Update: State police said the urn was handed over to police at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Original story follows:
Mark J. Zakrzewski of Southbury has until the end of the day Wednesday to return a funeral urn he allegedly stole from an Oxford woman during an argument last week.
Zakrzewski has been in jail since Friday’s incident. Judge Burton Kaplan allowed him to leave court after his arraignment Tuesday — but he could find himself back behind bars if he doesn’t return the urn.
“If the urn has not been returned to the police department, I’m going to revisit the bond,” Kaplan said.
Police originally thought Zakrzewski threw the ashes and the urn into the woods somewhere. They have searched for evidence of the urn or ashes several times since Friday.
In court Tuesday, public defender Bruce Weiant said Zakrzewski still had the urn.
“He is perfectly willing to give back the urn,” Weiant said. “That’s what meant a lot to (the victim). His feelings had been hurt. He has no intent of ever going back there.”
Kaplan scheduled a hearing for Friday to see if Zakrzewski follows through on his promise.
Victim Speaks
Zakrzewski is accused of stealing the urn after an argument with Danielle Pace. The urn contains the ashes of Pace’s grandmother, Florence Keilkucki, who died in November.
Pace is angry, because now, thanks to Zakrzewski’s bizarre action, she’s had to deal with the loss of her grandmother — twice.
“I just want my grandma back,” Pace told the Valley Indy Tuesday. “That’s all.”
Shoeless Crime
Police said the incident happened after a bitter fight at Pace’s home.
Zakrzewski was a friend whom she met about eight months ago when she was at a local bar with her fiance, Pace said. She said she didn’t know what prompted the fight Friday, but said Zakrzewsk is known to fly off the handle. He also wanted to be more than friends, Pace said.
She claims he shoved her to the ground. Police said he grabbed the rose-patterned urn from the house and left — without his shoes.
“He took that urn so quick and went out of my house so quick there was no time for him to put shoes on,” Pace said.
Zakrzewski was charged by state police on Friday with sixth degree larceny for allegedly taking the cremation urn, with disorderly conduct for allegedly pushing Pace and with carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit, because he allegedly had a handgun in his waistband when police took him into custody.
According to the police report, a witness at the home said Zakrzewski had a gun. Police later confiscated guns from Zakrzewski, but they didn’t match the described gun from the incident, Kaplan said in court Tuesday.
Court
Tuesday was Zakrzewski’s first time in front of a judge.
“This is a very serious incident,” said state prosecutor Marjorie Sozanski, arguing that Zarkrzewski be held on a $75,000 bond. “He went into the victim’s home, attacked her, threw her on the bed and threatened to choke her.”
Weiant, who was only appointed as public defender for the arraignment, called the incident “sad” because Zakrzewski didn’t know about Pace’s boyfriend.
“He just merely ran out to avoid the confrontation,” Weiant said, arguing for Zakrzewski’s release. “Really there’s not much else he did. It’s really a sad situation.”
Fear
Pace said Tuesday she was upset Zakrzewski was released, and she now fears for her life.
“I’m scared. I just don’t know what to do,” Pace said. “I’m upset. I wanted him (to stay in jail) to know what it’s like to suffer.”
Pace said the family had planned to have a memorial service in Long Island, where the family has roots. They planned to spread her ashes there.
Now, she said she hopes the urn is returned in tact so the family can still have its remembrance.
“He’s got my grandmother,” Pace said. “It’s very upsetting to talk about. It’s very precious. It hurt me that bad.”
