August 13, 2010

Salem police: Suspect faked death to beat court case

 

Julie Manganis

Gloucester Times 

Staff writer

 

SALEM — Salem police are looking for a man they believe tried to fake his own death to beat a pending court case. 

Michael Rosen, 42, of 181 North St., Salem, is now wanted on forgery and counterfeiting charges. And that case he tried to beat — which was initially dismissed — is back on the court's docket, as well. 

Rosen, who was already on probation for other offenses, was arrested in June after a fender bender on North Street revealed that he had no license. 

On Tuesday, a man claiming to be Rosen's brother walked into the Salem District Court clerk's office with what he said was Rosen's death certificate, showing that Rosen had died the week before. 

A clerk put the document in Rosen's file, and the next day, a judge dismissed the case, which is what routinely happens when a person dies while a case is pending. 

When Rosen's probation officer, Sean Whalen, learned of the dismissal, he was surprised, because he had spoken with Rosen a week earlier and Rosen appeared to be in good health. 

Then, he and other probation officers grew suspicious. Whalen called another probation officer who is supervising Rosen in Concord District Court and learned that Rosen had checked in with that court Monday — four days after he had purportedly died. 

Another probation officer, whose mother is a nurse, noticed that the death certificate listed the cause of Rosen's demise as "cardio-respiratory" arrest and knew the term that is normally used is "cardiac-respiratory." 

The probation officers took the information to Salem police Lt. Conrad Prosniewski, the department's police prosecutor. 

He brought the death certificate to the Salem city clerk's office, and a clerk there confirmed that it was a fake. Not only was it lacking a raised seal, but it was printed on the wrong kind of paper, the margins were not in line, and there is no original copy at City Hall. 

In addition, the place of birth, Saugus, was misspelled, as was the cemetery — it was spelled "Temple Isreal" on the certificate (the correct spelling is Israel). 

Prosniewski then handed over the case to Salem police Detective James Page, who did some more investigating. 

Page checked and found no record of any deaths at Rosen's apartment, where the death purportedly took place. 

He also called the cemetery and learned that no one named Michael Robert Rosen had been buried there. 

Rosen, who has a lengthy record that includes prior forgery, identity fraud and similar charges, is also wanted by Lynn court officials in other pending cases.