IT is now 25 years since the most mysterious, unexplained death on 9/11.

As Manhattan was still reeling from the horrors which had unfolded that morning, Henryk Siwiak, a 46-year-old Polish immigrant and father of two, was shot and killed in Brooklyn just before midnight.

Henryk Siwiak bears the lonely distinction of being the last person to have died on 9/11

Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes on September 11, 2001

Unlike the nearly 3,000 people who died in the terrorist attacks involving four hijacked planes, Siwiak’s death was unrelated.

It remains unsolved and regarded as the only murder recorded in New York City on that fateful day.

No suspect has ever been arrested. No definitive motive has been established. He was the last person to die on 9/11, with his death recorded at 11.42pm.

Yet for his shattered family, the questions surrounding his final hours have never disappeared.

The NYPD continues to classify the case as active and has periodically appealed for new information.

“They need to look at this with fresh eyes and new technology,” former NYPD commander Tom Joyce told The U.S. Sun in 2022.

Siwiak had arrived in the United States less than a year before his death. Originally from Krakow, Poland, he had left his wife, Ewa, and their two children, Gabriela and Adam, behind as he searched for work and a better future.

He had previously worked as a railway inspector in Poland, but worsening economic conditions made it increasingly difficult for him to support his family.

In October 2000, he traveled to America, where he joined his sister Lucyna, who was already living in Queens.

Life was tough in New York City for Siwiak.

He took whatever work he could find, sending money home whenever possible. According to his sister, he was intensely focused on earning enough to provide for his family.

On September 11, that determination would put him in a position no one could have anticipated.

Siwiak was working at a construction site in lower Manhattan that morning, close enough to the World Trade Center to witness the first attack when, at 8.46am, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.

Lucyna Siwiak shows a photo of her brother whose murder remains unsolved

Police have never given up hope of finding the killers

The construction site was subsequently shut down, leaving Siwiak without work. He returned to his home in Far Rockaway, Queens, and told his wife in Poland he was safe.

He should have stayed at home as the city was grappling with the nightmare which still haunts it today.

Another plane had slammed into the North Tower, before two more planes are hijacked – crashing at the Pentagon in Washington DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania – as the United States fell under attack.

His wife begged him not to leave.

Yet instead, he immediately began looking for another job and made his way to a Polish employment agency in Brooklyn, where he was offered overnight work cleaning a Pathmark supermarket.

The job paid $10 an hour, and his shift was scheduled to begin around midnight.

He needed directions so before leaving, Siwiak, who spoke limited English, asked his landlady for help figuring out how to reach the supermarket. Together, they consulted a subway map and worked out what they believed was the correct route.

There was a critical misunderstanding.

The Pathmark he was supposed to reach was in the Farragut section of Brooklyn. Instead, the directions led him toward another, gritty part of Brooklyn — Bedford-Stuyvesant — where there was also an Albany Avenue.

Siwiak, wearing a camouflage jacket and matching pants, along with black military-style boots inadvertently boarded the incorrect train, several miles from his intended destination.

Siwiak inadvertently ended up in the wrong area of New York City on the night he was killed

On the night of the Polish immigrant’s murder, authorities in New York City were stretched following the terror attacks earlier that day

By late evening, he was alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood, yet still had no idea he had taken the wrong route.

What happened next remains unclear.

Investigators believe Siwiak encountered several people near Decatur Street shortly after 11pm.

The dangerous neighborhood was rife with gang and drug activity. Joyce, who oversaw the local precinct in 2001, later described the area as somewhere an unfamiliar person would have been wise to avoid after dark.

Residents reported hearing an argument involving several men. Then came gunfire.

Police believe multiple shots were fired, although Siwiak was struck only once. The bullet entered his chest and damaged one of his lungs.

Despite being seriously wounded, he managed to move toward a nearby brownstone. He climbed the steps and reportedly rang the bell, desperately seeking assistance.

No one came to his aid. Siwiak eventually collapsed on the sidewalk and died, just a few miles from where he had intended to spend the night working.

With the city’s police force and specialist investigators grappling with the terrifying aftermath of the terror attacks, the murder was at the worst possible moment for a homicide investigation in New York City.

Joyce later recalled that his precinct had roughly 35 detectives handling thousands of criminal cases each year, including numerous murders and shootings. On September 11, many of those officers were nowhere near Brooklyn.

When the call came about Siwiak, only limited personnel could be assigned to the case.

Even basic forensic resources were limited compared with what detectives might normally have used.

The investigation faced another major obstacle – a lack of witnesses.

People in the neighborhood reportedly heard the gunshots, but few were willing to provide meaningful information. Some were frightened of becoming targets themselves, while others simply did not want to become involved.

As a result, detectives were left with very little evidence to work from.

Several theories have emerged over the years, but none has been proven.

Siwiak was possibly the victim of an attempted robbery, although his family questioned why his wallet was still in his pocket and contained cash.

Investigators said the presence of money does not necessarily rule out an attempted robbery. The attacker or attackers may have fled before taking anything, or the killing may have escalated unexpectedly.

Another theory is that Siwiak’s appearance – including the military style clothes he was wearing – and foreign accent caused someone to mistake him for a terrorist.

It was, after all, the night of the largest terrorist attack in American history.

There is no established evidence, however, that this is what happened.

Lucyna eventually developed another theory: that her brother may have wandered into territory controlled by a gang and encountered people who reacted violently to his presence.

Whatever the motive, investigators have never identified the person or people responsible.

Lucyna learned that her brother had died early on September 12 when a cop arrived at her door at 5am to deliver the devastating news.

The tragedy was particularly painful because Siwiak had come to America with one overriding goal: to provide for his family.

His wife and children remained in Poland, expecting him to continue working and sending money home.

Instead, they were told he was dead.

His mother was reportedly devastated and became seriously ill after his funeral. Lucyna said the family continued to talk about Henryk for years afterward, keeping his memory alive despite the passage of time.

For her, grief never followed the timeline people might expect.

She said what she missed most was simply his presence—and especially his laugh.

An arrest, she acknowledged, would not bring her brother back.

Siwiak’s death occupies a unique place in the history of September 11.

Nearly 3,000 people died that day in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Flight 93. But those deaths are not classified as individual New York City criminal homicides.

As a result, Siwiak’s killing is generally regarded as the only murder recorded in New York City on September 11, 2001 that was unrelated to the terrorist attacks.

A quarter of a century later, the case remains open.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16990626/9-11-new-york-city-murder-henryk-siwiak/