbors, or old friends could help me.
My memory doesn’t really go back as far as 3 years old. Yet, I still found myself trying to think if there were any sketchy people hanging around at my house when I was a little kid.
Was I part of some weird adoption? Was someone planning to abduct me? Was someone using my identity? Was this a joke?
I decided to start my research by using common sense. I asked myself “Why would someone secretly purchase an airline ticket for a 3 year old girl?” So, I decided to go down the rabbit hole of a possible attempted abduction.
How was I supposed to research this situation? This dates back way before computers and the internet.
One thought I had regarding any of my immediate family members being affiliated with JFK airport (the departing location) was my father. He was a tractor trailer driver for IBM and delivered the computers down to JFK on a daily basis. That quickly got ruled out. He would never be involved in shady behavior.
I also have a memory of my parents losing my birth certificate and some guy came to our house to help them fill out papers to get a new one for me. But, I have no idea who that was and none of my siblings remember that.
So, then I got thinking about any family friends who visited our house. I literally could only think of all the teenagers who hung out with my older siblings. No way. They wouldn’t have the means to pull any stunts like that.
Next, I thought about how my parents would have neighbors over for breakfast when I was a little kid.. They did this almost every weekend. They always sat around the kitchen table and had crumb cakes, hard rolls, and coffee. There is only one neighbor who came over who is still alive. I contacted her. She was literally dumb founded. She could not think of any ideas or info to help me. This woman is very honest, intelligent and well respected. My gut says she really had no idea.
Suddenly, out of nowhere I remember this one guy who lived the next block over. He took up a friendship with my dad because he always walked past our house. Once or twice a summer he would stop and my dad offered him a beer on our patio. This guy used to talk about the airports all the time. Like the entire conversation was airports and airplanes. His job was a courier who would deliver lost airline luggage to people’s homes. That is probably why he and my dad got along. They had that delivery type of job in common. This guy walked past our house for many years. Then suddenly he didn’t walk by anymore. I remember asking my dad where that guy has been lately. And….
My dad told me that he moved to CHINA !!!!!!
I couldn’t remember his last name for the life of me. His first name was Albert. I asked my siblings. My sister remembered his last name. I had to google and see if I could find him online. He would probably be like 70 years old by now. Maybe older. I could not find him anywhere on social media or by a google search.
Look at me assuming I know that this really was an attempted abduction. This is such a strong assumption on my end. I am such a sucker for mysteries. So suspect #1 was Albert.
I kept plugging along….
I started really thinking about who could see inside our home without physically being inside. Also, I asked myself how would this person eventually get in my house with an airline ticket?
Just for fun I started picturing in my mind where the airline ticket was found. I was picturing the layout of my old kitchen. I thought about the windows in our kitchen. The house directly next door was extremely close to ours. But I couldn’t think of anyone who I recalled living in that house who would be suspicious. Of course, I have no idea who lived there when I was 3 years old. I can only think of the people from when I actually had a memory of my childhood.
The houses are so close together that you could have a normal chat with someone from window to window. I recall back in the 90s my nephew met a friend who lived in the upstairs apartment of that house and they would have normal conversations from the kitchen window up to his friend’s bedroom window in the house next door.
I think it is also important to note that our family never locked our doors to our house. I remember when my mom passed away. We had to go through a jar of old keys and test them in the doors to see if any of them worked. (Was that just us ? Or was that common back in the day? )
I started doing research online. I assumed I would not have any luck finding any info from 1973. I did end up finding a website. (I had to pay money to access it)..I basically was able to find out the names of everyone who lived at that address for the house next door to me. It dates back to the 1960s.
The website gave me a name of a man who lived in that house from July of 1972 to December of 1973. His name was Leonard Walker. Leonard lived in the upstairs apartment. Apartment B.
After that, I did a normal google search for Leonard’s name and didn’t come up with anything at all.
So, then I spent more money. I paid for a newspaper website that has all archived copies of most newspapers in the United States.
All I had to do was search for the name on that website and BINGO ! I found something.
It was true !! My suspicion was right !! I strongly believe I was part of an attempted child abduction. I found an article in the New York Times that had a story from January of 1974. Leonard was part of a child trafficking sting. Caught at Kennedy Airport. The article said that he was trying to take a young child onto an airplane and was stopped just in time by the FBI. The article was vaguely written and not a front page story. Which is shocking. But, I found it and couldn’t believe it !
So it was our next door neighbor – Leonard ! WOW !!!
My family totally freaked out when I told them about Leonard !
And poor, old Albert. He was trying to be a nice neighborhood drinking buddy and I suspected him. 🙂
It is also extremely disturbing to think that a stranger was lurking in our home and we never knew it !
My husband, Steve, and I used to live on a lovely street in a lovely city in upstate, NY. Very nice neighborhood. Very Safe. We were raising our young children there. Lots of families (young and old). It really was a perfect place to raise the kids . There was even a park nearby. Well groomed lawns, people always out for a walk or a bike ride. . Just a wonderful place to live! This story happened back in May of 2002. It was 3:30 am and I heard 5 very loud knocks on our front door. Like – really loud. Who ever was knocking really wanted us to wake up. Steve slept like a rock. And I had to shake him awake.
At this point. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Who was knocking on our door at 3:30 am?
Our bedroom was located around the corner from the front door. I walked out of the bedroom first and Steve was half asleep walking behind me. As I turned the corner, I was blinded by a bright light flashing into our house through the the square window panes of our front door. I heard “It’s Kingston Police Department.”
I opened the front door, still extremely nervous. What the heck is happening here?
As I opened the door all the way, I saw the police officer and he then turned his flashlight off. His car was in our driveway. He said “You need to look in your car because we have discovered that many of the cars on your street have been broken into tonight. And the drivers door was wide open for this car here.” He was pointing at Steve’s white Oldsmobile. Steve never locked his car. He was always so trusting.
So, we said thanks and the policeman drove away. The guy wasn’t very friendly and he almost made me shit my pants. He should have at least said sorry for waking us up. Clearly, at this point, we were wide awake.
Steve checked his car and realized the checkbook he kept in the console was missing and so were all the coins that he kept in the little ashtray between the seats.
Steve worked at the bank in which our checking account was with. So, when he went into work that day he had to meet with the checking account dept. to close the old account down , deal with our outstanding checks , and then open a new account. There was a lot to deal with. Back then, all of our shopping and bill paying transactions were done by check. Remember – 9/11 happened 8 months earlier and banks were still working on creating the debit card and automated check processing as a result of that tragedy. So checking writing was still the main way that people would pay for things back in 2002. It was a huge inconvenience.
