SCHENECTADY Family expects to hear worst Autopsy results, identifi cation to be released today BY MARCY VELTE Gazette Reporter
Police are still not releasing the identity of the body found on Friday in the demolition of a Schenectady apartment building that caught fire in early December. However, the identity and results of an autopsy performed over the weekend are set to be released today , according to police spokesman Officer Michael Crounse. Although it was reported all residents escaped the fire that occurred on Dec. 10 at 902 McClellan St., a body was found once demolition began. One resident, Patrick Sheehan, is still missing and his brother expects the worst. “It’s crazy how long it took to find the body,” said Frank Sheehan on Sunday. According to Sheehan, the family was unaware of the fi re until Christmas Day when he and another brother, Mike, went to pick up Patrick for the holidays. They found the building destroyed and empty and became worried. They went to the police and got numbers for local missions and the Red Cross. No one had heard of Patrick. ..........................>>>>....................>>>>...........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00701&AppName=1
Tenant escaped, landlord told Owner of burned building says officials told him victim got out By Lauren Stanforth Staff Writer Published: 12:00 a.m., Monday, January 3, 2011
SCHENECTADY -- The owner of the McClellan Street building in which his tenant body's was discovered 21 days after a Dec. 10 fire says he provided the man's name to fire and police officials the day of the blaze and was assured everyone made it out safely.
Frank Popolizio Sr. said his assistant gave public safety officials the list just after the fire broke out at 902 McClellan St., which had five apartments and a church renting commercial space on the first floor. Popolizio said he spoke with fire and police officials a few hours after the fire started that afternoon, and asked if they received the tenant list and if everyone got out alive.
"I don't know what my responsibilities should have been or could have been," the landlord said Sunday. "I just know they told me everything was OK."
On Friday, crews demolishing the building at the corner of McClellan and Eastern Avenue found a body believed to be that of Patrick Sheehan, Popolizio's quiet tenant who always paid his rent on time.
City Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Sunday there will be a statement released or a news conference held Monday to answer questions about the case, and information will be provided about an autopsy done on the body, which is believed to be Sheehan's. The autopsy was completed at Albany Medical Center Hospital over the weekend. Fire Chief Robert Farstad also declined comment Sunday.
The fire is considered suspicious, and police charged a female tenant with drug possession after she ran out of the building disoriented. Bennett said any information released Monday will not include information about an arrest in the case.
Sheehan's brother, Frank, said Sunday he still has many questions about why no one knew that his 51-year-old brother could be inside. Frank Sheehan said a Schenectady police detective Saturday showed him a picture of the body, which was found on a couch on the building's third floor, where Patrick Sheehan's apartment was.
Frank Sheehan said the body looked like that of his younger brother, a divorced father of three, and that he recognized the couch he helped move into the apartment about two years ago.
"What I'm losing sleep over is not only the fact I lost a best friend and my brother," said Sheehan, of Albany. "It's the fact that he was dead on the couch for 21 days. That to me is just disgusting...it's gross, it's not right."
The Times Union asked city officials about Sheehan's whereabouts Thursday after Frank Sheehan left a message on a reporter's voicemail. At the time, Schenectady police said they didn't know where Patrick Sheehan was, but that there were no bodies found. After demolition crews discovered the body Friday morning, police sent out a news release saying the building had been too unstable to enter to look for victims.................>>>>................>>>>..............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Tenant-escaped-landlord-told-933318.php#ixzz19yVD9oju
If what the landlord stated in the TU is correct-all the blame falls on The Commiss. His news conference should be another City classic. Several resignations must be made.
Maybe someone from the City will finally admit making a mistake? Absolutely sickening-no family should endure this pain. It's past time someone at City Hall took one for the team.
Now the story changed, his body found on the couch in his apartment? How did the firefighters miss seeing him? And didn't anyone wonder including the landord and other tenants where this man was, after being a good tenant for two years.
That poor family : (
And the landlord collecting rent, why in the hel* wasn't he paying his taxes? We all have to.
If this fire was considered suspicious and under investigation............the fire inspectors are supposed to go over the property with a fine tooth comb. How did they miss a 'dead' body?????
