'NYPD 24/7' : Who Killed Burke O'Brien?

July 20, 2004 -- Just before dawn on a winter Sunday in Manhattan, 25-year-old Chicago native Burke O'Brien ended a night out with his sister and friends. The nice evening turned into a nightmare with O'Brien lying dead on a sidewalk, a bullet in his chest.

Forrest Bloede, O'Brien's former college roommate, called 911 as O'Brien lay clinging to life. He later died.

A witness claimed he saw the two men together moments before a shot rang out, and that there were no other people on the street. Because the witness seemed credible, Bloede immediately became a suspect.

Detective Ken Silvia of the New York Police Department's 7th Precinct caught the case. With the district attorney recommending Bloede be charged with murder, Silvia took his fingerprints and booked the 24-year-old for murder.

But Silvia had doubts. "Every single arrest I've made throughout my career, I always felt 100 percent confident that the person I was arresting was the right person," he said at the time. "I didn't feel that way with Forrest."

Bloede, just out of college, was "forging his way in the world," Silvia said. "If this ever goes to trial and he's convicted, and it's not him, then his entire life, you know, is gone."

Silvia's gut instinct proved right. Charges against Bloede were eventually dropped as evidence bore out his insistent claim that he was not the killer. More than a year after O'Brien's slaying, the case remains unsolved.

Assembling a Case

When police first approached Bloede, he said O'Brien was shot by two men.

But on his 911 call, Bloede's panicked voice is heard on tape saying "somebody's shot." He never said they were being robbed, which police find suspicious.

Silvia and his team tried to come up with a motive for why Bloede would kill his friend. The pair might have been arguing over a young woman who accompanied them out that night.

"He might be a little annoyed that now this guy's taking his girl," said Sgt. Andy Dietz.

(Editor's Note: Burke O'Brien's family has set up a memorial site for their son at http://www.burkeobrien.org )

Police canvassed the neighborhood, but couldn't find any other witnesses, or the murder weapon, which would have been the key to the case.

One thing was clear — there was no solid physical evidence linking Bloede to the death of his friend. Still, they were hoping he would confess.

System Breakdown

Thirteen hours after the shooting, Bloede was still in custody, and police hadn't told him he was the prime suspect.

To try to force a confession, Silvia tried a proven tactic. He told Bloede that O'Brien survived the shooting and is recovering. Silvia wanted him to believe O'Brien would either corroborate or completely refute his story.

Bloede stood firm. "All right, talk to my friend," he told Silvia. "You know what, I hope you talk to him tonight because I want to go home."

At that point, the case depended entirely on the credibility of the single eyewitness. Police wanted to make sure he was telling the entire truth.

They visited the crime scene after dark to make sure the witness was able to see what he claimed to have seen. Standing near the exact area where O'Brien was shot, Dietz remarked, "it's the brightest part of the block."

They also reviewed the witness's 911 call to make sure it's consistent with what he told detectives. The witness said: "I was walking down the block and I heard it. And then when I got to the corner I actually saw what was going on."

It turns out the man didn't actually see a gun go off. He only heard it.

It was a major setback for Silvia's team. They didn't have a credible witness.

Going in the Other Direction

Meanwhile, Bloede gave a final videotaped statement to the D.A. His story remained the same, and Silvia told him the truth: that O'Brien was dead.

"He was almost to tears," Silvia said. But Bloede's story remained the same.

On the D.A.'s recommendation, Bloede was moved to the city jail to await arraignment on murder charges.

As the workweek began, the city's newspapers devoured the story of two young men from affluent families engulfed by tragedy.

O'Brien's parents arrived from Chicago to claim their son's body, and in his first conversation with the family, Silvia told them he thought the real killer could still be at large.

When the final autopsy report came in, it supported Bloede's version of events.

Bloede said the man who shot his friend held his gun cocked sideways, with his wrist bent so the gun pointed down on an angle. Police found his description consistent with the trajectory of the bullet through the body.

With this information, the D.A.'s office concluded that any case against Bloede had collapsed and abruptly declared his release.

The case became a public embarrassment for not only the D.A., but the police. Just when it appeared stalled, a woman called the precinct and said she saw exactly what happened.

She confirmed Bloede's account that O'Brien was killed by a third person trying to rob him. Ken Silvia was greatly relieved. "We can now focus our energies in the correct way," he says.

The Primary Witness

Silvia was upset that valuable time had been wasted trying to convict Bloede.

"With a homicide, time is very critical. You have to gather as much information as you can in like a 48-hour period to make it as accurate as possible," he said.

But soon, another obstacle soon arose. Bloede had become a witness instead of a suspect, and on his lawyer's advice was refusing to cooperate with police.

Weeks passed, and O'Brien's father flew to New York, announcing a $30,000 reward for information leading to the capture of his son's killer.

Mr. O'Brien used the press to try and pressure Bloede into cooperating with police. He knew that Bloede was the only person who could recognize the face of the man who murdered his son.

It worked. A day later, Bloede contacted police and helped an artist draw a sketch of the killer.

A Part of Healing

Before going home to Chicago, the O'Brien family visited the crime scene, where Silvia told them what he believed happened that night.

In Silvia's scenario, a group of men approached O'Brien and Bloede and tried to rob them. O'Brien tried to talk them out of it.

"Burke is telling him, 'You don't want to do this,' " Silvia said to the father. " 'Give my friend back his money'."

But the robber with the gun responded, "No, you don't want to do this." Someone took a step forward, and the gunman fired.

Seeing the crime scene and hearing what happened gave a bit of closure to the family.

"This is a piece of our healing process," O'Brien's father said. "Does it bring Burke back? No. Obviously not."

It's been 18 months since Burke O'Brien was gunned down. The police still have no leads. But the killer and Silvia will be forever linked.

"That's the one thing that this person and I have in common," he says. "He's out there wondering where I am and I'm out there wondering where he is."

Burke O'Brien's family has set up a memorial site for their son at http://www.burkeobrien.org/.