Mark was an accomplished, young politician living in Washington DC. He was a good friend and kind to everyone. He will be missed by all.
In Memory
Ernest (Mark) Schwarzenbach
Mark was an accomplished, young politician living in Washington DC. He was a good friend and kind to everyone. He will be missed by all.
Thomas Kaspar
UpdateThe Washington Post - Washington, D.C.
Author: Petula Dvorak
Date: Mar 24, 2001
Start Page: B.02
Section: METRO
After 47 Weeks, Suicide Becomes Homicide; Victim's Relatives Irate Over District's Delay in Classifying, Investigating Death
[FINAL Edition]
For nearly a year, Vicki Schwarzenbach has been bothered by the phrase "self-inflicted gunshot wound" on the D.C. police department's report about her brother's death. Ernest "Mark" Schwarzenbach had been a bit lonely, yes, but suicide seemed unthinkable.
This week, she saw a new word in a new report: homicide.
After 47 weeks of trying, the Schwarzenbach family in Florida obtained his autopsy report and learned that the initial finding of suicide was wrong and that the D.C. medical examiner had recently ruled Schwarzenbach's death a homicide.
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said that the initial police report was based on what detectives saw at the scene April 26 and that the case will be reinvestigated.
"I don't know how they're going to investigate a homicide that's a year old," Vicki Schwarzenbach said. "I'm just so angry. How are they going to find out who killed my brother now?"
Schwarzenbach, 38, a security officer at the State Department, was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head, inflicted as he lay in bed in his apartment in the 200 block of C Street SE. The autopsy report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, said that a trajectory analysis showed that Schwarzenbach might have been able to shoot himself but that it would have been "awkward to achieve the correct positioning," because the gun was fired from above the bed.
It also said the gun was found in Schwarzenbach's right hand, which lay across his chest -- an unlikely position if he had shot himself in the side of the head while lying down. The report, signed in February by Jonathan L. Arden, the D.C. medical examiner, has two Xs in the box next to "homicide."
Arden did not return calls to his office, home and pager yesterday.
"It just didn't make sense to us that he would kill himself," Vicki Schwarzenbach said. "For months we've been trying to find things in his life that would justify or explain this. Like, when I cleaned out his apartment, his drawers were all very neat, all his socks were folded. That was very unlike my brother, so I thought, 'Okay, he was getting ready to die. He was putting everything in order for us.' Now, after all of that, this comes out of the blue. Homicide. We just don't understand."
Mark Schwarzenbach, who liked politics and had volunteered in political campaigns, had moved from Tampa to Washington two years ago. When he did not show up at work for three days, his supervisor at the State Department called his father in Florida to see what had happened. The father asked the supervisor to check on his son, Vicki Schwarzenbach said.
When she called police, she was told by a 1st District detective that Schwarzenbach had shot himself. She and her father traveled to Washington the next day. They scoured the apartment for a suicide note but didn't find one. Just the neatly folded socks.
"He was a little lonely. He didn't have a girlfriend up there, and I don't think he made too many friends," his sister said. "And an old back injury was hurting him. We wondered if that's what he was so depressed about."
The police report, a copy of which was given to the family, buttressed the suicide theory. It said that there were no signs of forced entry and that $2,458 was left in the apartment.
The day after the body was found, however, Arden signed a death certificate that said the cause of death was "pending."
When the Schwarzenbachs returned home with the few things of Mark Schwarzenbach that they had not given to charity, they tried to change the paperwork on his Dodge truck, which he had left in Florida. They were told, Vicki Schwarzenbach said, that a registration cannot be changed as long as a cause of death is pending, so she started calling the medical examiner's office, expecting to get a final form marked "suicide."
Despite repeated calls, she said, she could not reach Arden or obtain the report. She contacted a reporter in January, who asked Arden why a cause had not been determined. Arden said the case might need closer examination but acknowledged that it had been lost amid other cases. "This is not my shining moment," Arden said. "It should not take this long."
The Schwarzenbachs received the autopsy report in the mail this week.
March 23, 2001
Homicide 215 C Street, SE
On Wednesday, April 26, 2000, police were called to an apartment at 215 C Street, S.E. Upon their arrival they discovered the body of 38-year-old Ernest Schwarzenbach, of the C Street address, with a gunshot wound to the head. A gun was recovered on the scene. He was taken to the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office where he was officially pronounced dead.
Recently the D.C. Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case a homicide.
The case is under investigation by members of the department's First District . Anyone with information about this case is asked to call detectives at 202/727-4595 or the Crime Solvers Unit at 1-800-673-2777.
The department currently offers a TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR REWARD to anyone who provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.
Anthony (Tony) Scarpo
I did not spend much time with Mark when we were in school, however after we graduated from Chamberlain, we became good friends. I could always count on him if I ever needed a favor. When I heard the news that Mark may have killed himself, I did not believe it for a moment. To get this news (above) gives me some sort of relief that I may have be right, however I am still saddened that he is no longer with us.Kathleen D. Long
What a terrible loss! Mark was a beautiful person - this is truly a terrible loss.Dwight Paulding
I felt the same as you Tony when I found out at our reunion past.I met Mark back in 7th grade and he was a true friend.We used to joke about a lot of things back in the day and I still find myself laughing at some of his comments.I wish the best for his family and I will continue to pray they find the people who took away a great friend...I love you man.