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
This is absolutely horrific. Where's the outrage from the clergy? I guess we must go to Northville for that. Too many are aligned with the poverty pimps {who say that meeting once a month is great} and that Rev who was "outraged" at the righteous indignation of his flock. The story always changes as truth is in short supply. Let me guess everyone was in the dark again-and nobody knows from nuthin.
This goes beyond the usual fiscal incompetence/feather bedding that the City DEMS are famous for. Multiple resignations are in order for dereliction of duty. Someone better have some honest answers at the news conference today.
If this fire was considered suspicious and under investigation............the fire inspectors are supposed to go over the property with a fine tooth comb. How did they miss a 'dead' body?????
Since nothing is anyone's fault and no one is ever fired for incompetence the press conference at 1pm today should be one for the books. Get your tap shoes ready!
Now the sheeple have to beg nit wit City officials to recover a body and have a proper burial. The grief that this family has to endure is beyond comprehension.
NEWS RELEASE DETAILS DATE/TIME: Monday, January 3rd, 2011 / 12:25 PM SUBJECT:Identification of The Body Found at 902 McClellan St.
The identity of the male found at the demolition site on 902 McClellan Street has been identified as Patrick Sheehan. Mr. Sheehan was a resident of the building. An autopsy was performed and the cause of death is asphyxia as a result of smoke inhalation.
An investigation is continuing in regards to the cause and origin of the fire that destroyed the property.
As printed in the TU days ago. Instead of the promised news conference with answers we get the usual fax that says nothing. City "leaders" need more time to work out a plausible explanation for this complete muck up. Nobody gets fired, no one resigns in total disgrace, no one demands answers. Expect a hearty "Happy New Year". That should suffice.
I have a gut feeling that Popolizio is going to be at some big fault here.
One of the stories, can't remember which paper, quoted Popolizio as saying this guy was a good tenant, always paid his rent on time, etc. So, I'm thinking now that Popolizio intentionally did not say something about tenants at the start.
THink this through. City checks there records to find out who owns a property involved in a fire. City contacts owner. Shouldn't owner, on the day of the fire, be able to produce a list of all tenants and a simple floor plan of who lived in what apartment? Now I would say that Popolizio most likely did not get the required rental certificate when this tenant rented, therefore FP probably didn't want to mention the possibility of someone being in the place. Another possibility is that between lack of rental certificate, FP knew he didn't have insurance on the place so perhaps didn't want to say anything that a tenant could be there because if the tenant was hurt or dead, FP was worried about his assets being seized.
A responsible landlord of course probably isn't going to know the whereabouts of his/her tenants at all times, couldn't possibly know if a tenant is out shopping vs at home, but why didn't FP provide a list of tenants the day of the fire?
And this also goes back to his being a tax delinquent too and obvious code violations.
Something is definitely fishy.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Another dead body downtown with no explanation. So, what's new?
McClellan Street is not located in downtown. This particular site lies right between the Upper Union Street neighborhood and the Eastern Park Neighborhood.
Sooooooooo .. you can't say that this incident happened downtown.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
You are correct DVR and your point is well taken. It just proves that the bad element is not just downtown, it's EVERYWHERE in the city.
I'd still like to know how a fire that is deemed 'suspicious' and under investigations ends up finding a dead body in it 21 days later. This whole thing STINKS!!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
McClellan Street is not located in downtown. This particular site lies right between the Upper Union Street neighborhood and the Eastern Park Neighborhood.
Sooooooooo .. you can't say that this incident happened downtown.
Well, admittedly, it wasn't in the shadow of Proctor's like other muggings and shootings, but it is in the borders of the city. In this county, the entire city is "downtown," since no other part of the county has a downtown. Altamont Ave is as close as you're going to get in Rotterdam, with Hamburg Street begging to be a number 2.
You are correct DVR and your point is well taken. It just proves that the bad element is not just downtown, it's EVERYWHERE in the city.
I'd still like to know how a fire that is deemed 'suspicious' and under investigations ends up finding a dead body in it 21 days later. This whole thing STINKS!!!
We don't know for sure how the man died ... so I would avoid using phrases like "bad element".
The separate but equally important issue to investigate is how they missed the body. But --- I am not going to judge the fire department on that one === because - quite frankly - I have never had to search for bodies in a burned out building and am rather content to leave it that way.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
Logged
If what the landlord stated in the TU is correct-all the blame falls on The Commiss. His news conference should be another City classic. Several resignations must be made. 
