2 Murdered Near Strip Club

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by Paul Bass | Jun 11, 2008 2:31 pm

(8) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Legal Writes

(Updated) Ensley Myrick was supposed to be out repairing gutters Wednesday morning. He never made it home the night before, though, never made it more than a few steps past the doorway to Hell.

Myrick, 27, of East Haven, and his friend Joey Reed, 25, of North Branford, were found shot in the head in a parking lot on East Street around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to Capt. Peter Reichard (pictured), New Haven’s chief of detectives.

The lot is steps away from a martini bar named Hell and an adjoining strip club called the Catwalk. Myrick and his friend had been at the Catwalk shortly before they were shot to death, according to Lt. Luiz Casanova.

At an early afternoon press conference, Reichard said police conducted a daylight search of the area but found no weapons. Police have a “vague description” of a suspected gunman, he said. The two victims grew up together. Myrick lived in East Haven. Reed lived with his parents in North Branford.

The friends told their family Tuesday night that they were going out for a drink to watch the Celtics-Lakers basketball game. Reichard said detectives are reviewing tapes but have not determined whether the pair had patronized the club or the nearby bar.

The two were shot in the parking lot next to a vehicle. A vehicle was found at the scene belonging to one of the victims. Reichard said police do not know at this point what prompted the homicides.

“Shortly after bar closing time, people were just leaving the area. We’re not really sure what transpired in the lot,” Reichard said.

Reed was pronounced dead at the scene. Myrick was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was also pronounced dead.

Casanova (pictured) and Sgt. Stephen Shea were inside the Catwalk mid-morning Wednesday reviewing videotapes of the scene outside the club. The videotapes revealed nothing of the scene because the club’s cameras cover East Street, but not the parking lot, according to Christine Sempey, who owns both Catwalk and Hell.

Sempey said the police showed her photos of the victims, and she didn’t recognize them. She said she doesn’t know if they’d been in the club before the shooting. Catwalk had closed early, shortly before the shooting took place.

“We were dead [quiet],” she said. “That’s why we closed early. I think it had to do with the rain and the wind, that bullshit.”

A man who said he was Myrick’s best friend visited the parking lot Wednesday morning, shaking his head in disbelief.

He said he and Myrick grew up together in North Branford. They used to work for a man fixing gutters. Then Myrick went on his own, and hired his buddy. They spent Tuesday doing jobs on the Shoreline, and were planning to head back out again Wednesday. Myrick’s family informed him of the death Wednesday morning, the friend said.

The friend, who asked not to be identified, said he had been at Catwalk six months ago and ended up in the midst of a brawl that spilled out into the parking lot. “We would have died if the police hadn’t come,” he said.

The friend identified the second murder victim as Myrick’s friend, Joey Reed.

Sgt. Shea, who arrived at the scene shortly after the murder, said that Reed died in the parking lot. Myrick was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A videocamera in the parking lot (pictured) apparently was not working, according to Sempey.

Bar Strip

Several strip clubs and late-night bars dot the industrial strip along East Street. The strip is part of an industrial zone that the city created by the Mill River when the construction of I-91 bisected the Wooster Square neighborhood a half-century ago.

“Historically all of these bars are somewhat of a challenge for the police department. But really, [Catwalk] has not been on the radar” as a trouble spot, Casanova said.

“She’s been a person that’s been easy to work with,” he said of bar owner Sempey. “She hires cops on a regular basis for extra duty.”

The Catwalk’s and Hell’s landlord, Marty Halpern, stressed that the murders took place outside the bars after they were closed. Halpern said the bars have been good tenants.

“The neighborhood has been having problems with after-hours parties,” Halpern said. “The police have been made aware of it.” The parties take place in lots along East Street, he said; they began when a former employee of the old Simkins recycling plant invited friends to party on the railroad tracks, then moved the gatherings into a lot there.

The parking lot where the murders took place is next to Halpern’s office, Halpern Associates, where a bullet hole from the incident was marked Wednesday morning (pictured).

Melissa Bailey helped report this story.

Comments

posted by: -fairhavener- on June 11, 2008 10:24pm

“The videotapes revealed nothing of the scene because the club’s cameras cover East Street, but not the parking lot…”

“A videocamera in the parking lot (pictured) apparently was not working, according to Sempey.”

Of course, it’s pretty obvious to anyone who knows anything about this culture why that is. What a shame. You just want to go have a good time after a hard day’s work and you end up dead. Very sad indeed.

It should be a city ordinance that all nightclub type bars have WORKING video cameras (that record) over their parking lots and property. How many people have to get hurt or killed? And without anyone being brought to justice?

Please NHPD, please catch the murderer(s) - like you did the cat killer.

posted by: new havener on June 12, 2008 8:08am

it’s very sad…my prayers go to the families…..

posted by: Alysha on June 12, 2008 10:32am

Joey & Ensley were two great guys. You were lucky if they were at any time a part of your life.
They will both be sooo missed. I could never forget you guys. You will forever be in my heart, R.I.P.

posted by: kenny on June 12, 2008 2:30pm

ensley is my unckel and he is a great guy so is joey he ben a good friend of the familes but it is sad that there time had to be done so soon but we will never forget them and they will ways be loved

posted by: lesa on June 13, 2008 3:28am

“The times we spent together although were not long enough,was very special because of you and i never forgot the happiness i felt then”. Ensley is a great guy, a really good hearted person. And any friend of his i wouid say the same.My condolences to all family and friends of Ensley and joey. They did not deserve this. I just hope the police really search for the definite suspect and not just grab just anybody just because. The killer will reap what he sowed.

posted by: xxxxxxxxx on June 16, 2008 4:29pm

joey was my best friends brother. the reeds are some of the nicest people i have ever met & i cried for the both of them (and my friend and her family)for hours. if joey was friends with him, ensley was probably an awesome guy. my heart goes out to both families. when they catch the guy (hopefully the do!), someone should give him a nice smack across the face.

posted by: John on June 19, 2008 8:45pm

Why did they report conflicting statements?
One line says they were in the club, the next says it was undetermined if they were in the club. Maybe they had not been in either place. You should report the facts only.

posted by: maggie on June 20, 2008 7:17pm

Another murder in Fairhaven Wow. When is the man in charge of Fairhaven going to take back the street. The city needs to realize Fairhaven is out of control what are the police out there doing. Wake up people let take our street back from these thugs. Let get a new boss out here to clean the streets up.

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