Patrick Crough - Chronicles of a Rochester Major Crimes Detect: Confronting Evil & Pursuing Truth

PRAISE FOR PATRICK CROUGH

Patrick Crough has provided an illuminating and insightful look into the work of a major case crimes investigator. By selecting these cases for review, Patrick has shown the depth of knowledge and skill necessary to todays investigator. He has accurately portrayed what it takes to solve a major crime, both from a trained and skilled investigative perspective and from an inner psychological mind-set. He combines police procedure with personal insights in an informative, easy-to-read and entertaining manner. This book should be a must read for any police officer, investigator or anyone interested in police procedural issues.

Dr. Wayman C. Mullins

professor of criminal justice, Texas State University

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2011 by Patrick Crough

All rights reserved

First published 2011

e-book edition 2012

ISBN 978.1.61423.338.1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crough, Patrick.

Chronicles of a Rochester major crimes detective : confronting evil and pursuing truth / Patrick Crough.

p. cm.

print edition ISBN 978-1-60949-377-6

1. Criminal investigation--New York (State)--Rochester. 2. Criminal investigation--New York (State)--Rochester--Case studies. 3. Murder--New York (State)--Rochester--Case studies. I. Title.

HV6534.R624C76 2011

364.15230974789--dc23

2011035032

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to the victims whose tragic stories are shared in the following pages.

Vince Romano, my brother in Christ, now in glory: your words of encouragement and loving support will never be forgotten.

Contents

Preface

The authorities are Gods servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are Gods servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those, who do what is wrong.

Romans 13:4 (NLT)

Confronting evil in the pursuit of truth defines the life of a Major CrimesSpecial Victims Police investigator. I spent twenty years doing so as an investigator and investigator-sergeant in the Major Crimes Unit of the Monroe County Sheriffs Office in Rochester, New York, the majority of my twenty-seven-year career in law enforcement. We investigated homicides and suspicious deaths, violent assaults that resulted in serious physical injury, sexual assaults, crimes against children, robberies, police-involved shootings, and confidential special investigations at the direction of the sheriff of Monroe County.

You might be asking, why did I write this book? Well, I have several reasons. First, I believe that some of the cases I worked as a Major Crimes investigator are worth sharing for the purpose of edifying others about the inner workings of a major criminal investigation. Sharing ones personal and professional experiences with the generations that follow is an important component of learning in any field. This is especially true in the world of Major Crimes police detectives. Being exposed to various crime scenes and situations vicariously through the experiences of seasoned colleagues is invaluable to the development of a criminal investigator.

I know that throughout my own career I often sought out certain police investigators who came before me. These were individuals who had proven themselves, one investigation after another, to be successful and dedicated to their calling: solving serious crimes and putting together prosecutable cases. This leads to my second reason for writing this book: it is my tribute to them for their willingness to share their knowledge and experience with a fledgling police officer and detective and my attempt to pay it forward to those who now follow in the never-ending fight against evil in the pursuit of truth.

I also must admit that I have chosen to write about some of my more memorable experiences to leave what I think is a critical legacy to my younger brethren. This legacy is twofold. I hope that from these recollections they will recognize the necessity of always pursuing truth, even when confronted with the most evil among us, in a lawful manner. I also want them to leave their ego at home and to strive to be remembered as a trusted and competent police investigator by those with whom they work. There is no better compliment to a cop than the genuine respect of colleagues who worked with him or her, day in and day out.

While every Major Crimes investigation I worked was important, the ones featured in the following pages are some of the cases that stand out in my mind. The content of each of these investigations is real and based on factual information. I changed the names of some of the people (including some suspects) to protect the identities of the innocent. An asterisk will be located next to a name when it first appears in the book to signify that it has been changed.

Also, for the purpose of clarification, the terms detective and investigator should be considered one and the same. Police departments throughout our nation use both titles for those sworn members who investigate the more serious crimes committed in their jurisdictions.

It is my sincere hope that these experiences will benefit and inspire those individuals who desire or are commencing a career in law enforcement to do their best every day regardless of the job. Serving as a law enforcement officer in the United States is both an honor and a privilege; we are chosen and trained to serve and protect the most valuable asset this country has: its people. We must never lose sight of this mission and the law that helps us identify and rid true threats to it.

Case 1

St. Valentines Day Murders

I have been driven many times to my knees by overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.

Abraham Lincoln

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009, 5:45 A.M.

The pagers all-too-familiar, annoying beep jolted me awake in the early morning darkness. This is not healthy, I thought to myself as I struggled to get out of bed and grab it from the dresser six feet away. I had deliberately kept the pager that far from my bed to prevent me from just reaching over to my nightstand to turn it off. If my feet werent forced to hit the floor, I knew that I might easily slip back into a slumber and not answer the page.

The cold night air in the bedroom only exasperated my misery. Nearly twenty years of being awakened out of a deep sleep sucked. We in the field call it blood money. The overtime is great, but I have no doubt it has taken years off my life. I stepped out of the bedroom to answer the page so as not to disturb Suzanne, my wife of twenty-nine years, who had grown accustomed to the middle-of-the-night call outs. After stumbling like a drunk to the kitchen table and dropping onto one of the chairs, I called my supervisor, Sergeant Doug Comanzo.

Whats up, Doug? I asked miserably.

Morning, Patrick, Sergeant Comanzo responded in his usual empathetic, monotone voice. Sorry to wake you, but weve got two shot dead in the parking lot of Lakeside hospital and a third on the way to Strong in critical condition. Strong Memorial Hospital, a part of the University of Rochester Medical School, served as the only certified medical trauma center for a ten-county region in western New York.