Blog #6--Murder at Columbia University

On December 20, 1998, there was a murder that took place on the Columbia University campus in Journalism Hall. A man by the name of Garry Germain, 34, was shot and killed at his security post that night. He was last seen by a fellow officer around 10 pm that evening. Twenty minutes later there was a call stating that an officer was injured. When fellow security officers arrived at the scene, he was laying on his side in a pool of blood facing the staircase. They didn't know exactly where he was injured because the bullet wound was behind his left ear. There appeared to be no sign of a struggle, as the murder was quiet and precise, accoring to the police. The attempt to save his life was slim as he was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Roosevelt hospital. On December 22, 1988 the story of his death was written in the New York times.
Mr. Germaine was originally from Port-au-Prince Haiti and came to the United States as an early teen. He was a married father of three, two daughters and a son. He served in the military from 1974-1976. He was described as an incredible man who took care of his business and his family, as he was an extraordinary father to his children. He and his wife Marlene owned a restaurant called Le Triumphe on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, that she worked in and was in charge of, and he worked at night. He had worked for the VA Hospital for 9 years until the security firm that he worked for folded. His brother, Max had been employed at Columbia Uniersity for six years at the time. And was able to plug him in and pull some strings to get him a job as a campus safety officer. That was the beginning of the end for Garry, as no one would have ever imagined that he would be killed on the job two hours before his shift was over.
His homicide has not been solved and has been officially open for 27 years. His case has passed through the desks of 22 detectives throughout the years. Detective O'Sullivan who was the third detective to take the case, is now 71 years old and retired. There were so many murder cases then, that one minute you were assigned a case, and the next minute you were off. Unsolved cases rose to the 9,000 plus mark. He took a vested  interest in the case personally and professionally, and even after retiring he continued to work closely over the years with the District Attorneys who took on Garry's case. It never went to the Cold case files because of the lack of DNA evidence. There were no surveillance of any kind back then that left nothing for detectives to work with. Someone slipped in and out of the building just like that.....CLICK.BANG.BOUNCE.....Nothing solid has ever surfaced about Garry's murder over the years, but plenty speculation occurred in the very beginning of the investigation. All the theories have never been substantiated, as Garry's brother Max has remained in contact with detectives from the very beginning. After working 46 years as of 2014, Max still works at the café opposite the building his brother was murdered in 27 years ago.
After her husband's murder, Marlene and her children stayed at the home for a little while but Marlene decided to pickup and move her family to Florida. Marlene remained a widow for 11 years. The tragic loss of their son in a car accident in 2005 left her devastated as she mentioned that both Garry and her son Christopher died on Broadway. This would be the very street that took the lives of the two most important men in her life.
As I continued reading the story, I think I vaguely remember this incident. Only because the vicinity which Columbia University is located in is not the safest area to stroll as night starts to fall, especially in the wee hours of the morning. There were several incidents of students being harmed and attacked in the area during that time. This was the era of stick up kids, street beatdowns, and random gunplay. This is a sad ending to a good, decent man's life who did nothing but try to make the American Dream possible for his family. To leave surviving family dangling with no closure or answers after almost 30 years must be the hardest thing to live with when the death of a loved one was was committed by a random act of violence.