We opened a new bank account and I tried to remind Steve to lock his car doors.
The next day, after all of the work we did to close the old account, we got a message on our answering machine.
“Yea – This is Bob from Riccardos – We found your checkbook here. Just so ya know it’s behind our bar.”
Ricardos was a popular local bar/restaurant located downtown. Located on the opposite side of town from where we lived.
We were glad to hear it was found. But also very annoyed that we had to go through all that nonsense to open a new account.
Steve stopped in the bar on his lunch hour and grabbed the checkbook. It was very nice of them to call us and Steve thanked them.
Steve called me right away and said “I just looked and it doesn’t look like any checks are missing. “ He saw the check number on top was what he thought it would be and skimmed through the checks book real quick. No big chunks taken out.
We were glad about that.
So- Fast forward another 2 days . And we get a very strange phone call.
”Hello, is this Colleen Hack?”
“Yes” I said.
“This is Detective Brown from Kingston Police Dept. Are you going to be home later today ? I have a few questions for you and I want to stop over to chat.”
“Can you tell me what this is about?” I was definitely starting to freak out. I was actually shaking.
The detective replied “There is a potential crime scene we are looking at and we found a blank check at the scene. The names on the check say Stephen and Colleen Hack with the address of 134 Madison Ave. – That’s you, right?”
“Yup- that’s me. Our checkbook was stolen 3 days ago. And – Yea – I’ll be here all day. Come on over.”
I was thinking
“I got 3 little kids running around. The house is an absolute mess.
Police are about to come to my house. AGAIN.. All because Steve didn’t lock his car door.”
“Are we in trouble ?”
I called Steve right away. He finished up at work and came home. He brought the checkbook inside and we both looked at it more carefully. Turns out the very last check in the book was removed. The thief (or thieves) did, in fact, steal a check.
Detective Brown came by later that day. He was nice. Much nicer than the grumpy cop who woke us up a few nights earlier. He told us he was investigating a suspicious death. A middle aged man who lived near the bar downtown. He was found dead on the floor of his home. The investigators needed to figure out if it was foul play. This person had a very shady past and they didn’t know if he died of natural causes or if someone killed him. They were still waiting on the autopsy report. The detective told us the deceased persons name and his address and asked if we knew him or anyone affiliated with him. We did not know this person. I did recall reading his name a few times in the past in our local newspaper’s police blotter for things like dwi and theft. We didn’t know him or what he even looked like.
Detective Brown went on to tell us that check #989 from our checkbook was on the floor right next to the dead body. He even showed us a photo of the “crime scene” so we could identify our check.
We eventually learned that the investigators concluded that this man died of a heart attack.
Steve and I still think our names are sitting in a case file somewhere as “persons of interest.”
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Thanks for reading my story. Most of this was true except for the dead person. I made that part up. Have a nice day. 😊
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, scroll down. It’s the story below this one. ———–
After getting over the initial shock of finding that incriminating profile picture on Facebook, I had to gather my thoughts.
I asked myself: “Do I really want to get myself caught up in the middle of this shit?”
“NO”
“Should I do the right thing?”
“Also, NO.”
Just kidding. “Of course, I should do the right thing. And I will do the right thing.”
At this point, the only person I have told of my possible discovery was Brian. He has been my confidant all these years as my suspicions grew. He has been so good about keeping my crazy intuition a secret. A good husband, for sure.
Brian told me he would support my decision to contact the Kingston Police. I told Brian “They are probably going to laugh at me.” The police will say “Look at this middle aged woman coming in hot..Trying to be a Facebook detective. Throwing Facebook photos at us and a bunch of circumstantial evidence to solve a crime.”
But, all I could think about was poor Mr. Coleman and all that his family have been through. Even if I was wrong. At least I tried.
One thing to keep in mind is that over the past 10 years the internet and iphones have become much more widespread. Having an iphone was not a thing 10 years ago. I mean, it was, but they were quite rare and new on the scene.
Nowadays, it’s the opposite. if you DON’T have an iphone, you’re in the minority.
Nowadays, you don’t have to go on your front porch to get the news. Nowadays, you go on your phone to get the news.
So, here I was with my iphone in hand. Looking up the phone number. “Who do I ask for?”, “What do I say?” All questions going through my mind. So I typed in “Kingston Police.” Nervously, I hit the search button. Hoping the phone number would be the first thing to pop up.
Ohhhhh — For Fuck Sake !!!! You’re never gonna believe what popped up first?!!
Fucking Todd Finley. It was an article that just hit the Kingston Daily News that morning. “Officer Gets Promoted to Detective” Turns out one of the detectives in the department recently retired. Bob O’Reilly. They promoted Finley to detective to replace him. The article even said they assigned Finley to the Mark Coleman murder case. Just my luck.
I absolutely refused to deal with Finley. I had another run in with him since the police checkpoint debacle 10 years earlier. That little fucker gave me a speeding ticket last year.
In order to avoid dealing with Finley, I decided I should write an anonymous letter to the tip line that I often read about.
Every time I read an article about this case, The last paragraph always stated…. “Police are asking the public to call or email any tips to the Kingston Police at submitatip@kingston.gov”
So- I did exactly that. I submitted a tip to the tipline. This is what I wrote:
“Hello Detectives, I am writing to give you some information about a possible suspect in the unsolved murder of Mark Coleman. I have had a strange feeling about a particular person who was coming to the Kingston area during the time of the murder. His name is Mr. Martinez and he is a speech educator from WestChester County. He had at least 1 contract with the Early Intervention Dept for the County. He may have also been a volunteer firefighter for the Overhill Fire Company somewhere near Yorktown, NY. He abruptly left working in the Kingston area after the day of the murder. Please look for Melinda Martinez from Yorktown, NY on Facebook. You will then discover Mr. Coleman’s missing ring on Mr. Martinez’s hand in the profile picture. I may have other possible names to help you with this case, but I need to look further into this before releasing. You may or may not be hearing from me, again. ~Anonymous”
For quite a while after this photo discovery, I obsessed over looking at the facebook photo. I would always read the comments people wrote below it. There were only a few comments and they all said “Nice picture” or “cute couple.” I was sort of hoping something of importance would suddenly show up in those comments.
I made sure I saved that infamous emerald ring photo on my iphone “photos folder” so that if/when the wife took her photo down, I would still have it as evidence.
I also checked thoroughly and it appeared that Martinez’s wife was not Facebook friends with Kate or with Dan. I was still so confused over that correlation with Kate and Dan’s house being in her photo….
