(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Gary Cowell, 72, of Patchogue, was indicted for unlawful concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence for allegedly dismembering the corpse of a 56-year-old woman from Patchogue.
“This defendant has been indicted on charges related to the alleged dismemberment of a deceased individual,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I commend the Suffolk County Police detectives for swiftly locating the victim’s remains. The investigation as to cause of death continues. We want to assure the victim’s family and the public that we are committed to pursuing justice through the proper legal process.”
According to the investigation, on June 18, 2024, law enforcement was alerted that the woman was missing and had not been seen since June 13, 2024. Detectives interviewed Cowell, who was allegedly the last person to see the woman alive. Following this interview, Cowell went with detectives who located the dismembered remains. Detectives allegedly recovered an axe used to dismember the victim, as well as other evidence from Cowell’s Patchogue residence. The investigation is continuing, and the medical examiner has not yet issued a cause of death.
On July 8, 2024, Cowell was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice, Anthony S. Senft, Jr., for Unlawful Concealment of a Human Corpse, a Class E felony; and Tampering with Physical Evidence, a Class E felony.
Justice Senft ordered Cowell be held on $1 million cash, $2 million bond or $10 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Cowell is due back in court on July 25, 2024, and he is being represented by Jeremy Scileppi, Esq.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Patrick E. Fedun and Kieran R. Rogers of the Major Crime Bureau with investigative assistance from Lt. Anthony Calandrillo and Detective Frederick Reed of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fifth Squad, Detective Walter Sosnowski of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.