$100,000 Reward Offered In Mark Rebong Slaying

By Andrew Gorosko

There is now a $100,000 reward posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Mark Rebong, the Newtown man who was gunned down last January while driving on Interstate-84 in Danbury.

The Danbury state’s attorney’s office and state police applied for and received $50,000 in state reward money for the case. Coupled with the $50,000 reward being offered by the Rebong family, the reward in the case now is $100,000.

About 11 pm last January 17, state police received an emergency 911 telephone call reporting a motor vehicle accident on the westbound I-84 Exit 2 A/B off-ramp. On arriving at the scene, state police found Mr Rebong, 28, gravely wounded inside his black 1999 Jeep Cherokee, in a grassy area against the fence of a commuter parking lot, where the vehicle had rolled after he was shot. Mr Rebong had been on his way to work at the Danbury Hilton and Towers.

Mr Rebong died the following night at Danbury Hospital.

The case has proved especially puzzling to investigators.

Last spring, Dr Henry Lee, the renowned forensic scientist who conducts investigations of difficult criminal cases for the state police, performed a reconstruction of Mr Rebong’s shooting.

State police Sergeant J. Paul Vance said Wednesday Dr Lee’s forensic report has been provided to state police detectives investigating the homicide. The scientific report indicates Mr Rebong was killed by a high-powered firearm and provides details on the trajectory of the gunfire.

In the glare of floodlights late on the night of April 25, Dr Lee and a large team of state police investigators meticulously reconstructed the dynamics of Mr Rebong’s shooting. The detectives walked along Exit 2 A/B, watching, measuring, and photographing the slow progress of the Jeep as it was driven through the area where Mr Rebong was shot once in the head. In reconstructing Mr Rebong’s murder, state police were seeking to determine the possible ways in which he was shot. Investigators are trying to learn if Mr Rebong’s shooting death was a case of road rage, a drive-by shooting, or a revenge killing. State police have discounted robbery as a motive.

“The investigation is still moving along, moving forward,” Sgt Vance said Wednesday.

State police have information on the crime but need more information, he said.

Investigators have progressed to a certain level in their work, and now hope that by offering a substantial reward in the case they will stimulate someone who has information about the crime to come forward, according to Sgt Vance.

Due to the amount of traffic in that area, state police expect there is someone who was in the area at the time of the shooting who can provide valuable information to their investigation, Sgt Vance said.

That person with information might be someone who was changing a tire in the area, or might be an out-of-state trucker who was passing through, the sergeant said.

State police have published a poster seeking information to aid their murder investigation. State police ask anyone who may have been traveling near Exit 2 between 10 pm and midnight January 17 and may have witnessed the shooting to contact them at 800/376-1554, or 203/267-2200, or 203/267-2226. Calls will be kept confidential.