Ex-cop: Szostak murder victim Retired policeman says he believes drowning was work of "Smiley Face" killer

Ex-cop: Szostak murder victim Retired policeman says he believes drowning was work of "Smiley Face" killer

By JIMMY VIELKIND, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Sunday, August 3, 2008

ALBANY -- A retired detective says Joshua Szostak, whose body was found in the Hudson River four months after he was last seen leaving a downtown bar, was abducted and murdered by the "Smiley Face" killer. Kevin Gannon, a retired New York Police Department detective who has tracked the case through his company, Nationwide Investigations, said his assertion is based on markings found in the Albany area as well as the circumstances surrounding Szostak's Dec. 23 disappearance. "We have a cumulative amount of evidence to substantiate that Josh was probably drugged, abducted and murdered," Gannon said by phone last week. "I can't tell you exactly what it is, because it would warn the Smiley Face if he knew anything about us." The Smiley Face theory emerged as Gannon and his colleagues have tried to link the deaths of some 40 students who went missing and later were found drowned in 11 states over the past decade. In each case, a smiley face was found spray-painted nearby. Gannon's investigation has been reported in newspapers and on radio and television. All the victims are white men between the ages of 19 and 23 who were high academic achievers and many played competitive sports. Gannon said Szostak, a 21-year-old SUNY Plattsburgh student, fit that profile. Detectives in Albany, and elsewhere in the country, have rejected the theory. Szostak's death was ruled an accidental drowning shortly after his body was discovered in April by a Catskill fisherman, based on autopsy findings. A spray-painted smiley face was found on a tree near the Port of Albany, but police spokesman Detective James Miller said it was not linked to Szostak and was likely a "cruel hoax." Bill Szostak, Josh's father, always suspected foul play. In addition to contacting Gannon, Bill Szostak had an independent autopsy of his son performed by noted pathologist Michael Baden. It concluded Josh drowned and had a blood alcohol content of 0.126. Gannon said Baden's report did not specify how long Josh Szostak had been in the water, leading him to believe he did not drown accidentally. "So much evidence has been found that I don't understand why the case was closed (by Albany police) within two hours of finding my son's body," Bill Szostak said recently. He said he has formed a nonprofit organization, the Smiley Face Victims Investigation Fund, and will hold a fundraiser Sept. 5 at the Verdoy Fire Department to raise money for Gannon's efforts. Detective Miller stood by Albany's investigation. "We worked on it in excess of multiple days from the course of his initial disappearance, and there had never been any credible evidence from retired detectives working on the investigation that gave us any indication that anything happened beyond a tragic accident," he said. "This should not have gotten to this point. This was strictly a tragic accident, and no one should be using it to further their own agenda." Jimmy Vielkind can be reached at 454-5043 or by e-mail at jvielkind@timesunion.com