Livin’ in Liverpool: Thirteen years later, Cleveland St. murder remains unsolved

LIVERPOOL — Mark A. Clark’s life ended in a flash on April 21, 2008, when he was shot to death in the bedroom of the house he rented at 109 Cleveland St., in Liverpool.

A toy collector who was raised in the village, Clark was just four days shy of his 40th birthday.

The crime was committed 13 years ago, but no arrests have ever been made.

What I heard at the time — and my sources were two well-respected members of the law enforcement community, one a detective and another a judge — the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office was vigorously interrogating a prime suspect when things began to get heated. The suspect lawyered up and walked out. The suspect is probably still walking.

Cause clear but who & why?

Three years after Clark’s killing, then-Sheriff Kevin Walsh gave me an interview. “We know the cause of death,” Walsh said. “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.

“Some people we talked to sent us in the right direction,” the sheriff admitted, “but with others, their information just dead-ended.”

Clark had once been married and had a son, but that 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.

More gunplay here

Gunshots continue to echo across the northern suburbs. The sheriff’s office reports that two men have been charged in connection with a shooting outside the Homewood Suites in Liverpool that occurred on Nov. 30, 2020.

Detectives charged 24-year-old Cassieum Pitts and 20-year-old Maurice Owens, both of Syracuse, with second degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal use of a firearm and first degree reckless endangerment. Pitts was apprehended on Feb. 19 and Owens was apprehended April 13.

The two men are accused of firing multiple gunshots at each other in what appeared to be a gang-related dispute while in the parking lot of the Homewood Suites.

Nicknames redux

Our April 14 column about historic Liverpool nicknames struck a chord with several readers and hopefully entertained even more.

In an email, Theresa Domachowski, who lives in Liverpool, wrote, “I enjoyed reading your article on nicknames. It was fun to learn of so many right here in Liverpool. When I lived in Oswego, prior to marrying Bob in 2001. One large family there had a ‘Zinceye,’ another a ‘Mooneye.’ And, there were plenty of others. I saw these as endearing names for fun type people.”

Mark Tartaglia — the shorter scion of a prominent village family — recalls that his nickname was “Squirt.”

My own younger brother, James Tarby — who grew up here but now lives in Central California — recalls that when he was a 10-year-old Little Leaguer he played ball for the Liverpool SportsCenter team.

“My coach, Dom Tripoli, gave me the nickname Tubba because I was kinda shaped like Babe Ruth. Tubba Tarby — it stuck for three or four years.”

A couple of Tubba’s teammates also sported nicknames. Ron Goodison was “Goody,” of course, and Jim McCullom was “Jimmy Mac.”

Tree-planting next week

The village will celebrate Arbor Day with a virtual tree-planting at 11:30 a.m. next Wednesday, April 28, when a small-leafed Linden tree is planted along Second Street near the Gleason Mansion. You can follow the event on the village of Liverpool Facebook page.