No one has been charged yet in the death of a Suffolk County narcotics detective who was killed when his car exploded in February. But Robert Horan, the Nassau County police officer who was originally called the chief suspect, is still the focus of the investigation, law-enforcement officials said.
Investigators are pursuing the theory that early in the morning of Feb. 15, the day Detective Dennis Wustenhoff was killed as he climbed into his Cadillac, Officer Horan used his father-in-law's car to drive the bomb to the detective's North Patchogue home.
Last month, officers with a search warrant seized the 1988 GMC Suburban from the Cooperstown home of Officer Horan's father-in-law, Daniel Lannon. Also seized were a workbench and two other cars from Officer Horan's home in Bethpage.
When Detective Wustenhoff was killed, officials originally speculated that it might have been the work of a vengeful drug dealer or someone else he had met working undercover. But law-enforcement officials who insisted on anonymity said detectives quickly started investigating the possibility that a love triangle was at the root of the killing.
A Threat to Kill
They said Detective Wustenhoff, 41, had been having an affair with Officer Horan's wife, Nancy, and Officer Horan had even told a retired Suffolk County detective that he intended to kill Detective Wustenhoff.
Neither the Suffolk County District Attorney, James Catterson, nor officials from the Suffolk County police would talk about the case today. A department spokesman said the Commissioner, Daniel R. Guido, has forbidden anyone to discuss the case with reporters until an arrest is made.
Officer Horan, 43 years old, has been transferred to a desk job and has denied all involvement. His lawyer, Stephen P. Scaring, said today that officials would not be able to prove the Lannon car was used.
''They apparently have some witness who is saying that he can place the car at the scene,'' Mr. Scaring said. ''But it wasn't there - it was upstate at the father-in-law's place.''
DMRANCH Vanity Plate
Mr. Scaring said that the car, with a vanity license plate reading ''DMRANCH,'' had been widely photographed and shown on television after the killing. ''It would be easy for someone following the story to create its presence at the scene,'' he said. ''This is the kind of misinformation that can result in a false indictment.''
Mr. Scaring said he could prove that the car had not been near the Wustenhoff home on the day of the killing, but he would not say how. He said it appeared that investigators were seeking people to bolster their contention that the car had been in the neighborhood at around 4 or 5 A.M., when they believe the bomb was planted.
Dogs Sniffed the House
In the absence of witnesses, investigators have had to rely on forensic evidence, mostly the bomb fragments from the car that exploded, a white Cadillac Eldorado Detective Wustenhoff used in his undercover work. Soon after the killing, detectives with bomb-sniffing dogs combed through Officer Horan's home, but the department would not say whether they found anything important.
Bomb fragments and other evidence have been tested at the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Rockville, Md., said Jack Killorin, a spokesman for the bureau.
''We fully anticipate that there will be additional evidence that will come in as the investigation continues,'' he said.
suffolk police about 5 years go said they had some further clues..then it went no where. Spoke to some Nassau police guys recently..detectives..they said the case is dead..unless there is a confession..
Police officers killed in the line of duty to my knowledge..have always been solved...this is still open..and the way he died is more bizarre/stands out..still an open case
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1990 murder mystery unsolved/what a story
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