Death on the Tracks, 12/28/98

Today I visited a fellow Long Islander who I hadn't seen in about 10 years, and who is now retired in the Sunshine State like me. He used to live in N. Massapequa, and we got to talking about the whereabouts of a mutual acquaintance (he knew him much better than I did), and he let loose the bombshell that our friend supposedly committed suicide by train on the above date.

The LIRR police and Nassau County police story was that he parked his car near the mainline W of Farmingdale in the vicinity of Merritts Road, just N of Hempstead Turnpike at around 4:00 am, and laid down on the tracks to await his fate instead of completing his normal early-morning drive to LIC where he worked. An E/B train (probably the 3:16 from NYP) supposedly struck and killed him.

The death was officially ruled a suicide, however, to this day my friend and the victim's family still believe that he was already dead, the victim of some sort of motiveless crime (his wallet was found on him intact, and his
briefcase with his work papers was in his car intact), and his body placed on the tracks by some perps.

So, with no suicide note, no reason for committing this act, an inconclusive autopsy report that completely glossed over the fact that his face showed signs of a severe beating, the death was officially ruled a suicide.

I know there are a lot of current and former LIRR engineers, conductors, and maybe even RR police on this forum, and was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge about this incident.

I can share the grief of that family and recall the incident.

The facts, as you mention them, pretty well match what I recall. All incidents of this nature are considered to be crime scene investigations until proven otherwise, and I know the police did some investigating in that direction. From a police viewpoint, finding signs of foul play would be quite meritous, and the detectives usually work pretty hard at this.

It may help the family to know that the "real" County police handled that part of the investigation. The MTA, or LIRR police arrived on the scene later. They are not competent at that type of investigation and were not even attempting to do that at the time. The County police would have checked for physical evidence of another's involvement in the deceased's personal effects, his car, etc.

The family should speak with a sympathic investigator in the County Police Department and, if they feel up for it, ask for the incident file and carefully review its contents. They can also speak with the ME who handled the case. They too keep quite extensive records.

It may be less tramatic, and more effective for them to enlist an outside party to do this, and there are private forensic investigators who offer this service. They make the contacts, conduct interviews and read the files, saving the family from the direct exposure to some of the detail. The parties involved often speak more freely with them, without feeling a need to protect those related to the deceased from the details.

I hope this can help the family find some peace.

Clem

That may not be an appropriate for public discussion.... I'll let the moderators unlock this thread if they think it warrants further discussion.

-otto-