Kate had very slight knowledge of my interest in this case. I never really went too far with it when speaking to her and she didn’t seem to have much interest in it. She would change the subject the few times I mentioned it. So I very rarely made this case part of our conversations.
With these new findings, I really couldn’t talk to her about it. I saw her house in that photo for goodness sake!
What if she’s in on this or knows something?
I also need to mention.. Back 10 years ago.. , At Kate’s picnic… I finally got a chance to talk to her about that private info she wanted to share with me. We finally got alone time when she walked Sam and I to my car that day when we were leaving her picnic. She told me an earful. Just as I thought !! She did have an affair. It was just one time. That was not like her at all. I was shocked ! But, she did admit that some guy in a Mickey Mouse shirt met her in the bathroom at the Liquid Lounge and yada yada, bada bing, bow chica wow wow !!! She said she didn’t remember his name. She was super drunk. She said “I saw him after that a few times at the Liquid Lounge – but we pretended to not recognize each other.” Without being creepy, I asked her to describe the guy, but she was so vague. She was embarrassed about the entire thing.
Was it Mr. Martinez that she banged in The Liquid Lounge bathroom? I may never know.
Also, I found out from our conversation that Dan had a gambling problem. That’s why they were fighting by the garage that day. Kate told me “He’s been gambling large amounts of money. I think he is addicted. We are constantly arguing.”
Kate eventually came clean to Dan about that “fling” at the Liquid Lounge. Dan forgave her. Dan eventually stopped gambling and their marriage has since improved. They worked hard at healing that hiccup in their relationship. They both truly love each other and they have become extremely happy.
A few days after I saw the infamous photo, I met Kate at Panera Restaurant. That had become our most recent once a month meetup location. She was filling me in on how her sweet Mackenzie was doing in school and all the dance classes she took, etc.
That day, we sat near a window. Kate was sitting at a seat across from me with her back to the window. As she was talking to me, I glanced out into the parking lot. About 10 parking spaces back, I noticed two guys chatting intensely in front of a car. They almost looked like they were about to throw some fists! “Ohh shiittt !!! I like a good fight” I thought to myself. I looked closer and realized it was Dan. He was arguing with a dude. That was not just any dude.
It was Todd Finley.
Last I heard, Kate told me her family doesn’t even talk to Todd Finley’s side of the family anymore. Not even a Christmas card. Their families had a huge falling out. It had to do with the grandma and fighting over the money and property that she left in her will when she died. Kate said “Grandma didn’t really have much to leave. But, still, it created family drama. I don’t really call Todd my cousin anymore.”
I pointed my eyes back at Kate as she was talking to me and carefully focused on her face so that she didn’t turn around to see what I was looking at in the parking lot. Did she know Dan was in the parking lot, and talking to Finley?… Of all people. What could they be getting all crazy about? It definitely looked suspect.
I hoped Dan had not been gambling again.
You see, there have been very strong rumors going around town that Finley had been running a major gambling ring and often tends to his gambling business while on detective duty. Seeing Dan and Detective Dick-Wad together made me feel uneasy.
Well, about 2 months went by. There had been zero rumor rumblings of any new findings on the Coleman case. And there had been no information in the Kingston Daily News regarding the case. I am dying to know if my anonymous tip email even made it to anyone. There was no way for me to verify it was received.
One day I couldn’t take it anymore- Brian was at the Bank working and Sam was at school. I drove over to Kate’s house knowing she and Dan were working from home that day.
I needed answers!
I arrived at their back door and knocked really loud. They rushed to the door. “I need to talk to you two. It’s serious.” I said. I had both their attention at this point. Dan said “Sure, Christine. What’s up?” The 3 of us plopped down in the cozy chairs they had placed nicely on their back porch . I reached in my purse and fumbled for my phone. I quickly pulled up THE PHOTO. “Why is your house in this picture?!” They both looked perplexed. They both started to reply at the same time. Then Kate let Dan explain. “We always joke that we think our house is famous because it’s probably the background of so many people’s photos. There is some boat tour that comes up the river from WestChester County for day trips. The boat captain likes to stop the boat here during the trip. We don’t know why. But he likes this spot. Maybe because it’s not as shallow here. Our house even made it on the Today Show last year because Al Roker recorded a piece for the show on that boat.” Kate then asked me “Why are you asking us about this photo? Do you know these people?”
I took an hour explaining the entire situation to them. It felt good to let it all out. It felt even better to know that Dan and Kate were not involved with Mr. Martinez or the murder.
Kate then reciprocated and told me something that she kept from sharing with me.
She told me that although Todd Finley is her estranged cousin (due to a family fall out), she was still pissed off that he was running a gambling ring. “That makes the family name look bad.” Kate said “I was super pissed off at Todd the day you and I met at Panera a few months back. I arranged for Dan to approach Todd and tell him that he needs to get his shit together. Dan knew from experience that gambling can really fuck up a persons life. Dan hadn’t gambled in the past 10 years and he wanted to warn Finley not to get caught up in that lifestyle.”
I thought to myself “That’s the encounter I was witnessing from the Panera window that day.” It all made sense.
Dan told me what he said to Todd that day. “You got a good thing going in your life right now! Don’t ruin that ! You’re a detective!”
According to Dan, Finley didn’t give a shit what Dan was saying to him. Finley denied that he did anything wrong . “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. You got me all wrong.” He acted like his typical arrogant self and was offended by Dan setting up the meeting and confronting him like that. Todd Finley was so self absorbed that he thought he was invincible.
Fast forward about a week. It was just another day in the life of Christine. I had dropped Sam off at school and went shopping to Target. Nothing new. Nothing too exciting. Until …… I started getting text after text on my phone. Ding – Ding – Ding – Ding All the messages were from my beautiful friend, Kate.
“Go to Facebook !!!” “Look up Kingston Police !!!” “Tap on Facebook Live !!!!” “Press Conference !!!” “Nowwwwww !!!” “Arrest in your case !!” “Arrest in your case !!”
She called it MY case. I love her.
I was sweating and I was shaking. I left my full shopping cart in the middle of the store and abandoned it. I walked outside where it was quiet so I could listen to every word being said.
When I finally linked up to Facebook Live, I saw one person sitting front and center. Todd Finley. That cocky smirk. In his best suit. Big shiny microphone on the table in front of him. He read a statement. Those blue eyes looking into the camera then looking down onto the paper. Back and forth. He looked nervous and proud all at the same time. In his statement he talked about all the hard work he had put into this case and all the interviews he made since becoming a detective. All the extra late night hours he put in. That he brought the case back to life since being promoted. He said “I dug deep and figured out who the suspect was.”
