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Posts:
1
Registered:
6/11/08
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(2 of 2)
Re: Who Killed Irene Izak in 1968 ?
Jun 11, 2008 8:52 AM
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Everyone knows who killed Irene. Not enough has been done to bring justice to this case.
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Posts:
1
From:
Watertown, NY
Registered:
3/24/08
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(1 of 2)
Who Killed Irene Izak in 1968 ?
Mar 24, 2008 8:52 AM
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Nearly 40 years ago, Irene Izak, of Scranton, Pa., was murdered at a rest stop on Wellesley Island, NY, near the Canadian border.
Miss Izak was 25 years old, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. She taught French in Binghamton and Rochester, NY. The day she died, she was traveling to Laval University in Quebec for and an interview. She was traveling at night to save time.
She was stopped at 1:15 am by New York State Trooper, David Hennigan, who was driving an unmarked car. She first refused to pull over. Ultimately, she realized that this was a policeman and did, in fact, pull over about 3 miles north of Watertown, NY. She was allowed to continue with a warning.
She continued north to the Canadian border, stopping at the toll bridge over the St. Lawrence river. Trooper Hennigan also traveled to the border.
The toll collecter, now deceased, reported Miss Izak to appear nervous and asked for a light of her cigarette, although there were matches later found in her purse. She inquired about New York State police tactics and pointed out Trooper Hennigan's car to the attendant, as it passed.
She continued on at 2:10 am, toward the border, but never made it. Trooper Hennigan reported at 2:35 am that he had come upon her abandoned car, with it's lights on at a rest stop off route #191. He found her body at the base of a rocky hill. Her body was still warm, but she was dead and her head bludgeoned by rocks.
Trooper Hennigan was questioned since he had not only stopped her for speeding, but also had been the one to find her in a short period of time. The State of New York did not link him to the crime and he remained a trooper until he retired in 1983. He became a deacon in his church and refuses requests for interviews.
The 30th anniversary of this crime prompted Miss Izak's niece, Lisa Ewasko Caputo, to seek an investigator and reopen the case. She located Augustine " Gus " Papay Jr., a former NYC homicide detective. On July 4, 1998, they began a new probe.
Reportedly, by September 1998, Investigator Papay was not convinced that the New York State police were fully cooperating and suggested that the family request an executive order of Governor Pataki to invoke forensic investigative techniques that were not available in 1968.
Miss Izak's body was exhumed in December 1998 and examined by Dr. Michael Baden, a famed forensic pathologist and dental surgeon, Dr. Lowell J. Levine, who assisted with a second autopsy.
The result of the findings were reported by Senior investigator Stanley Weidman of the New York State Police Violent Crime Unit to the Watertown Daily Times. He reported " new and additional information " tangent to the exhumed study. He also said, " We have not established enough evidence to establish culpability substantiate an arrest..."
Dr. Baden and Dr. Levine purportedly found a previously undetected cause of death, other than the battering of the head by rocks. This information was not made public. The body was reburied, although the skull was retained for more tests.
The renewed search for evidence was followed by state police questioning numerous people, again. According to Mr. Weidman, " Only one declined to be interviewed and sought the advice of counsel. " Mr. Weidman did not identify whom the person was.
At this writing, no one has been arrested. The tragedy of Miss Izak's death is a twofold crime every year that New York has not solved this. My summary is of published accounts available for anyone who can assist the Izak family with answers regarding the death of their loved one.
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