This is from 2003 and the reporters for the New York papers forgot to keep asking the questions, or for some other reason just dropped the story of twice-shot New York Police Lieutenant Theresa Flannery.
Theresa Flannery, 33, a 12-year veteran of the New York Police Department, was found in her second-floor apartment with two gunshot wounds to her head... Long Island cops believe she missed her first shot and fired a second time, hitting herself in the face. Bleeding and in pain, she put the gun behind her ear and pulled the trigger yet again, striking herself in the back of the head...
..."She definitely would not have killed herself.
She had the world"...
WOMAN COP FOUND SHOT DEAD AT HOME
New York Post (NY)
PHILIP MESSING
July 10, 2003
[Excerpts] A veteran female NYPD lieutenant who failed to show up for work yesterday was found dead of a gunshot wound to her face in her Nassau County apartment, law-enforcement sources said. Lt. Theresa Flannery, 33, was a 12-year veteran with the NYPD's Traffic Control Division. Law-enforcement sources said investigators were looking into the possibility of suicide but had not ruled out homicide. Worried colleagues said they called Long Island police early yesterday and asked them to check in on Flannery at her home in Bellmore. Her body was found at 9 a.m. "She was always so prompt," said one colleague. "That's what got everyone so nervous. People started asking, 'Where is she? Where is she?'"... Police said two shots were fired in the bedroom, one of them into a wall. Investigators said they had not found a suicide note and speculated that Flannery may have tried to shoot herself but flinched and then shot again. [LINK]
"The death is still undetermined," said Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department... "We're trying to construct what took place in the apartment," [Homicide Squad Commander Det. Lt. Dennis] Farrell said. "There are lots of facets of this case that need to be explored.
There's going to be
no quick answer
to this"...
There's going to be
no quick answer
to this"...
FIND CITY COP SHOT DEAD IN L.I. MYSTERY
New York Daily News. pg. 16
Ruth Bashinsky, with Michele McPhee
Jul 10, 2003.
[Excerpts] A 33-year-old NYPD lieutenant was found fatally shot in her Long Island home yesterday morning - but it was unclear whether she was a victim of murder, suicide or a tragic accident. Family members and some police sources doubted that Theresa Flannery, a rising star on the force who was on the list for promotion to captain, would have put a bullet in her head. Some noted there were two shots fired - making suicide seem less likely. Neighbors also reported hearing an argument from her Bellmore apartment the night before Flannery's body was found. Several of Flannery's relatives showed up at her Wilson Ave. house after her body was discovered and were heard angrily telling police, "We want answers." "No matter what the cops say, my sister's personality is not to commit suicide," one of her brothers told a neighbor. But a high-ranking police official said that the wound appeared self-inflicted and that one of her guns was near her body. "It's leaning toward suicide," said the official... "The cause of death is undetermined," said Lt. Kevin Smith, a spokesman with the Nassau County Police Department... Neighbors said they had heard fighting and a loud commotion late Tuesday. "I heard glass shattering between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. last night," said a neighbor, who didn't want her name used. "I got scared but didn't call the police"... Flannery, who was divorced from a city police officer and had recently been dating a transit lieutenant, was on the NYPD's list for promotion to captain. "She was a beautiful girl, very popular, they all liked her," said one police source. "She definitely would not have killed herself. She had the world"... In the afternoon, cops were seen removing boxes of her personal belongings, including a computer and stuffed animals... A neighbor who said she last saw Flannery Tuesday afternoon chatting on her cell phone said the cop seemed driven to succeed. "She was a very ambitious girl, always taking these tests to get ahead," she said. "I feel terrible. Her brothers seem devastated. It's such a tragedy." [LINK]
Detectives offer few details
Newsday. Long Island, N.Y. pg. A.20
Keiko Morris. Rocco Parascandola contributed
Jul 10, 2003
