No one knows who shot Gary Melius. More than eleven years after a masked gunman fired on the Oheka Castle owner in his own parking lot on February 24, 2014, no arrests have been made, no charges have been filed, and the Suffolk County Police Department still classifies the case as an active, unsolved investigation.1Newsday. Oheka Castle Shooting Gary Melius Investigation
What Happened in the Parking Lot
Shortly after noon on a Monday, Melius, then 69, walked through the employee parking lot at Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York, on his way to lunch with former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato.2Long Island Business News. Police Continue to Probe Shooting at Oheka Castle As he got into his Mercedes-Benz, a figure in a hooded sweatshirt and a mask stepped out of a nearby parked car, approached the driver’s side window, and fired.3New York Times. Suffolk County Police Release Video of Gary Melius Shooting
A single bullet entered just above Melius’s right eyebrow, traveled under the skin and outside the skull, and lodged near his right ear.4ABC7 New York. Oheka Castle Shooting Report Police later concluded that the gunman’s weapon jammed after that first shot, which likely saved Melius’s life.5CBS News New York. Oheka Castle Owner Speaks One Year After Shooting Surveillance video released two years later showed the shooter fumbling with the weapon, glancing back at Melius, and then running to a 2006 khaki-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee.6CBS News New York. Oheka Castle Shooting Investigation
Wounded, Melius made it back inside the castle and called for help. His daughters drove him to Syosset Hospital, and he was transferred to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he underwent eye surgery days later. He was released eight days after the shooting.7Long Island Business News. Oheka Castle Owner Gary Melius Released From Hospital
Suffolk County Deputy Inspector Mathew Lewis called the attack “a targeted crime” and said it did not appear to be random.8New York Times. Owner of Opulent Long Island Castle Is Shot in Head by Gunman From his hospital bed, Melius said he had “no idea” who had tried to kill him.9New York Post. Developer Shot in Face at Castle Home: Thank God I’m Alive
What Investigators Have and Don’t Have
The Suffolk County Police Department led the case and pursued Melius’s business, political, and personal connections. At one point the suspect list ran past 60 names.1Newsday. Oheka Castle Shooting Gary Melius Investigation The obstacles were straightforward. The surveillance footage was grainy and did not clearly show the shooter’s face. Physical evidence was limited.10NBC New York. Oheka Castle Shooting Gunman Video
On the one-year anniversary, Melius announced a $100,000 reward — funded by friends and family — for information leading to an arrest and conviction, and a dedicated tip line was set up alongside Suffolk County Crime Stoppers.11Long Island Press. $100K Reward Offered for Tips in Gary Melius Shooting Melius himself acknowledged the case “appears to have gone cold.”5CBS News New York. Oheka Castle Owner Speaks One Year After Shooting
In February 2016, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini released the surveillance video publicly for the first time and announced that the FBI had been brought in to help — the first federal involvement in the two-year-old probe. “We don’t have someone in handcuffs,” Sini said. “That’s not acceptable.”12ABC7 New York. New Surveillance Video in Shooting of Oheka Castle Owner Gary Melius Whether that step produced new leads has not been publicly reported.
The Person of Interest Who Was Never Charged
Within months of the shooting, investigators focused on Thomas Melius, Gary’s adopted son and stepson, as a person of interest. Thomas had a history of drug problems and had been released from a jail stint five days before the attack. He was supposed to be in an inpatient drug treatment program at the time.13CBS News. Report: Son of New York Castle Owner Probed in Father’s Shooting
Gary Melius said police interest in his son stemmed from “people he hung out with” and forcefully rejected any suggestion that Thomas was involved. “They have not one thing to physically connect him to this,” Melius told reporters. “Not one phone call, not anything.”13CBS News. Report: Son of New York Castle Owner Probed in Father’s Shooting Thomas’s attorney, Dennis Lemke, said his client denied any involvement and was cooperating with investigators.14NBC New York. Tommy Melius Gary Melius Oheka Castle Investigation No charges were ever filed against him.
Why Someone Might Have Wanted Him Dead
Police said they examined Melius’s business, political, and personal relationships without publicly settling on a motive.10NBC New York. Oheka Castle Shooting Gunman Video Melius pointed at “political enemies,” specifically the fallout from a controversy the previous year involving his support for a third-party candidate in the Nassau County executive race and the ouster of Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale.14NBC New York. Tommy Melius Gary Melius Oheka Castle Investigation His attorney, Ron Rosenberg, cautioned that whatever “sick motive” the shooter had was “not a reflection of the victim.”15ABC7 Philadelphia. Oheka Castle Shooting Report
The 2013 episode Melius referenced explains why investigators cast such a wide net. He and his affiliates had bankrolled more than 80% of the treasury for the “We Count” party, a third-party vehicle for Nassau County executive candidate Andrew Hardwick. The campaign ran through Oheka Castle: Hardwick’s treasurer was a castle employee, and nominating petitions were delivered there.16Newsday. Melius Hardwick Randy White Arrest A state Supreme Court justice barred Hardwick from the ballot after finding the petition effort “permeated with fraudulent practices,” with 2,700 of 8,400 signatures ruled invalid and more than 100 identified as forgeries.17Newsday. Andrew Hardwick Controversy at Center of Thomas Dale Ouster
The scandal deepened when Randy White, a witness who testified that Hardwick’s campaign had paid for petition signatures, was arrested on a bus in Hempstead on an old bench warrant for unpaid fines from a misdemeanor bootleg-DVD case. Commissioner Dale, whom Melius had helped install, directed officers to act on the warrant after Melius called him about White. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice investigated and called the arrest “politically-tinged,” though she found no criminal misconduct warranting prosecution.18Wall Street Journal. Nassau County Police Commissioner Resigns Dale resigned in December 2013. White later won a $295,000 civil rights settlement from Nassau County.16Newsday. Melius Hardwick Randy White Arrest The shooting followed roughly two months later.
Melius’s business life had generated friction as well. Through the 1990s he ran Oheka Castle in defiance of local zoning, accumulated 17 building and fire code violations, and owed more than $668,000 in unpaid property taxes before winning a special “historic overlay district” from the Huntington Town Board in 1997 that legalized his commercial operations.19Newsday. Melius Oheka Castle Zoning Huntington His earlier record included five sets of criminal charges by the mid-1970s — a mugging conviction, an extortion scheme with a Nassau County police officer, and a role in an interstate car theft ring — resolved without jail time, with his single felony conviction later expunged.20Newsday. Melius: Oheka Shooting and Politics Investigators had no shortage of directions to pursue. None of them produced a suspect they could charge.
Where the Case Stands Now
As of June 2026, the Suffolk County Police Department has confirmed the investigation remains “ongoing” but declined to discuss suspects or say whether the FBI is still involved. No arrests have been made.1Newsday. Oheka Castle Shooting Gary Melius Investigation Melius, now 81, still lives at the castle. The $100,000 reward first announced in 2015 has not, so far as has been publicly reported, produced the tip that closes the case.