Slain Newtown Man Depicted

On DOC Deck Of Cards

 By Andrew Gorosko

In a new deck of playing cards being distributed to inmates in state prisons and jails, the 3 of Spades bears the likeness of Mark Rebong, a 28-year-old Newtown man who was fatally shot while driving westward on Interstate 84 in Danbury on January, 17, 2000.

The late Mr Rebong’s photo is among the 52 photos on the deck of cards through whose use and handling by inmates, state police hope to gain new investigatory leads into unsolved homicides known as “cold cases.”

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to a conviction in the Rebong case.

It is the second time that the state has issued an edition of cold case playing cards in seeking clues in unsolved homicides. The last deck was issued about two years ago.

“The cold case playing cards have provided a valuable tool to assist investigators working to solve cases and achieve justice for the victims of these crimes, their families, and the people of Connecticut,” Chief State’s Attorney Kevin T. Kane said in a statement.

“I applaud the Department of Correction [DOC] for its support of this innovative effort to help our cold case units, which have achieved remarkable results from their efforts,” Mr Kane added.

“We are confident that among the state’s inmate population is information that these cards will bring forth, that will result in solving some of these crimes and bringing a degree of closure to the loved ones of these 52 individuals,” said Leo C. Arnone, DOC commissioner.

 Each card in the deck of 52 cards features a photograph and brief details about an unsolved homicide or missing person case and on the reverse side lists telephone, mail, and e-mail contacts inmates can use to supply information.

The cold case playing cards are the only playing cards available for purchase by inmates in DOC facilities. The money generated from sales of the cards is used to produce subsequent decks.

Mark Rebong was the son of Dr Efren and Anita Rebong.

Ms Rebong said this week that she and her husband approved the state’s request that their late son’s photo be included in the deck of playing cards to be sold to prison inmates. Dr Efren is a psychiatrist.

“They have told us it may help solve the case…They’re doing the best they can,” Ms Rebong said.

“It’s been 12 years. It’s very hard,” she said of her son’s death.

“We’re just praying and hoping continuously,” she said.

State police are seeking people who witnessed activity on the highway that may be helpful to them in investigating the Rebong case. Although a piece of information may seem unimportant to a passerby, it may prove very useful in a police investigation.

Mark Rebong was shot once in the head while on his way to work at the hotel which was then known as the Danbury Hilton and Towers.

The youthful entrepreneur was driving along Exit 2A/B of westbound I-84 at about 11 pm on January 17, 2000, near the Hilton, when he was shot.

State police responded to the scene after receiving a report of a motor vehicle accident from a passerby. The passerby had seen Mr Rebong’s Jeep positioned up against a fence of a commuter parking lot, where it had rolled after he was shot by a high-powered firearm. Mr Rebong died the following night in Danbury Hospital.

In April 2000, noted forensic scientist Dr Henry Lee conducted a nighttime reconstruction of the shooting incident at the crime scene.

Sometimes the information that police need to help assemble the puzzling pieces of a crime investigation revolves around someone with knowledge about the crime simply picking up a telephone and placing a call to tell police what they know, state police have said.

The initial deck of 52 playing cards has been in circulation in prisons and jails for approximately two years and has produced a number of leads for investigators, including one Hartford case where an arrest in a previously unsolved homicide has been attributed directly to information generated by the cards, according to the chief state’s attorney’s office.

In addition to the Hartford case, an arrest has been made in one other homicide case in Milford and investigators in Norwich have recovered the remains of another homicide victim whose case was among those in the first deck of cards.