He then picked up a photo to show the public what it was that cracked the case open.
It was THE profile picture.
He then went on to announce the arrest of Mr. Martinez.
That bastard took the credit from the tip I submitted. He took the credit for the picture that I discovered ! That son of a bitch !
As I calmed down .. I realized It’s probably better that way. I would rather not “get caught up.”
All the news stations picked up the story. Even all the New York City stations. They were able to get a copy of the arrest statement and reported the motive behind the murder:
Mr. Martinez admitted during an intense interview why he killed Mr. Coleman. Coleman worked at The WestChester Children’s Hospital. He was asked to work in the Human Resources Dept after many years doing a different job. The hospital then hired Mr Martinez to work as a speech educator with a few young patients in the hospital. Mr. Coleman’s new job was to check education credentials for new employees and subcontractors. Mr. Coleman then discovered that Mr. Martinez was not really a certified speech educator . . He faked his educational background. He lied about it all. Mr. Coleman was about to rat him out. Martinez was worried because he was about to land a $150,000/year speech teacher job with NYC Public Schools. His dream job ! So Martinez used his military skills, his firefighter training skills and tools, and his connections in the Hudson Valley to make his way up to this area to kill Mr. Coleman.
What ever happened to Todd Finley, you ask? I found out a few months after the big press conference that Finley was fired from the police department because his gambling ring was found out. Because of his dad, he didn’t get arrested and he just mysteriously didn’t work for Kingston Police anymore.
About a month later, Brian came home from work and said “Guess what?! Todd Finley called me today. He wants to meet with me about borrowing money to buy a business.” I said “Oh yea ? What does Mr. sniffle dick want to buy?” Brian said with a chuckle “The Liquid Lounge. It’s for sale. He wants to turn it into a strip joint.”
I rolled out of bed. Messy hair. Wearing an oversized t-shirt. No bra.
I was thinking that I always felt bad that my neighbors had to see me like this each morning… As I opened my front door ..
I reached down to the porch floor to pick up the local morning newspaper, The Kingston Daily News.
“Ohhhh damnnn” I said to myself as I made my way to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Looking down, mesmerized by the headline. I’m surprised I didn’t trip over anything.
Big news happened in my town the day before and there it was on the front page in large, bold print.
“Dead Body Found Inside Burning Car”.
Hi !! I’m Christine !! I have a story to tell you.
My story begins about 4 months before that murder.
I was a stay at home mom. I was in my late 30s. My son, Sam, was 2 years old.
My husband, Brian, was a local small town banker and worked the typical 9-5 grind.
At that time, I had become concerned that Sam wasn’t talking yet. Sam should have been at least speaking a few words by age 2 and I was noticing a delay in his speech. Brian and I were both in agreement that I should call and ask for help from our County’s Early Childhood Intervention Department.
Sam eventually received some evaluations from speech professionals. It turned out that Sam needed to have a speech educator come to our home once per week to work with him “one on one.”
Sam was assigned a case coordinator who matched him up with the right service provider and set up the dates and times they would come to our home to work with him. Our coordinator, Joyce, was very thorough and professional. I remember she called me up to explain they are overwhelmed with cases in our county and having a difficult time finding a speech educator to work with Sam. A few days later she called me, again.. “I finally found an educator for Sam.” She said “ He is my coworker’s brother and he is willing to drive up from WestChester County.” We lived in Kingston so he would be driving 70 miles north to get to us. Joyce said “His name is Mr. Martinez.”
I remember looking out the window the day Mr. Martinez was to arrive for his first meeting with Sam. I saw his little blue Honda skirt into our driveway.
That day, and each “speech day” after, it was the same process. Mr. Martinez would pull into the driveway. Close the drivers door and then open the back door. He would grab a giant military style zippered duffle bag out of his back seat of the car. It was green and it was heavy and filled with toys and learning material. The bag was so heavy he had to bend his knees then jump up to get the strap of the bag to go on his shoulder firmly. Then he would make his way to our front door with the bag and ring the doorbell. He would walk into our house and high five Sam and say “What’s up, little man?”
Mr. Martinez was a few years younger than myself. He was average height. He had a muscular build, and always wore a character t-shirt that young kids would like. His t-shirts mainly had Mickey Mouse and Disney characters on them. He always wore the t-shirts a little on the tighter side (probably to show off his strength.) He seemed quiet and a bit mysterious. He was really good with Sam. He came across as having a gentle personality with children. Yet, there was still something about him that my gutt couldn’t quite figure out. Like he was hiding something about himself.
The first day Mr. Martinez came over, he was on the floor playing a learning game with Sam and he said to me “You know I used to be in the military. When I got out I made the decision to work with kids who need help with speech.” Good to know, considering I didn’t really ask him to tell me anything about himself.
As the visits progressed, he would sometimes take phone calls on his cell phone. I learned, based on his conversations on his phone, that he was married with a young kid at home.
That summer, my little guy, Sam, was obsessed with a particular pair of rainboots that a family friend had given him. He wore them all over the house and outside and would not take them off except for bed. They were black and yellow with a picture of a fireman helmet on the side of them. When Mr. Martinez noticed Sam’s love for the fireman rain boots, he said to me “I am a volunteer firefighter. I keep my gear in my car and I will have Sam try my fire helmet on some day. I bet he would like that.”
There was a day in particular that Mr. Martinez was working with Sam that I remember quite vividly. He was sitting on the carpet with Sam. I was sitting higher up on our living room sofa. Mr. Martinez pointed to a small burn on his hand just above his thumb. He told me he was called to a fire the night before and he burned his hand. He said “It was a dryer fire.” He reminded me to always change the lint trap in our dryer. Then he went back to working with Sam. It was obvious that he was very proud of the volunteer firefighting work that he does. And he definitely felt the need to explain to me why he had a burn on his hand.
Mr. Martinez continued to drive 70 miles each way to work with Sam once a week for about 3 or 4 months.
Forward my story to July 30th, again.. When I went onto my porch and grabbed the newspaper and read the disturbing headlines “Dead body found inside burning car”. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. A gruesome murder! The story initially stated that the victim was a male. He died in a burning car, which was located in a wooded area, just off a crossroad of Rt 9W. Flames drew the attention of neighbors who called 911. The article also stated that the victim’s fingers were cut off and missing. It was quite intriguing and disgusting to hear something like that happening in my own town. Clearly foul play was involved. Police still had to figure out whose body it was in the car. Lots of unanswered questions at that time. It was definitely the talk of the town.
