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Man’s Murder Overshadowed By 9-11
Thursday, January 24, 2002
(19:00)
By Tom Hays
The Associated Press

“We told him New York could be a dangerous place,” she said, “but he didn't believe it.”

NEW YORK -- AP
Polish immigrant Henryk Siwiak’s life was taken Sept. 11, but not by terrorism.

Siwiak, 46, died alone on a street corner far from the World Trade Center in what is now a historical footnote: His was the only homicide recorded in the city that day outside of the terrorist attack.

More than four months later, with no one under arrest, Siwiak’s family worries that authorities may not have the time or the will to solve a mystery so overshadowed by history.

“I think the police have many, many cases and maybe they’ll never call me,” said his sister, Lucyna Siwiak.

Laid out in front of her on a kitchen table in her Queens apartment was a copy of her brother’s death certificate: “Construction worker ... Body found on sidewalk ... Front of 199 Decatur Street ... Gunshot wound to the chest.”

Police say they have taken the case seriously, but with no witnesses and no clear motive, they know little more about the slaying today.

Siwiak, born in Krakow, came to the United States last year with dreams of building a new life, Lucyna said. Laid off from his railroad inspector job in Poland, he joined his sister in Queens. He worked odd jobs to send money home to his wife, a high school biology teacher, and their two children.
(More: Wired News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan