[NYPD] Waiting to understand the death of Marianne Bax

The heartbroken NYPD inspector whose wife backed a car into the family swimming pool said the tragedy was nothing more than a "freak accident"... "I'm being told now it was just a freak accident, but the police are investigating, and they'll let us know more," said her devastated husband, Wayne Bax, a deputy inspector of the NYPD's Patrol Borough Bronx. "She was a wonderful wife and a wonderful mother," he said. "She was amazing. She was a wonderful person"... [Clarkstown police spokesman, Administrative Sgt. Harry Baumann] said [Marianne] Bax drove across more than 100 feet of lawn and through a chain-link fence before dropping into the pool... Clarkstown Police Detective Lt. Charles Delo said suicide also would be considered since "we're lacking a good explanation of the cause. But I don't understand why you would back the car in," he said...

I collected the information in January and waited to see if the answers would be made public. The comment sections of articles about her death overflowed with the disbelief and questions.. I'm sharing what I have.

Video: "Bizarre Accident"



BREAKING NEWS: Fatal Accident in West Nyack
The Journal News
Posted by: Angela Gaul
Jan 20, 2010

Firefighters from the West Nyack Fire Department work at the scene of a fatal accident at 45 Continental Dr. in West Nyack. According to Sgt. Harry Baumann of the Clarkstown Police Department, Marianne Bax, a 52-year-old woman who lives at this address, backed into a swimming pool in her automobile. She was pronounced dead on the scene by Rockland Paramedics. Law enforcement officials, search-and-rescue divers, firefighters from the West Nyack Fire Department and a tow truck driver are still attempting to remove the vehicle from the pool. Keep checking Lohud.com for the web updates and look for Akiko Matsuda’s story in tomorrow’s edition of the Journal News. [LINK]

POLICE: N.Y. WOMAN DROWNS AFTER DRIVING CAR INTO POOL
foxnews.com
January 20, 2010
[Excerpts] Police in New York say a woman apparently backed her car into her backyard pool and drowned... [Clarkstown police spokesman Sgt. Harry Baumann] said Bax drove across more than 100 feet of lawn and through a chain-link fence before dropping into the pool. [Full article here]

Clarkstown Police Sgt. Harry Baumann:

"We have no reason to believe it was not an accident... It could be a medical condition. We will find out more about that as time goes on."

MISSING WOMAN FOUND IN CAR SUBMERGED IN POOL
One person is dead
myfoxny.com
20 Jan 2010
[Excerpts] A woman who had been missing since Tuesday apparently drove her car into her own frozen backyard swimming pool in Rockland County, N.Y., and died, officials said... Police are investigating the incident on Continental Drive in West Nyack as a possible accident. Investigators said that they do not suspect foul play and did not find a suicide note. The pool was filled with water and had a layer of ice, according to video from SkyFoxHD. The car appears to have backed up through some shrubs, over the lawn, and through a chain-link fence before diving into the pool. [Full article here]

Video:


NYPD INSPECTOR FINDS WIFE'S BODY INSIDE MERCEDES SUBMERGED IN FAMILY SWIMMING POOL
The Journal News
BY Wil Cruz and John Lauinger
January 20th 2010
An NYPD inspector's frantic search for his missing wife ended in tragedy on Wednesday when he found her body inside her Mercedes-Benz, submerged in the family swimming pool, police said. Wayne Bax searched overnight for his wife, Marianne, after he and his son returned to their Rockland County home late Tuesday night and discovered she was gone, police and family said. Wayne Bax, a deputy inspector at NYPD's Patrol Borough Bronx, and son Christopher, a cop with the Clarkstown Police Department, drove around West Nyack, looking for her car. Friends and relatives helped in the search, but Marianne, 52, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, was nowhere to be found... Around 1 p.m. yesterday, Wayne Bax went into his backyard and noticed jagged pieces of ice protruding from the swimming pool and a gaping hole in the pool's cover, police and Wayne Bax's brother said. The Mercedes-Benz was totally submerged, with its transmission in reverse. Rescue workers extricated Marianne by breaking the car's sunroof. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Marianne had apparently backed the car across the home's side lawn, covering roughly 100 feet and smashed through a chain-link fence before crashing into the pool, Police Sgt. Harry Baumann said... Investigators believe Marianne's death was an accident, Baumann said... Dominick Bax wondered last night whether his sister-in-law's illness may have played a role in her tragic death. "Because of her MS, her legs are wobbly, especially at the end of the day," he said. "But I do not know if that was a factor in what happened with the car or whether it was a mechanical failure"... [Full article here]

Mud.