On the same day I had read the headlines about the murder, I was invited to my friend, Kate’s, house. Sam and I headed over for an afternoon picnic. Kate is a dear friend who I met at a child playgroup when Sam was a newborn. I figured joining a group right away would be a nice way to meet other moms. Kate and I struck up an instant friendship. She had a daughter, Mackenzie, who was a little older than Sam. Mackenzie and Sam had grown to become little buddies and played well together.
On the way to Kate’s house, I ran into a traffic jam. “Great. I’m late as it is. And I have this macaroni salad that’s gonna get funky.” I quickly realized that up ahead were flashing police lights. Cops were stopping drivers. “Oh shit. That’s right. I am about to pull up to the area of the reported crime scene from that murder yesterday.” The crime scene sat right at a crossroad that was just off of Rt 9W. My car rolled up to the officer and I was a little nervous . Because you know.….Police and a murder…. As my car rolled closer, I noticed that I knew exactly who that police officer was.. It was Todd Finley. Oh – I could write a book about this guy. But I will just give you a little info. For one. He was extremely good looking. Gotta give him that. Wavy brown hair and light blue eyes. Don’t mistake him by his looks, though. The guy was an asshole. I’ve known him for 20 years. His daddy was a judge in our town and Todd always found himself in serious trouble, but would instantly find himself out of serious trouble. And.. Another thing.. How does someone like that land himself a position in the police department? Shameful really.
As my car approached Todd, I could see that arrogant smirk on his face and that he recognized me. You see, Todd and I went out on a few dates 20 years earlier. We were teenagers then. He picked me up in his dad’s fancy, expensive car and we would drive around and we even “made out” a few times. He thought it was funny to brag about all the bad things he did and how he got away with them. So I decided to “ghost” him and not ever return his phone calls after that. So I assumed he didn’t like me much since then. Lucky for me, I rarely had seen him in the past 20 years.
Todd tried to look serious like he was impressing me. I rolled down my window. Todd got right to the point. “Were you on this road or in this vicinity yesterday around 2 pm?” I said “NO. But, how are you dooo….” and he cut me right off mid sentence. “Ok, then keep moving.” Clearly he was still a dick head after all those years. Not much had changed . I rolled up my car window and kept driving toward Kate’s house. I was thinking that guy is probably up to no good. Breakin’ the law when he supposed to be makin’ the law. Meanwhile, Little Sam was strapped in the back car seat behind me without a worry in the world.
Kate’s house was only a mile from the crime scene. At that moment, it dawned on me. I remember in conversation once, that Kate told me that Todd was her cousin. She once told me “I never really liked him. He is a bad person.” Obviously I didn’t disagree with her. I couldn’t wait to tell her that I just saw him.
As I approached Kate’s house. Another strange feeling came over me. Like out of nowhere, a bunch of random memories flooded my head. For instance,, The day before, when Mr. Martinez was at my house, he had shown me that burn on his hand. He also once told me a few weeks earlier that he takes Rt 9W to get to Kingston each time he drives up. Why did my brain all the sudden throw this info at me? Is there something to this? I mean. Think about it . Volunteer fireman/car set on fire , burned hand/burned body, takes Rt 9w to get here from his home/murder occured just off of Rt 9W. I told myself.”Mr. Martinez is too much of a gentle soul to be a murderer. Stop with that thought right now, Christine.”
Kate and her husband, Dan, had a lovely home that sat on the water along the Hudson River. They had colorful cape cod style chairs set out along the water. A spectacular view of the river with lots of the boats, barges, and jet skis to always keep your attention. They enjoyed hosting Friday afternoon pics nics.. Because they had the perfect situation to do so..
Kate and Dan worked from home most days. So their work hours were flexible. They work for the same company but have different types of jobs. Funny, they did not meet at work. They met at a volleyball tournament and turned out they had been working for JCN Corp for years and never crossed paths before that. Now they have a cute story to tell.. The JCN company headquarters is about 6 miles headed south on Rt 9w. They worked from home but had to go to the headquarters usually once per week.
Kate and Dan are huge Disney obsessed fans. They used to go every year. Then, after they had Mackenzie, they went twice a year. I had never gone to Disney so I never understood their obsession.
The week before I was at their house for the picnic, Kate and I were at our playgroup with the kids. Kate said to me in a slight whisper “I have something to tell you about but need more time and privacy to explain it all”. It sounded like it was something she needed to say without Dan around.
I suspected that she was cheating on Dan. Perhaps what she wanted to tell me had to do with that. I was hoping to try to get alone time with her the day of the picnic so maybe she can fill me in on any juicy info. She hasn’t seemed happy in her marriage in the past few months. She’s been spending time at this new trendy bar that opened up on Rt 9W a few months ago. It’s called The Liquid Lounge. Not that I would ever say anything to Kate, but that placed looked shady as fuck whenever I would drive past it.
Funny thing is once I drove past the bar and saw Kate’s car parked there and at the same time I saw a car that looked just like Mr. Martinez’s. I thought “Isn’t that strange. Two decent people I know and they are both at the sketchy bar. Maybe it’s not as bad as I think it is.”
It seemed that Kate was coming up with reasons to go into the company headquarters more than just once per week so that she could stop at The Liquid Lounge. She even told me once that she met some guy in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt and had some much needed laughs with him. I swear her Disney obsession is ridiculous.
At the picnic, I noticed that Kate and Dan were acting odd. Dan had a look in his eyes I hadn’t seen before and at first I just thought maybe he was tired. His forehead was all wrinkled like he was very tense. Usually he’s a very relaxed and gentle kind of person.
I couldn’t wait to tell them the bits of news I had for them.. “Hey guys, guess what?. I was just stopped at a police check point on the way here. Did you hear about that gruesome murder that happened yesterday?” Suddenly, The tension in Dan’s forehead looked even worse. I then said “And Kate, your cousin Todd was one of the cops working the checkpoint and I had to speak to him”. I rolled my eyes in non delight. Kate and Dan tried to act like they thought it was funny, but I could tell something was up.
I had to use the bathroom and I said “Come on, Sam. Come with mommy to the potty.”
