Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office investigators late Friday charged a 57-year-old Florida man with killing his Navy petty officer wife nearly two decades ago.
A civilian employee at the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center on Naval Air Station Pensacola, Gregory Paul Malarik has been booked into Escambia County’s Main Jail in Cantonment, Florida, on a $1 million bond, according to online records.
NCIS told Navy Times that Malarik was arrested in his Riddle Road residence in Cantonment and his arraignment is slated for Monday.
An instructor at the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center, Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Sherri Lynn Malarik was found dead on Sept. 22, 2001, in the family van parked at a Winn-Dixie grocery store along Highway 29 near their Cantonment home.
She was 34 and had suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. A suspect had never been named — until Friday night.
The NCIS Southeast Field Office, the NCIS Cold Case Homicide Unit and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office analyzed the crime scene, pored over witness interviews and sifted through other evidence before they determined that Gregory Malarik shot his wife with a handgun while she sat in the front passenger seat of their van.
“This nearly 20-year-old investigation demonstrates NCIS’ relentless pursuit of truth and justice,” said NCIS Southeast Field Office Special Agent in Charge Thomas Cannizzo in a prepared statement emailed to Navy Times.
“We are enormously grateful to Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, and the State Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida for their help in bringing resolution to this heinous crime. We hope this brings peace and closure to Ms. Malarik’s loved ones.”
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said that they were now able to close the case
“We continuously work on these cases year after year, no matter how much time passes. We hope to continue to keep closing cold cases like this one and giving families the closure they deserve,” he added.
It’s unclear if Malarik has retained a criminal defense attorney.
NCIS officials told Navy Times that Malarik also had served in the Navy as a first class petty officer.
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Prine came to Navy Times after stints at the San Diego Union-Tribune and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He served in the Marine Corps and the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His awards include the Joseph Galloway Award for Distinguished Reporting on the military, a first prize from Investigative Reporters & Editors and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
