In the summer of 1985, a dark secret was buried in the heat of a Florida backyard, its roots reaching back to the streets of Troy, New York. Michael Falco, a 30-year-old man, had become entangled in a world of crime with his childhood friend and partner, Gary Evans. This partnership, built on a series of burglaries and the illicit sale of stolen goods, would ultimately lead to Falco's violent demise.
Unbeknownst to those who knew him, Falco's life was cut short in his shared Troy apartment, not by a stranger, but by the very man with whom he conspired.
The motive for this brutal act stemmed from greed and paranoia. Evans had been led to believe by another associate, Timothy Rysedorph, that Falco was secretly pocketing a larger share of their loot. Fueled by this betrayal, Evans constructed a makeshift silencer for his pistol and, in a cold-blooded execution, shot his accomplice. The grim task of disposing of the body then unfolded in a horrific manner. With Rysedorph's assistance, Evans dismembered Falco's remains with a chainsaw. The two then concealed the body parts in a sleeping bag and drove to Lake Worth Corridor, Florida, where they buried them in the backyard of Evans' sister's home, leaving no immediate trace of the heinous crime.
For years, Michael Falco was simply considered a missing person, his disappearance a mystery to law enforcement and a source of unending questions for anyone who knew him. The truth remained hidden until the intricate web of deceit and violence woven by Gary Evans began to unravel. It wasn't until 1998 that the full, horrifying scope of Evans' crimes came to light. After being apprehended for other offenses, Evans, a confessed serial killer, began to detail a string of murders he had committed over the years, including the slaying of his former friend, Michael Falco. He led investigators to the makeshift grave in Florida, where Falco's remains were finally recovered.
Before he could face a trial for the five murders he admitted to, Gary Evans orchestrated his own final, dramatic escape from justice. While being transported by U.S. Marshals on August 14, 1998, Evans, who was known for his previous escapes from custody, managed to free himself from his shackles. As the transport van crossed the Troy-Menands Bridge, he kicked out a window and leaped to his death in the Hudson River below. His suicide brought a sudden and violent end to the legal proceedings that would have brought him to account for the death of Michael Falco and his other victims, leaving behind a legacy of betrayal and bloodshed.