Sam and I walked back outside after I used the bathroom and I could see that Kate and Dan walked towards their garage to step away from us and they were having a serious and heated exchange. Dan was saying “I don’t fucking know. Get off my ass about that.” I didn’t want them to feel awkward that I had overheard their exchange so I said “ Sam, let’s take a walk along the water with mommy and look at the pretty rocks.” So we went the opposite direction. We walked to the part of their property where there is a weird landing that goes out a bit on the river’s edge. This area is rocky and seems to collect sticks and random debris that people drop off their boats. That’s when I noticed something odd. I walked closer and noticed what appeared to be something green with a zipper on it. Was it overalls pants or was it a duffle bag? I couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, it looked like it had maroon stains. Almost like old blood. It was caught in that mess of sticks and garbage and appeared partially wet. As I got closer I could smell gasoline. Wasn’t sure if the smell was coming from the pants/bag or perhaps a boat that just passed by..
It really creeped me out. I said “Come on, Sam. Lets go sit down.” I walked back toward the Cape Cod chairs and by that point Dan and Kate were sitting in the chairs and acting normal.
When I sat by them, Dan said “That’s dangerous over there. I would stay away from that part of our property.”
A few days after the murder, I received a phone call from our County case coordinator, Joyce.. She informed me that Mr. Martinez decided to quit working here in Kingston and he will only be coming to work with Sam one more time to wrap up his contract.
On his last day, Martinez didn’t stay long and definitely didn’t act like his usual self when he was working with Sam. We wished him well on his future endeavors as he left.
The community eventually learned (by news updates) that the man who was found in the burning vehicle was identified. His name was Mark Coleman. The news reported that he lived in a neighboring town about 10 miles south west of Kingston. He did not seem to be known by anyone in the Kingston area, according to investigators. This seemed to have added to the mystery surrounding this case. How did he end up in Kingston? We also eventually learned that Mr. Coleman commuted to his job each day. He worked at a Children’s hospital in WestChester County.
When I started thinking about the newest info I knew about this case, I started realizing there were a lot of additional coincidences to add to my already mounting suspicions. Mr. Martinez came from West Chester County and Mr. Coleman worked in WestChester County. They both worked with children. That is a possible connection. I suppose. Also, the police mentioned in the news to be on the lookout for anyone you know who may have left the area abruptly. Well, Mr. Martinez seemed to have put in a short notice immediately after the murder.
I definitely follow too many crime stories and was thinking I am silly to think that way about such a nice man. I would constantly try to put it out of my head.
As a few years went by. The case remained unsolved.
Over time, Facebook became a very popular website on the internet. I would often think of this unsolved case and decided to see if I could find Mr. Martinez on Facebook. I could not locate Mr. Martinez. But, I did locate his wife.
The only thing I learned from stalking her Facebook page is that the Martinez family appeared to be a very loving family. She posted a few photos of her husband and sometimes he was in her profile picture with her. I don’t know what I thought I would ever find by checking on the page every so often.
So, each time I looked at that page I felt more and more guilty that I could even think that this man could possibly be a murderer.
Maybe 3 or 4 times a year I would check up on her Facebook page. I mean.. Really. What would that ever tell me about that fateful day from several years passed? Nothing.
As the years went by. The general public would forget about the case. I often did as well. Then, out of nowhere, I would think about it.
The anniversary of the murder always created a news article to keep the case alive and would remind me about the intuition that I couldn’t shake off.
Fast forward a few more years. The investigators decided to drop some additional, previously undisclosed, info about the case to the public. It was an attempt to see if they could find any more people with information to help them solve the case.
They released a photo of a missing ring. Mr. Coleman had a ring he rarely removed. The detectives never could locate the ring at the crime scene. Maybe if the public saw the photo of the ring it would create a new interest or maybe someone had seen someone wearing the ring.
The ring appeared quite unique. It was 14k yellow gold with a huge square emerald stone.
One day, I had another one of those moments, when my mind thought about this unsolved case. I had a feeling I should check out the wife’s Facebook account, once again. It had been several months since I last stalked it. I noticed Mr. Martinez’s wife had posted a new profile photo since I last checked. In the photo Mr. Martinez’s arm was around his wife, his hand resting on her shoulder. And on his finger….. Was a ring that looked just like the one I had seen in the police press release photo. A gold ring with a huge square emerald ! Omg . What should I do ?!!
One more thing .. I looked closer at the photo with my heart racing . I noticed that Mr. Martinez and his wife appeared to be on a boat on the river in this new photo. And in the background.. it appeared to be Kate and Dan’s house!
In the fall of 1987, my squad of friends decided to book a vacation that would happen during the upcoming spring break of 1988. We went to a travel agent in our local mall and all sat down and set up our flights and hotel reservations. I remember it cost us each $400 to book the entire week in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The first issue that I think back on regarding this is….. There were 8 of us going. Each of our parents actually ALLOWED us to go into the travel agency and book this trip on our own behalves. I literally was still 16 years old at the time. And our parents ultimately ALLOWED us to fly on our own to Daytona. It was a different time then.
Although I did many stupid things when we got to Daytona, this story is not about the trip, itself. This is about something I did to PLAN for the trip when we first booked it.
As the excitement started to build over our pending vacation, we all had the need to try to get ahold of fake ID’s so that we could REALLY enjoy ourselves on our vacation.
So, 3 of us created a plan. 3 of us. Me, and two other girls. These 2 girls are going to have fake names in my story because they are now extremely successful members of our community, amazing parents, and overall good people. Names have been changed to protect the “innocent.”
(I am cracking up right now as I type this up !!! Ohhh the memories.)
Here was our plan. Our plan was to skip school. Get on the Trailways bus into Port Authority and start walking around NYC in search of a sketchy storefront who advertises – “We sell ID cards.” (I’m assuming someone must have told us that NYC is “the place” to score some fake IDs.)
So.. One morning …..Myself, “Nellie”, and “Karie” bought our bus tickets and hopped on the bus to NYC super early. It was a school day, so we needed to get back upstate (Kingston) by 3:00. This was going to be a fast moving mission. Get in, get the goods, and get out.
You have to keep in mind that neither of us had ever been to New York City before. We didn’t know anything about NYC. We didn’t know about the different sections of Manhattan, the way the streets were numbered, that the city was made up of burroughs . NOTHING. We just knew it was “The City” and that it was a crazy place.
Also, this was 1987. It was a different city than it is now. It was not safe anywhere. Homicides were at a record high, subway tunnels were riddled with homeless people and subway cars were practically covered with ugly graffiti. The crack epidemic was raging. It was the era of window washers coming up to your car while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It was bad.
Our bus rolled into Port Authority and we got off. I specifically recall people coming up to us begging for money. I recall a homeless person laying in a corner. There was a piece of pink bubble gum all stuck in their afro. It was sad and scary.