NYPD COP'S WIFE DROWNS IN SUBMERGED CAR
NEW YORK POST
By Lorena Mongelli and Larry Celona
January 20, 2010
[Excerpts] The wife of an NYPD inspector was found dead today after she apparently backed her car into the swimming pool behind her family’s Rockland County home,... Marianne Bax’s husband and son had been looking for her since the night before when they returned to their West Nyack home from a Rangers game and she was not there.... Wayne Max, is an NYPD a deputy inspector in the Bronx. He has been with the department for nearly 30 years. His son, Christopher, is an officer with the Clarkstown Police Department, which is handling the investigation. A daughter, Danielle, 23, is a graduate student at Boston University. "They came home and couldn’t find her," said the inspector’s brother, Dominick Bax. "They were searching for her all night." Dominick Bax said his sister-in-law suffered from Multiple Sclerosis, and the debilitating disease, which forced her to give up a career in bookkeeping, often left her fatigued and in pain... "We’re not looking at foul play," [Clarkstown Police Sgt. Harry] Baumann said. "We did find the car to be in reverse." Baumann said the car drove 100 feet over the plush lawn, through a bush and a four-foot fence before plunging backwards into the pool near the edge of the street’s scenic cul de sac... Baumann said the father and son might not have seen the white car initially because it might have been camouflaged by the white snow that hung on the tarp that covered the pool... "She was a wonderful mom," said neighbor Maryanne Lewis. "She loved her house. She was always very particular. She kept everything in meticulous condition. What the hell happened here, I don’t know." Additional reporting by Murray Weiss and Kevin Fasick. [Article no longer online]

MISSING WOMAN DISCOVERED DEAD INSIDE CAR SUBMERGED IN POOL
WPIX.com
By Stephanie Barish
January 20, 2010
[Excerpts] ...According to reports, around 11:15 a.m., [Marianne] Bax's husband Wayne and their son Christopher, placed a missing person report because they had not seen her since Tuesday night. It is unclear what prompted the accident, in which Bax drove across more than 100 feet of lawn and through a chain-link fence before plunging into the pool. Sgt. Baumann said foul play had been ruled out and the death seemed to be accidental, although suicide has not been discounted... [Full article here]

Click photo to enlarge. I screen captured this archived photo from Google Satellite on January 20th so maybe that is Marianne's car in the driveway, pulled in forward.

WEST NYACK WOMAN, 52, DIES AFTER BACKING MERCEDES INTO POOL
The Journal News
Akiko Matsuda and James O'Rourke
January 20, 2010
[Excerpts] ...Marianne Bax, of 45 Continental Drive, was found in the driver’s seat of her white Mercedes-Benz that was completely submerged in icy water in her backyard pool. Emergency responders broke the car’s sunroof and pulled her out about 1 p.m., and Rockland Paramedics Services pronounced her dead at the scene, Clarkstown police Sgt. Harry Baumann said... Wayne Bax, a deputy inspector with the New York Police Department, was at a Ranger game Tuesday night, Baumann said. He returned home at an unspecified time and realized that his wife and her car were gone. He and his son tried to locate her. After the family filed the missing person report, Clarkstown police started checking area hospitals to see if there were any overnight accidents involving Marianne Bax. It was not until about 1 p.m. that the family realized that ice that had accumulated over the pool’s tarp was disturbed. The family investigated the area around the pool, found the submerged car and notified police. The Mercedes was submerged in five to six feet of pool water and Baumann said police found the vehicle in reverse gear... Police were treating Bax’s death as an accident but were continuing to investigate. The exact cause of her death remained unclear. Bax’s neighbor, Bruce Gunther, 67, said Marianne Bax had multiple sclerosis, the same illness he has been dealing with since 1979. “She was handling it well as far as I can see,” Gunther said... In the Spring 2007 “MS Advocate,” a newsletter published by the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases where Marianne Bax was treated for her illness, she described her condition and her relationship with her spouse. “My husband, Wayne, is a very special caregiver... He puts everyone first before himself,” she is quoted as saying. Baumann said police did not have any information about her medical conditions or medications. “We’re going to look into that,” Baumann said. “Through the investigation, we’ll find out a lot more”... A tow truck sent to pull the car from the pool initially sank into mud on the front lawn, delaying the investigation. Baumann said police would investigate the car’s condition to identify any possible defects. The family’s two-story house is located on a cul-de-sac... In addition to Clarkstown police, West Nyack and Piermont fire departments responded to the scene. Divers from Piermont participated in the investigation. [Article no longer online]

