SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: John Ray, the family lawyer of Shannan Gilbert, a 23-year-old Long Island escort who was found dead in a marsh in December 2011, recently called out the investigators involved in the Gilgo Beach murders case for their alleged "flawed" investigation of Gilbert's death. He also referred to the investigation as a "Pink Panther" probe in reference to the 'Pink Panther' series.
Gilbert went missing from Oak Beach, New York, in May 2010 and her remains were discovered in a marsh near the Gilgo Beach in December 2011. It was the search for Gilbert that eventually led officers to 10 others, who were possibly part of the Gilgo Beach serial killings. However, authorities ruled Gilbert's death as a "tragic accident" and claimed that she drowned in a drug-induced state as opposed to the beliefs of her family and lawyer who alleged that she was "murdered."
In the wake of Rex Heuermann's arrest in connection with the first four Gilgo Beach murders' victims, several people wondered if Gilbert's death was also linked to the case. Ray previously told News 12 New Jersey that while there was no evidence connecting Gilbert’s death to Heuermann, "there is no doubt whatsoever" that she was "murdered by someone."
What does 'Pink Panther' probe mean?
Following Heuermann's arrest, Ray spoke to The US Sun and criticized the Suffolk County Police Department for the flaws in their investigation of Gilbert's death. The attorney recalled that he once called the department's probe into the case as a "Pink Panther investigation" and likened former commissioner Richard Dormer, who led the Gilgo Beach murders investigation to Inspector Clouseau from 'The Pink Panther' series.
In the 'Pink Panther' series, Inspector Clouseau is portrayed as an inept and incompetent police officer whose investigators often take a chaotic turn. The fictional detective always solves his cases by sheer luck and finds the right culprit by accident instead of his capability. Clouseau is also regarded in other countries as one of France's greatest investigators unless people directly interact with him. The inspector, though aware of his limitations at times, is usually oblivious to his own incompetency and believes that he possesses extreme intelligence and expertise.
Therefore, Ray's comparison of local investigators' role in solving Gilbert's death as a "Pink Panther investigation" was a jab at the department. It came after the lawyer claimed that officials did not provide enough evidence to prove that Gilbert's death was accidental. "They cannot establish what kind of accident, why it was an accident, why they've concluded that - and yet the same homicide detectives who focused their whole life on evidence, draw a conclusion that has nothing to do with the evidence that they've discovered," the lawyer said in a previous interview, as per The US Sun.
'It's not nearly like that at all'
More than a decade after Gilbert's death, Ray maintained that the 23-year-old did not die by accident as the Suffolk County Police Department claimed but that her death was "consistent with homicidal strangulation" as shown in a second autopsy conducted by former New York City medical examiner Dr Michael Baden. One of the police theories claimed that Gilbert died from natural elements after getting lost in the marsh.
Ray also disputed the claim by argueing that when he entered the marsh in May 2012 on the same day and time when Gilbert previously disappeared, he did not find the weather or the natural conditions to be as harsh as claimed by officials. "We were so unsure of what we were facing that we purchased Vietnam-era army fatigues and bright iridescent orange boots so that if we got lost, we could be rescued. We even brought a rope with us, so in case we got stuck in quicksand or anything of that sort," Ray told The US Sun.
"So we were well prepared, but overly prepared because when you actually get into the marsh, it's not nearly like that at all," he said, adding, "When the police claimed that she had wandered into the marsh and managed to kill herself, when I had seen the autopsy report where she's found face up laying on a bush, and the police had claimed she drowned. That didn't make any sense."
"We are not commenting on John Ray's comments or anything else pertaining to the investigation at this point," the Suffolk County Police Department told the publication.