Port Authority was so dark and dreary. We walked towards the bright sunshine that led us to the doors to the streets of NYC. We opened the doors and there we were. 3 lost girls from upstate NY standing in the middle of what I know now to be Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan. I was 16, Nellie was 16, and Karie was 17. We were like 3 Dorothy’s arriving in Oz. Instead of clutching onto Toto in fear and confusion, we were clutching our purses.
Back then I had no idea we were just blocks from Times Square, Broadway, or Empire State Building. To me…I felt like a mouse in a confusing and intimidating maze. No idea where I was.
We started walking down a street. We got whistled at and cat called by people. It was creepy ! We kept walking and ignoring the comments. And we would sometimes stop and look inside a store to see if it looked safe to go in. As we were deciding to enter one of the ID stores, a man walked up to us and said – “You looking for IDs? I make the best ones.” We all raised our eyebrows and said “Yea – we need Ids.” He then said – “Alright, follow me.. Don’t worry we are going some place safe.”… We followed the guy and he opened the door to a Burger King……….Burger King is safe, right? And so we followed him up to the 3rd floor of the restaurant. As you all know, in NYC all the fast food seating areas are located up several floors.
So he sat us down at a booth-style table. We all scooched in the booth. He then started asking us what kind of IDs we need, how much we were willing to pay for them, etc. Then he asked us a question— and I don’t recall what it was specifically .. but it required “Nellie” to pull her wallet out of her purse.
You can see where this is going, right??
As he was talking to us, his hand flew to one side pretty hard and he knocked “Nellies” wallet to the ground. He was seated on the outer part of the booth. He bent over to pick up her wallet for her, as if being a gentleman and helping her. But – In the blink of an eye … He grabbed all the cash from it and took off running!!!! We got ROBBED !!
Guess what ?!! We started chasing the guy!! Yelling and screaming “He stole our money!!!” We ran down the 3 flights of Burger King steps. Just like in the movies .. Round and round down the staircase, out the door to the streets and towards the nasty steps to the subway. “Karie” kept running after him even down into the subway tunnels and I kept yelling from the bottom of the stairs “Karie ! Don’t ! It’s dangerous !” .. I remember we were in absolute shock. I think Nellie had a couple hundred bucks in her wallet.. GONE. She was crying. I remember we were all out of breath and defeated as we walked up the subway steps back onto the streets. The smell of urine on the subway steps was stuck in my nose. Awful !
You would think we would be so upset and so scared that we would just want to go home right away after that.
But we didn’t !
We continued on our mission and told “Nellie” we would lend her the money for her ID once we locate them.
What was wrong with us??!!!
We were shaking like leaves, walking down a few blocks, and came across a store that didn’t look too bad inside. I recall standing in front of a blue tarp and having my photo taken. We got ahold of some ID cards. All 3 of us. I wish I saved mine . I don’t even remember what it looked like.
I don’t recall if the IDs were accepted once we were in Daytona. I’m sure I tried using mine, but 33 years ago…. I can’t recall.
We eventually made it back home by 3pm. Back then you actually had to wait until you saw your friends in person to tell them what happened (because no internet or cell phones.) But we kept it a big secret. Only the Daytona squad knew what happened that fateful day of November 10, 1987.
This story has not been told to anyone else ……until now.
On Wyncoop Place in Kingston N.Y. sits an old school building. It was built in 1874. It then expanded in 1917, 1961, and 1996.
It was originally called the #5 School. Then, it became the Frank L Meagher Elementary School.
I grew up in the Meagher neighborhood and attended this school from September 1975 to June of 1982. (Kindergarten to 6th Grade.)
There are many fond memories even way before I attended this school. My older 4 siblings attended in earlier years.
To describe the school. It was the epitome of a neighborhood school. Most students walked to Meagher each day. The nearby homes had large families and many homes had young children. Back in the 70s it was a very safe area.
I recall my mother walking me all the way to school on the first day of kindergarten. On day 2, I recall her walking me half way to school. Then on day 3, I was on my own walking to and from school. It was a common practice for many in this neighborhood.
Meagher had very unique surroundings. It sat midway down a steep hill, directly across the street from a Church. The Church of the Comforter (which was adjacent to a graveyard.) Behind that church is where all the “fist fights” and “first kisses” took place. None of which I was involved, of course. 🙂
Between the Church and the school was a cobblestone road. For some reason that was a historic street and was never paved over. Even to this day. the cobblestone remains untouched. I can still hear the sound of the cars that drove down that hill. All those cobblestones made the cars bumpidy bump pretty loud.
On the bottom of the hill was a corner store. Mr. and Mrs. Dawkin’s Market.
On the opposite side of Meagher School building was a wooded area that had a path. The students who lived on Schufeldt St., Derenbacher St., Colonial Gardens Apartments, and other nearby streets…… took that path to and from school.
Behind the Meagher building was a large oval shaped playground encompassed by a tall quarry of rocks. Kickball was the popular recess game. If anyone kicked the ball far enough to hit the rocks, it was considered a home run. Word would get around school if someone “kicked the rocks.” It was a big deal.
This playground also created memories of the annual Halloween Parade.
I recall my mom writing a note for me to leave school midday to walk home alone to eat lunch and change into my Halloween costume. Then I would walk back to school to participate in the parade.
Another fond memory at Meagher School playground was watching a teacher, Mr. Ruggieri, pacing the outside of the playground area looking up and down at a paper. He was memorizing his lines. He was a member of Coach House Players and would use the time to study his theatrical lines.
I always got the impression that the teachers at Meagher were a tight group of friends. Many of them stayed in that building for many years. They didn’t hop around to other schools.
They had memorable names like: Mr. Brown, Mr. Kitchen, Mrs. Disch, and Mr. Short.
How can anyone forget the Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kithcart ?
Thinking about the inside of the building. I recall walking past the principal’s office on the bottom floor and hearing Mrs. Madonna’s voice. She was a very good principal. Stern when she had to be. Always the same faces sitting in that office. I remember her secretary, Mrs. Freeman. The only time I ever had to go to that office was to be a courier and to ask the secretary to make “dittos” for my teachers.
I remember the cafeteria, gymnasium, and auditorium was all one shared room. The milk came from Boice’s Dairy. Cora and Shirley were the lunch monitors. Cora was also the kickball pitcher and often the referee. That woman was amazing and had a ton of energy.
The art and music rooms were in the basement near the boiler room. It was always so hot down there. The art teacher was super cool. Mrs. Costello. She wore leopard print clothes before it was cool.