NYPD INSPECTOR SAYS DEATH OF WIFE WHO BACKED CAR INTO FAMILY SWIMMING POOL WAS 'FREAK ACCIDENT'
New York Daily News
BY Kevin Deutsch and Samuel Goldsmith
January 21st 2010
The heartbroken NYPD inspector whose wife backed a car into the family swimming pool said the tragedy was nothing more than a "freak accident"... "I'm being told now it was just a freak accident, but the police are investigating, and they'll let us know more," said her devastated husband, Wayne Bax, a deputy inspector of the NYPD's Patrol Borough Bronx. "She was a wonderful wife and a wonderful mother," he said. "She was amazing. She was a wonderful person"... [Full article here]

POLICE: CAR APPARENTLY BACKED INTO WATER
The Journal News
By Akiko Matsuda and James O'Rourke
January 21, 2010
[Excerpts] A 52-year-old woman was found dead Wednesday afternoon after her car apparently backed into a swimming pool at her home, Clarkstown police said... About 11:15 a.m., Bax's husband, Wayne, 56, and their son Christopher, 27, a Clarkstown police officer, filed a missing-person report because they had been looking for her since the night before. Wayne Bax, a deputy inspector with the New York Police Department, was at a Rangers game Tuesday night, Baumann said. He returned home at an unspecified time and realized that his wife and her car were gone... The Mercedes was submerged in 5 to 6 feet of pool water, and Baumann said police found the vehicle in reverse gear. Baumann said it was unclear when the car went into the in-ground pool... The white Mercedes apparently backed across the front yard, through a chain-link fence and into the pool. There was no sign, Baumann said, of the vehicle's brake being applied before reaching the pool. Police had not yet determined the car's speed at the time of impact... [Article no longer online]

WOMAN WHO DROVE INTO POOL DIED FROM DROWNING, EXPOSURE
The Journal News
By Hema Easley and Steve Lieberman
January 21, 2010
[Excerpts] Marianne Bax, the 52-year-old West Nyack woman who apparently backed her car into a swimming pool in her back yard, died from "drowning and cold exposure," the Rockland County Medical Examiner's Office said in a statement... She died Wednesday, the medical examiner's statement said, though it did not provide an exact time of death. No other injuries were detected. "Additional tests are being performed to determine manner of death, which remains pending at this time," the statement said. Detective Lt. Charles Delo, head of Clarkstown's detective bureau that is investigating the case, said police were also awaiting a toxicology report, which could take up to six weeks. The medical examiner will also look into her medical history, he said... "We have no reason to believe it was not an accident," [spokesman for the Police Department, Administrative Sgt. Harry] Baumann added. "It could be a medical condition. We will find out more about that as time goes on." Delo said suicide also would be considered since "we're lacking a good explanation of the cause." "But I don't understand why you would back the car in," he said. "The determination on that would be done by the Medical Examiner's Office"... [Article no longer online]

W. NYACK WOMAN DIED OF DROWNING, COLD
The Journal News
Hema Easley and Steve Lieberman
January 22, 2010
[Excerpts] Marianne Bax... died Wednesday, the medical examiner's statement said, though it did not provide an exact time of death... "Additional tests are being performed to determine manner of death, which remains pending at this time," the statement said. Detective Lt. Charles Delo, head of Clarkstown's detective bureau, said police were awaiting a toxicology report, which could take up to six weeks. The medical examiner will also look into Bax's medical history, he said. Sgt. Harry Baumann, a Police Department spokesman, said a family member told investigators the victim suffered from multiple sclerosis and that might have been responsible for weakening her leg. Police have not concluded, however, that was a factor... A report would be available in a few days, he said... [Article no longer online]

