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Marital Problems, Adulterous Affair Led Cantonment Man To Kill His Navy Wife In 2001, ECSO Says
March 9, 2020
Marital problems and an adulterous affair led a Cantonment man to kill his Navy wife in 2001, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
Friday, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Navy civilian employee Greg Malarik, age 57 of Riddle Road, with the 2001 murder of his wife, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Sherri Malarik. Gregory Malarik, a former Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, was employed by the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Malarik was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
The body was Sherri Lynn Malarik was found September 22, 2001, at about 8 a.m. inside a Dodge Caravan in the parking lot of the Winn Dixie and Movie Gallery at 1550 South Highway 29, less than three miles from the couple’s home. She was found by family members who are not named in the report.
An autopsy found that she was murdered, shot twice in the head with a .25 caliber handgun. She was found in the floorboard of the van. Forensic evidence indicated that she was shot while seated in the passenger seat.
Gregory Malarik was interviewed, but his statements to investigators are redacted from the arrest report released Monday. Swabs taken from his hands the day of the murder were positive for gunshot residue, and pants believed to have been worn the night of the murder were found to have gunpowder in the left front pocket, the report states.
Investigators uncovered evidence that led them to believe Gregory Malarik was having an affair with another woman. She was interviewed, but her statements were also redacted from the report. Investigators said they believed Gregory Malarik drove Sherri Malarik to the Winn Dixie in the minivan, and his mistress drove him back home.
In 2017, a NCIS investigator examined phone records from the Malarik residence from the night of September 21, 2001. He found that multiple calls were made at 6:29 p.m., 7:59 p.m., 8 p.m. at 8:47 p.m. “This provided two periods of time sufficient for Malarik to have committed the homicide, transported (Sherri) Malarik’s body to Winn Dixie, and returned home,” the report states.
Multiple children in the home were interviewed in 2001 and have since been re-interviewed. All provided statements generally consistent with a timeframe provided by Gregory Malarik. However, one child said that Gregory Malarik called Sherri Malarik into the backyard on September 21, 2001. Shortly after seeing her go in the backyard, the child said they heard a “pop” similar to a firecracker. Gregory Malarik then immediately walked back inside, showered and changed clothes, the report states, before leaving for 10 to 15 minutes. That was sufficient time, the investigation found, to drive the victim to Winn Dixie.
The .25 caliber handgun used in the murder was never recovered, but the investigation revealed Gregory Malarik owned such a weapon at the time of the homicide.
The arrest report states that emails recovered show Gregory Malarik and his mistress had discussed “how to trick a polygraph” as early July 31, 2001.
An email from Sherri Malarik to her sister stated: “I believe that there is spiritual warfare going on in my home and Greg just can’t see it…He is simply upset because he feel that I put other people before him when I listed to the possibility of masonry being something other than it seems…He feels as if I betrayed him. Please keep us in your prayers…we need all the help we can get.”
The mistress was re-interviewed in May 7, 2002, and gave a similar account to her 2001 statements. She was interviewed again on March 6, 2020, during which she gave testimony that was inconsistent with her original statement, the arrest report states, leading investigators to believe her original statement about returning a lawn mower was a cover story. Those statements were redacted. Investigators believe she assisted in the homicide and the destruction of evidence which had been preplanned, possibility for several months as indicated by emails.
Comments
13 Responses to “Marital Problems, Adulterous Affair Led Cantonment Man To Kill His Navy Wife In 2001, ECSO Says”
I was blessed to have been friends with Sherri whilst we were stationed in Sousa Bay, Crete 2000-2001. We had so many talks. She loved her family very much. She couldn’t wait to get back to Florida to be with them. I remember the day I received the phone call from my old command in Greece, I had transferred to Keflavik Iceland. I had literally just gotten an email from Sherri a couple of days prior. She did not deserve this and I am so glad Karma finally caught up with her husband. Sherri loved her children more than life itself. Greg got an extra 19 years of freedom and stole it from Sherri. I cried when I heard the news. It sticks with me to this day. I have peace of mind knowing that she is with her creator in heaven….. my heart goes out to all of her family. May this bring some sort of closure. God Bless
To the little girl that is my friend, I pray that you find peace in this trying time. I will always be there if you need me. God has blessed you in many ways and will be there if you need him. Keep your head up!! Love you!
jbatc
I do not know what to say. I lived down the street from this guy and my kids grew up with his and no one ever said anything was wrong.
Time to pay the piper ol boy!
Its time justice has cought up to you. My mother was the one that took your kids home becouse of what i haapend i remember waiting at soccer feild for her to come but she never did because of this man i allso remember from day one we knew it was you and we where just kids but we wernt stupid evryone knew it was u. Except our great sheriff office and department are the only ones that knew nothing
I remember when this happened. My son was playing soccer with two of the boys in this family. They were dropped off at soccer practice by their mother the night this happened, she did not return to pick them up so they were dropped off at home by another soccer mom, she never made it home. It’s not right to accuse someone of something without substantial proof, but it was suspected from the very beginning that he was responsible for this and now it appears that it is catching up with him. Sure his children are going to back him up, especially the ones who were very young when this happened and have no recollection of what actually occurred. He has had all these years to portray himself as the devoted father, and maybe he is, but how he chose to “exit” his marriage says something very different about this man.
Oh if only Eve had not eaten that apple.
19 years. What a tragedy for the people who loved her. Whoever killed this poor woman certainly has lived a fine free lifetime while they lived in horror and pain. My condolences, and I hope you get your justice. Finally.
Folks are free, according to the Constitution, to express themselves @Alan. Besides, he will be judged by a jury of his peers….you know, that whole law thing. The ones that have a conflict of interest may as well express themselves now as they likely wouldn’t be selected for jury duty.
I want to know who this mystery woman is that possibly assisted in the homicide and why is she not off the streets yet?!?
So this arrest is not due to any new technology or evidence tying the suspect to the crime but rather the same evidence looked at again coupled with the mistress’ testimony changing 19 years later.
I don’t know the man and have no clue whether he did it or not but I believe like everyone else, he deserves a trial in a courtroom, not in the comment section.
@justice…I agree completely..even though I do not know any of these people he took the cowards way out of a marriage and when are we going to see the mistress being arrested also?….
I suspected as such my own self.
These years appear to have been difficult for Greg.
For those of us close to Sherri we knew it was Greg. A big shame for him to walk free all of these years and now to make bail. Why was bail not set higher? Hope justice is served and may he rot in jail for the rest of his life.