The library was on the top floor. Mrs. Hopper was the librarian. She was instrumental in bringing technology into the school. She got ahold of VCR’s and played “The Letter People” and “3*2*1 Contact” videos for us during library class. She was good at storytelling and taught us the Dewey Decimal System.
The morning announcements. I recall when the Iran Hostage Crisis was happening, the announcers would name off what number day the hostage crisis was at.
Some of the familiar family names who attended the school during my days there……. The Sullivans, The McDonoughs, The Boyles, The Brucks, The Laquidaras, The Scheffels, The Schneiders, The Hines’, The Mowrys, and the McGowans,… Just to name a few.
Anyone remember the candy fundraising salesman who would put on an assembly and did Yo-Yo tricks? The annual marionette performances? Collecting Campbell Soup Labels to raise money for gym supplies? The rectangle pizzas, the pizza boats, and the turkey cubes with gravy they served for lunch?
I was reading information from the “Meagher Memories” Facebook page and learned that the school had a fire in the 50’s. Two classrooms caught fire and created smoke damage in the building. It had happened in June, so the last few weeks of classes were cancelled.
The memory that completely and utterly shocked the school community happened in March of 1981. It was the murder of the beloved 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Carol Bosch. She had been shot by an intruder in her home and barely managed to dial her phone for help. Sadly, she didn’t survive the gunshot. The school was in shock and I could not believe my ears when I heard the sad news the next morning when I walked into school. I had Mrs. Bosch for 4th grade. She died when I was in 5th grade. There were never any arrests. Still unsolved.
Meagher School closed down in 2012. There were many people who worked hard to keep the school from closing since it was originally threatened to close beginning in 1994. The community rallied to save it for 18 years.
Now, in 2020, it is still owned by the Kingston school district and has since been renovated. It is now the central administration building and houses universal Pre-K classes.
Well — Thanks for taking the time to go down memory lane with me. Meagher was a special place for many of us.
To set the 1996 time frame .. IBM was just leaving the Kingston, NY area. The NY Yankees were winning a lot and headed to a World Series Championship. Jerry Maguire was the top movie …
March 25th, 1996. A Monday night. Joey Martin
A 15 year old student at Rondout Valley High School
He lived on Sampsonville Rd in Kerhonson, NY. (Kerhonson is an extremely rural town 20 miles from Kingston, NY. )
Joey was planning to meet up with friends Daniel Malak and Alexander Barsky. There was a rare comet that was set to pass overhead that night and these boys wanted to try and see it.
Because it was a Monday night and a school night, Joey snuck out of the house on this planned adventure in the woods with this friends.
Fast forward to the next day. Joey failed to show up for school. He had a track meet that day and was unlikely to simply just skip school.
His parents then contacted the police when they realized he didn’t show up to school .
Barsky and Malak had been interviewed and always denied any involvement in Martin’s disappearance.
Nobody could prove that these boys were involved with any crime that evening.
Years eventually passed with Joey’s disappearance being a missing persons case.
The story of that evening just faded with time. All roads lead police to dead ends. Nobody knew if Joey was dead or alive.
Can you imagine the pain and worry his family was experiencing?
In 2007 (11 years since Joey was last seen), a NY State police officer named Peter Cirigliano started looking over this cold case with a fresh set of eyes.
Cirigliano noticed some “red flags” in the statements from Daniel Malak and Alexander Barsky… One of the boys wrote some words in their write up which stood out. Things like “I went home and IMMEDIATELY went to bed.” And “we were ALL on foot.” Using the words “immediately” and “all” are sometimes words of deception when used in that context.
So Cirigliano and his team of investigators decided to go find Malak and Barsky and interview them again.
Malak, turns out, was serving 20 years to life in State prison for murdering a 62-year-old man in 1997 during an attempted car theft. He shot a man named George Allison (a New York City resident) at Allison’s weekend home in Samsonville, NY.
Investigators also found Alexander Barsky and brought him in for questioning. He failed the polygraph test. Barsky soon began to give previously undisclosed details from that evening in 1996. He ultimately admitted to being involved in the killing of Joey Martin.
He said Daniel Malak was angry with Joey Martin for allegedly stealing some of his marijuana a few days before. He asked Barksy to help convince Joey to meet up at a specific spot in the woods that evening for the comet viewing.
Barksy said that Joey died after they hit him with a metal pipe.
He said they hid Joey’s body in a small cave nearby.
Barsky also admitted to being worried that the body would be found in that cave and that he actually returned to the location 6 years later. He collected the remains and brought it to New York City and put them in a dumpster.
When Barsky brought investigators to the crime scene cave in Kerhonson , additional evidence remained at the scene. 11 years later …A tooth, a scrap of bone, and a piece of fabric from Joey’s clothing were still there.
Barksy was charged with second-degree murder in May 2008. He pled guilty to manslaughter and sentenced to just three to ten years in prison (because he had been 16 years old at the time of the crime, the juvenile law was in effect .)
Malak was also charged with second-degree murder. He pled “not guilty” and the trial occurred in Ulster County Court in Kingston, NY. Alex Barsky testified against him.
Malak was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years to life (to be added on top of the sentencing from his previous murder conviction.)
Joey’s family was able to find out what happened to him. That is not always the case with a missing person. I would say that State Police detective deserves recognition for his work.
Kerhonson, NY …. A rural small town with no immunity to horrific crimes.
This missing person case involves a young woman aged 17 years old. Her name is Cindy Loretta Rowles. She lived on Downs Street in Kingston, NY at time of her disappearance. If you’re familiar with that street; the house she lived in was about half way between Foxhall Avenue and Broadway.
Rowles was last seen by her family leaving her family’s home on Downs St. in Kingston on August 16, 1986. Rowles was also seen in a car circling around the parking lot of The Maverick Restaurant at state Route 28 and Maverick Road in West Hurley, NY. (That location is currently the parking lot area of Santa Fe Woodstock. To give you a visual on that location. ) Reports I have read said that there has been no activity with her social security number or credit cards of any kind since then. There has been no confirmed sightings and she has not contacted family members. Added note: In 2006, a suspect told authorities he was involved in Rowles’ case and in the disappearance of Laura Smith (another missing person from Connelly, NY). He has not been charged in either case.
Cindy is considered at risk as lost, injured, or otherwise missing.
Description: Caucasian female. Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes. Cindy has a tattoo on her left arm. She occasionally wears eyeglasses.
She would be 54 years old right now.
The 2 photos are of Cindy in 1986 and an “age progression” photo at age 44.