COP SAYS WIFE'S POOL DEATH 'FREAK' ACCIDENT
New York Daily News
Kevin Deutsch, Samuel Goldsmith
Jan 22, 2010. pg. 29
[Excerpts] ...Marianne Bax, 52, suffered from multiple sclerosis, which may have been a factor in the accident, family and friends said. "It's an insidious disease," said her husband. "But despite that, she carried herself as a good friend and a wonderful wife and mother"... "She was a wonderful mother," said her son, an officer with the Clarkstown Police Department. Neighbors said her disease kept Marianne Bax home most of the time. "When I saw her car was gone for so many hours, I knew something was wrong," said Ruben Ruiz, 75, who lives across the street... [Article no longer online]

TRAGEDY BRINGS OUT SUPPORT FROM MANY
LoHud, The Journal News
February 13, 2010
On Wednesday, Jan. 20, my wife, Marianne Bax, tragically passed away. ("West Nyack woman, 52, dies after backing Mercedes into pool," Jan. 20, The Journal News.) As hard as this has been for my family, I would like to publicly thank all of the first-responders from the Clarkstown Police Department, Nanuet Ambulance Corps, Rockland Paramedics, as well as the West Nyack and Piermont Fire Departments for their quick response and assistance at that most difficult time. All of the members of the above agencies acted with the utmost professionalism and respect and for that my family is thankful. To all who called to express their condolences, sent or stopped by with food, thank you for being there for us when we needed it most.
Wayne Bax
West Nyack

INTERMENT: ST ANTHONY'S CEMETERY

CONDOLENCES TO:
D.I. WAYNE BAX
PBBX
450 CROSS BRONX EXPY
BRONX, NY 10457

IN LIEU OF FLOWERS
THE FAMILY REQUESTS DONATION BE MADE IN HER NAME TO:
NATIONAL MS SOCIETY
2 GANNETT DRIVE (SUITE LC)
WHITE PLAINS, NY 10604

MARIANNE BAX
Joseph W. Sorce Funeral Home
728 West Nyack Road
West Nyack, NY 10994
(845) 358-4433
Marianne Bax, 52, of West Nyack, passed away on January 20, 2010. Marianne was born September 11, 1957 in New York City. She was preceded in death by her father, Alex Pasqua. She was a graduate of Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, NY. Marianne was employed as a bookkeeper/accountant locally by Rockland ENT and the former firm of Gaber/Nyman. She retired after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and continued to stay involved with the Southern NY Chapter of the National MS Society. Marianne was a devoted and loving mother and wife to her family. She will be missed dearly... [Full article here]

1996:

PERJURY PROBE OF COP PARK ATTACK INSPECTOR EYED
New York Daily News
By GREG B. SMITH
Friday, June 7th 1996, 2:00AM
[Excerpts] A police deputy inspector leading the Central Park beating task force is under federal investigation for perjury after a judge charged he lied to cover up an illegal arrest. Deputy Inspector Wayne Bax, a 15-year-veteran, made contradictory statements about the arrest of a protester during a May 1993 visit by President Clinton, according to court papers. Manhattan Federal Judge John Martin demanded an investigation after a May 22 hearing on a lawsuit by the protester, Arthur Johnson. He says he was arrested in violation of his First Amendment rights to free speech. In a May 24 letter to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, Martin asked that prosecutors look into the case. Bax, commander of detectives in Manhattan North, is overseeing the probe of Tuesday's assault on a still-unidentified woman in Central Park... Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Hirshman has launched a perjury probe, sources confirmed... In his letter, obtained by the Daily News, Martin stated, "It was clear to me and the members of my staff that Inspector Bax knew that he had violated the plaintiff's First Amendment rights by authorizing an illegal arrest and that he deliberately lied to cover up his illegal conduct"... In the beginning of the case, Bax gave a deposition stating that Johnson was arrested "because of his refusal to move to the anti-Clinton station area... During a May hearing before Martin, however, Bax said Johnson was arrested "for obstructing the pedestrian crosswalk"... Two days later, Martin sent a three-page letter to White, stating, "On Wednesday of this week, I had such an incident which disturbed me more than any previous case of witness perjury. What was so disturbing was that the witness is a deputy inspector of the New York City Police Department." Martin noted that Bax' alleged perjury took place in front of two lower-level cops. "I had the impression that he was sending the message to his subordinate officers: 'Let me show you how to lie in court to sustain an illegal arrest,' " Martin wrote. [Full article here]
[police officer involved intimate partner law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities unsolved unresolved accident accidental new york city police department]