Shocking new evidence recently surfaced in the 33-year-old cold-case murder of a young mom whose young daughter told cops: “E.T. did it!”
After an initial investigation, baffled police moved the slaying of Gail Mark — who was strangled and repeatedly stabbed — onto the back burner.
Now the dead woman’s sister-in-law has stepped forward to claim Gail’s multimillionaire husband, Franklin Mark, was behind the killing!
“It was common knowledge in the family that my brother, Franklin Mark, was responsible for the death of Gail Mark in 1982,” said Ann Boyarksy during a sworn statement in a court proceeding. “It was believed that he hired a hit man to kill his wife.”
In 1982, 28-year-old Gail’s body was found in the Manhattan apartment she shared with Franklin and their three-year-old daughter, Dawn.
Police say the killer locked the little girl in the bathroom just moments before the savage attack.
But the kid saw enough. Dazed and distraught little Dawn kept telling lawmen, “E.T. did it!”
Her comment led investigators to believe the murderer donned the girl’s E.T. mask — based on the character from the then-hit movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” — before the bloodbath.
Although cops had suspects, the “E.T. Killer” was never unmasked.
Now, with Ann’s sworn affidavit, cops believe they are closing in!
Ann, who is embroiled in a bitter court battle with her brother, also claimed Franklin had help pulling off his evil crime.
And, she says, he had the money and influence to stage a cover-up.
“I believe that my parents protected Franklin from prosecution,” said Ann in court documents, who is also in court trying to prove Franklin looted $10 million from their late mother.
Franklin, now 64, refused to comment on his sister’s bombshell allegations.
Although he was never charged, cops say they considered Franklin’s alibi questionable from the get-go. He discovered Gail’s body — and lawmen suspected a cut on his hand might link him to his wife’s gruesome knife wounds.
Police figured the murder was “a crime of passion” because Gail was stabbed so hard that the blade on the 10-inch murder weapon was bent!
But they could never make anything stick. The case was reopened in 2000, and went cold again when lawmen discovered that the E.T. mask that could have contained the killer’s DNA had been destroyed while in police custody.
But Gail’s mom Rita Fitzgerald, 82, is ecstatic that detectives have reopened the case yet again.
“If they can possibly do anything to bring her killers to justice, I think that would be wonderful,” said Rita.
“If you kill someone, you should pay the penalty!”
