Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 21

CALGARY HERALD Friday, July 19, 1996 B3 MISSING FORMER CALGARIAN $500,000 BLAZE CITY LIFE Police scour Oklahoma for body Arson now suspected in fires in Riverbend The Issue: Disappearance of former Cai-garian Marek Kosciukiewicz. What's new: Police are still searching for a murder suspect, and a body. What's next: The search continues. KOSCIUKIEWICZ KIM LUNMAN Calgary Herald Police are still trying to find the corpse as well as the prime suspect in a murder mystery with clues stretching from Texas to Calgary. Investigators searching northeast Oklahoma for the body of former Cal-garian Marek Kosciukiewicz found a U.S.

map and some articles of clothing in an area where police believe he was dumped after being killed in Houston. "Right now, that's the only thing we've got," said Det. Charles Pearson, of the Muskogee County sheriff's department. "We've got a lot of land to cover. This is a big county." The area near Muskogee where police believe the body of the oil company analyst was dumped is known as Green Country for its many lakes, rivers, forests and campgrounds.

Police claim Calgary fugitive Gary Daniel Wilson wrote a letter describing how he killed Kosciukiewicz with a hammer in Houston. In the letter, he states he dumped They narrowed the search to a 65-kilometre stretch near the interstate but also came up empty after combing the area for several days. Kosciukiewicz, 36, has been missing since June 15 and was last seen with Wilson. The two men were friends. Wilson, 29, is still on the run.

His car was found abandoned at his parents' Calgary home June 21. His family has hired city lawyer Don MacLeod, an extradition law expert. Police refuse to say what evidence, if any, was found in the vehicle. Kosciukiewicz moved to Houston last fall after he was transferred by Amoco Canada to Amoco Eurasia Petroleum Co. The engineer disappeared a week before he was to join his wife and two children in their native Poland.

Wilson moved to Houston in February. He opened a greeting card store and was registered for law school there in the fall. Anyone with any information on Wilson can contact police at 266-1234 or Crimestoppers at 262-8477. HELEN DOLIK Calgary Herald Investigators suspect arson in a $500,000 blaze last week that consumed two houses and damaged six others in the southeast Calgary community of Riverbend. "It's now a crime scene," Capt.

Jim Thomas, Calgary fire department spokesman, said Thursday. Investigators believe the fire last Friday started in the garage of 36 Riverbirch Rd. S.E., where a quick-thinking grandmother saved her 10-month-old grandson and Spooky the poodle. Jeanine Molnar was babysitting at her son's house when she spotted the flames. She grabbed the baby, Jason, and the dog, and escaped.

The fire hit eight houses, including two that were destroyed, at an estimated cost of $500,000, said Det. Rod McRae, an arson investigator. Four houses on Riverbirch Road S.E. were torched, while four homes across the alley suffered heat damage. There are no suspects and the cause hasn't yet been determined.

"We're managing," Jason's mother, Melanie Molnar, said Thursday. Melanie and a neighbor were in traffic court as witnesses when the fire broke out Friday afternoon. Her neighbor, Ken MacNeil, was on the witness stand when he was handed a note that Melanie's house was on fire. MacNeil's wife had called court. The judge called a recess and Molnar was rushed home in a police car.

"It was a surprise. The whole thing came as a surprise," she said. Molnar, her husband, Kevin, and their infant son are staying with Kevin's parents. "Everything else is just wood, paper, metal and rubber," said MacNeil. "It's all material.

Material can be the body in the bush by a river near Muskogee en route to Canada, police say. "Everything (in the letter) has been confirmed, except we don't have a body," said Pearson. "He pretty much spelled everything out." Police found blood in Kosciukiewicz's home in an upscale suburb of Houston. Two Texas detectives travelled to Muskogee this week to look for the body A TEMPLE SHOOTING Tragedy defies domestic violence pattern Summer Fashion Clearance up to rfc? iff Great summer clothing for Men, Women Kids. Selected styles.

Get it while it's hot! 50 Off MONTE STEWART Calgary Herald An incident in which a Temple resident allegedly shot his common-law wife dead and then attempted to kill himself shows that Calgary's re- The Issue: cent efforts to Domestic vio- curb domestic vi- lence. olence still don't What's new: go far enough, the Recent murder executive-direc- in northeast tor of the Calgary Calgary shows Women's Emer- the problem gency Shelter continues, shef-says. ter executive "Obviously, we says, need to do more," said Karen Blase, referring to the tragedy that occurred Thursday. "The whole range of services needs to be strengthened." The death of Deena Louise McLeod, 35, defies a trend in which domestic abuse victims and perpetrators now are seeking help. Blase said her facility has treated 402 victims in the last six months, but has been forced to turn away 815 women and children because of lack of space.

Robbie Babins-Wagner, director of counselling for the Pastoral Institute, said that her agency which helps abusers and victims has already dealt with about 650 domestic violence cases this year (as of June 30), compared to 511 for all of 1995. She expects to see 1,200 cases by year's end. Two of Calgary's five reported homicides in 1996 allegedly were domestic-related. In one incident last month, Darrell Glen Gozzola, 33, was stabbed to death on the doorstep of a Bowness home. The estranged husband of a woman, who was also stabbed but survived, has been charged.

Last year, three highly publicized domestic-related homicides prompted an outcry for action. The United Way donated $250,000 for urgent needs in prevention services, the provincial government scrapped its restraining order filing fee and Calgary police chief Christine Silver-berg created a family violence task force. Babins-Wagner said women experiencing any type of abuse should seek assistance from a shelter or counsellor at the first sign of trouble. Such women shouldn't wait, she said, until "things are so bad that they have to leave, or they've lost the ability to assess how dangerous the situation is." Calgary has two emergency shelters the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter (232-8717) and Sheriff King Home (266-0707). Discovery House (277-0718) and the Brenda Stafford Centre treat women on a long-term basis.

Landscaping firm must stop leaks of pesticides A Calgary landscaping firm has been ordered to stop leaking pesticides from its place of business on to an adjacent public park. Alberta Environmental Protection has issued an enforcement order to APX Landscaping and Nurseries Ltd. after it was alleged that pesticide solutions from the business damaged vegetation at a city park. The order directs the company to prevent any further movement of pesticide residue off the site and submit a written action plan and progress reports every two weeks. Men's Women's swimwear Women's swimwear $40 and over.

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