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Trial Underway For Cantonment Man Charged With Murdering His Navy Wife In 2001

Trial is underway this week for a Cantonment man indicted in 2020 for the murder of his wife over two decades ago.

An Escambia County grand jury indicted Gregory Paul Malarik, now 59, for first degree premeditated murder with a firearm. His trial before Judge John Simon  is expected to continue through at least Thursday.

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrested Malarik for 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.

The body of  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 her brother-in-law, Jeff Leake.

“It was unlocked, I opened it and I was screaming ‘Sherri’ and I touched her and kind of shook her arm a little bit,” Leake said. “She didn’t move.”

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.

The investigation revealed he was engaged in an extramarital affair with Jennifer Spohn who, at that time, was his co-worker. Spohn later disclosed that he wanted to end the marriage but, having previously been married, did not want to go through another divorce proceeding. She related a conversation to investigators in which Gregory Malarick suggested he should just kill Sherri.

Investigators said they believed Gregory Malarik drove Sherri Malarik to the Winn Dixie in the minivan. Gregory told Sphon to meet him later that evening at the Winn Dixie to pick him up. When Spohn arrived at Winn Dixie at the appointed time, Gregory was there with the van, got into her vehicle, and told her to drive normally. Once out on Highway 29, Gregory discarded what appeared to be a long-haired wig. Spohn then dropped Gregory off at the marital residence.

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.

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.

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.”

Spohn was re-interviewed in May 7, 2002, and gave a similar account to her 2001 statements. Spohn 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.

Spohn was offered immunity for her testimony.