New York Fire Marshall Fatally Shot at Home

Dec. 4, 2007
The body of Douglas Mercereau, 38, who joined the FDNY in 1995, was found by his estranged wife, Janet, Sunday morning.

December 4, 2007 -- A city fire marshal was shot execution style in the Staten Island home in which he was born and raised and where he was bringing up his two little girls, authorities said yesterday.

The body of Douglas Mercereau, 38, who joined the FDNY in 1995, was found by his estranged wife, Janet, Sunday morning.

He had been shot three times in the head, including once in the jaw. It appeared that after the initial shot, he staggered into the living room and fell, whereupon the assailant opened fire at close range, sources said.

"It looks like an execution," said one.

Janet Mercereau called 911 at about 8:25 a.m.

The couple had continued to live in the same house to raise their daughters, 4 and 6, sources said. Janet Mercereau told the cops that she and the girls were sleeping at the time of the murder. Police have confiscated her clothes to be tested, and she has hired a lawyer sources said.

"In the afternoon, I saw the detectives take the wife, with their arm around her, out of the house and into a waiting car," said Tarrington Street neighbor Julia Allen. "She was devastated."

Additional reporting by Murray Weiss and John Doyle

Republished with permission from The New York Post

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