[Excerpts] Nassau homicide detectives are investigating the death of a New York City police lieutenant found yesterday in her home in Bellmore... Homicide Squad Det. Lt. Dennis Farrell said only that detectives were investigating an undetermined death involving a New York City police officer and that details surrounding her death would not be released until after an autopsy was completed today. Farrell declined to say who had called police and whether there were any signs of injury to Flannery that would indicate foul play. However, sources said detectives believe she was murdered. "She was the most wonderful niece in the world," said Cathy Flannery, Theresa Flannery's aunt, who lives in Florida. "We are beside ourselves"... Flannery was a 12-year veteran in the New York Police Department assigned to the Traffic Control Division in Manhattan... One neighbor who did not want to be named said residents often saw her walking her dog, a long-haired dachshund, and sometimes she would stop and talk... [LINK]
SPURNED LADY COP 'A SUICIDE'
New York Post (NY)
Murray Weiss and Kieran Crowley
July 11, 2003
[Excerpts] The female NYPD lieutenant found shot dead in her Nassau home was romantically involved with a married cop, and investigators speculate she may have killed herself because he would not leave his wife, law enforcement sources said. The gun found next to Lt. Theresa Flannery's body Wednesday morning was hers and had been fired three times, the sources said. Long Island cops believe she missed her first shot and fired a second time, hitting herself in the face. Bleeding and in pain, she put the gun behind her ear and pulled the trigger yet again, striking herself in the back of the head... Law enforcement sources said that Flannery left her husband, also an NYPD lieutenant, when she started seeing her cop boyfriend. She was upset because he was not yet willing to leave his wife for her, the sources said. [LINK]
WAITING ON TESTS IN COP'S DEATH
Newsday. pg. A.32
Keiko Morris
Jul 11, 2003
[Excerpts] Detectives say they will not know whether the death of a New York City police lieutenant found shot in her Bellmore home Wednesday was a suicide or a homicide until they receive autopsy test results... Theresa Flannery, 33, a 12-year veteran of the New York Police Department, was found in her second-floor apartment with two gunshot wounds to her head, police said. An autopsy by the Nassau County medical examiner concluded that Flannery's death was caused by one of the two gunshots... "We're trying to construct what took place in the apartment," [Homicide Squad Commander Det. Lt. Dennis] Farrell said. "There are lots of facets of this case that need to be explored. There's going to be no quick answer to this"... [LINK]
AUTOPSY ON FEMALE OFFICER YIELDS FEW CLUES
New York Daily News. New York, N.Y. pg. 16
Richard Weir with Ruth Bashinsky
Jul 11, 2003
An autopsy on a city cop who was found shot dead in her Long Island apartment was completed yesterday - but shed no immediate light on whether she was a suicide or a murder victim. The body of Lt. Theresa Flannery, 33, was discovered Wednesday morning in her Bellmore home. She had a bullet wound in the head. An autopsy was completed but the results were pending, said Diane Markunas, spokeswoman for the Nassau County medical examiner's office. "The death is still undetermined," said Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department, adding that the homicide squad was investigating... Many colleagues could not believe that Flannery, who was on the promotion list for captain, would kill herself. Neighbors noted that she bought a new car only last week. [LINK]
POLICE OFFICER'S SHOOTING DEATH STILL UNCLASSIFIED
New York Times
By BRUCE LAMBERT
July 12, 2003
[Excerpts] Two days after a New York City police lieutenant was found fatally shot in her home on Long Island, investigators yesterday had yet to classify her case as an accident, a suicide or a murder... Investigators refused to comment further yesterday except to say that recent news reports had contained inaccuracies, which they did not specify. The New York Post reported that Lieutenant Flannery had broken up with her husband, also a police lieutenant, was dating a city police officer who is married, and was upset that he was still with his wife. The Daily News reported that unidentified neighbors had heard a commotion, breaking glass and two shots during the night before the body was found. After an autopsy, the Nassau County medical examiner's office said a gunshot wound was the obvious cause of death. But a spokeswoman for the agency said it would not classify the death until it had received the test results for drugs and disease and until the police investigation had reached a determination... Neighbors said yesterday that she was upbeat, friendly when walking her dog, and had recently bought a new car and was saving money for a house. They said she was generally private, had few visitors and carpooled every morning with a fellow officer. [LINK]
Who was the cop ex and the married cop that she was seeing?
ReplyDeleteI only know first names of the ex and married BF - but I will tell you this, NO WAY did she commit suicide. I'm her cousin, I know in my heart she was murdered.
ReplyDeleteWhat's his first name?
Delete