Mark A. Clark’s life ended in a flash on April 21, 2008, when he was shot-gunned to death in the bedroom of the house he rented at 109 Cleveland St., in Liverpool. Clark, a toy collector who was raised in the village, was just four days shy of his 40th birthday.
The crime was committed three years ago, but no arrests have been made.
“We have no suspects,” said Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh in an interview with the Star-Review on the slaying’s third anniversary. “We know the cause of death-it was a single gunshot wound-now it’s the who and the why, and we’re working diligently to determine those.”
Dozens of Clark’s associates were interviewed by sheriff’s investigators, Walsh said.
“Some people we talked to sent us in the right direction,” the sheriff said, “but with others, their information just dead-ended.”
Clark had once been married and had a son, but the marriage ended. A live-in girlfriend had reportedly moved out of the Cleveland Street house a few months before the murder. Investigators talked with her, Walsh said, but she offered no useful information.
Though he declined to identify the investigator now leading the probe, the sheriff said there have been numerous personnel changes in his department’s criminal investigation division. “There have been retirements, transfers, that sort of thing,” Walsh said, “so we have changed the people who are handling the investigation and we’re working closely with the Liverpool Police Department.”
Det. Michael Lemm is coordinating the LPD’s effort in the Clark case.
Prior to the Clark killing, the last murder in the village was the 1984 shooting of teacher Bonnie Morritt in Johnson Park. Her estranged husband, Donald Morritt, was quickly arrested, pleaded guilty, and served nearly 27 years in state prison. He was released on March 24 from the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility in Orange County.
Walsh believes someone with pertinent information could still come forward to help solve the Clark crime.
“We’re hoping that talking about it like this that someone will be reminded of it,” the sheriff said. “We’re hoping it’ll trigger some memories.”
To contact sheriff’s investigators, call 435-3081.
To contact Det. Lemm at LPD, call him at 457-0222, or e-mail him at [email protected].
