Font Size

New York Local News

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

City Fire Marshal Found Shot To Death Inside Home

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Dec 4, 2007 7:56 pm US/Eastern

City Fire Marshal Found Shot To Death Inside Home

Reporting
John Slattery

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Brooklyn fire marshal Douglas Mercereau was found shot to death inside his Staten Island home.
CBS

Close

numSlides of totalImages

A city fire marshal found shot to death inside his own home over the weekend with his own gun was the victim of a homicide, the medical examiner has ruled.

The body of 38-year-old Douglas Mercereau was discovered by his wife, Janet, Sunday morning in their home in the Oakwood section of Staten Island. He had worked as a supervising fire marshal in Brooklyn, and was a 12-year veteran of the FDNY.

Crime scene detectives were still going over evidence gathered from the victim's home Tuesday afternoon.

"Officers responding found Mr. Mercereau with a sheet over his head and shot three times in the head," said Commissioner Ray Kelly .

About ten feet away from the bed, police found a 9mm handgun, the victim's own gun, issued to him by the fire department.

Yet it wasn't found in plain sight. A police source said it was found lodged between the dresser and the wall. Two daughters, 5, 6, were home, but did not witness the shooting.

A 12-year veteran of the fire department, Mercereau worked as a fire marshall in Brooklyn.

"He was truly a rising star in the department. There's no arrest in the case. His death was ruled a homicide," said Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.

Janet Mercereau, a schoolteacher, was questioned by police, and retained a lawyer. The couple's marriage was rocky. They had been separated and the police commissioner said there was one reported domestic incident in the home, resulting in a harassment claim against the husband. According to neighbors, Mercereau was very likeable.

"Tragedy. I can't see anybody doing that to him. Nice guy, like I said," said Chris Hunt.

For now, it's officially a mystery. At this point no arrests have been made. A police source told CBS 2 news there may be more than one suspect when an arrest is made.

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here

Your Name
Your E-Mail * Will not be displayed with comment
Suggest Link * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
Your Comment

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login

Password:

Forgot Password | Register Here

Close Window Flag Comment

You are flagging the following comment:

Username:
E-mail:
Reason:

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.