Within UFO Research Deaths
Obituary Evidence 4 A B6 A356 Mallove Murder...
Eugene Mallove's death is a particularly useful case for understanding the limits of obituaries in disputed accounts of researcher deaths. Mallove, a science writer and prominent advocate of cold fusion and unconventional-energy research, was killed in Norwich, Connecticut, on 14 May 2004.
Page outline Jump by section
Introduction
Eugene Mallove’s death is a particularly useful case for understanding the limits of obituaries in disputed accounts of researcher deaths. Mallove, a science writer and prominent advocate of cold fusion and unconventional-energy research, was killed in Norwich, Connecticut, on 14 May 2004. Memorial material can reliably establish who he was, his scientific interests, his family and professional affiliations, and the fact that colleagues regarded his death as a profound loss. It cannot, by itself, establish how he died, who was responsible or whether his research had anything to do with the killing.
Those questions require a different class of evidence. Connecticut’s medical-examiner findings established homicide; police records documented the crime scene and investigation; and subsequent criminal proceedings produced evidence about former tenants, suspects, witness accounts, guilty pleas and convictions. Most importantly, a 2025 Connecticut appellate decision provides a detailed judicial record of the investigation while also showing that criminal-case evidence can itself change through appeals.[FBI]vault.fbi.gov— Federal Bureau of InvestigationFBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation…
Mallove therefore illustrates an important distinction for claims about allegedly suspicious deaths among unconventional researchers: an obituary is evidence about a death, but it is rarely the decisive evidence about a murder.
What a memorial notice can establish about Mallove
The memorial record is valuable because Mallove’s connection to unconventional-energy research is not speculative or something attached to him only after his death. Infinite Energy’s biographical archive records his engineering education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), doctorate at Harvard, scientific and technical writing, editorship of Infinite Energy, presidency of the New Energy Foundation and extensive publication record. It says that he remained the foundation’s president and the magazine’s editor until his murder.[Infinite Energy]infinite-energy.comInfinite Energy Gene Mallove, BiographyInfinite Energy Gene Mallove, Biography
A memorial published by the New Energy Foundation board similarly records that Mallove was killed while cleaning his childhood home in Norwich between tenants. It described the killing at the time as occurring in an “apparent robbery” and explicitly told readers that Infinite Energy would report further details as they became available. That qualification matters. The memorial was written close to the event, but its authors were not conducting the homicide investigation.[Infinite Energy]infinite-energy.comInfinite Energy Memorializing GeneInfinite Energy Memorializing Gene
Other tributes demonstrate the same evidential boundary. New Energy Times confirmed with Norwich police that Mallove had been killed and that a homicide investigation was under way, while devoting most of its page to his career, family and significance within the unconventional-energy community. Such material is useful primary evidence for how Mallove’s colleagues understood him and his work. It is not equivalent to an autopsy, police file or sworn testimony about the crime.[New Energy Times]newenergytimes.comNew Energy TimesNew Energy Times - Tribute to Dr. Eugene MalloveMay 17, 2004…
That difference is especially important because Mallove’s scientific career made the killing susceptible to competing interpretations almost immediately. He had publicly challenged mainstream assessments of cold fusion, and some people within the alternative-energy community wondered whether his research might explain his death. One early memorial by Richard Hoagland explicitly connected the timing of Mallove’s killing with developments in unconventional-energy research and raised the possibility that this could be relevant. But the piece also acknowledged that the killers and precise reason for the killing were then unknown. It records contemporary suspicion; it does not prove the suspicion correct.[Enterprise Mission]enterprisemission.orgEnterprise Mission In Memory of Dr. Eugene MalloveEnterprise MissionIn Memory of Dr. Eugene MalloveMay 14, 2004…
This is precisely where treating memorial literature as secondary evidence becomes essential. A tribute can establish that a theory existed and that colleagues considered it plausible. It cannot transform that theory into a finding about motive.
Why a homicide requires investigative records
Mallove’s case moves onto firmer ground when the evidence comes from institutions charged with determining cause, manner and criminal responsibility.
Contemporary reporting based on police and medical-examiner information stated that Mallove, aged 56, had been assaulted at the Norwich property and died from injuries to his head and neck. Connecticut’s Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. Police initially found indications of a physical confrontation and apparent robbery: possessions were missing and Mallove’s Dodge Caravan disappeared from the property before being recovered at a Foxwoods casino employee car park.[Steve Quayle]stevequayle.comSteve Quayle Dr. Eugene F. MalloveSteve QuayleDr. Eugene F. Mallove - MurderedMay 16, 2004…
The underlying medical evidence is stronger still. Material released in the FBI’s Mallove file includes a Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner post-mortem report identifying Mallove, recording his death in Norwich on 14 May and documenting the formal examination performed the following morning. An investigative document in the released material describes multiple blunt-force injuries to his face and scalp, a fracture of the thyroid cartilage and a stab wound to his arm; it says the medical examiner attributed the homicide to multiple injuries of the head and neck.[fbi.gov]vault.fbi.gov— Federal Bureau of InvestigationFBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation…
That is the evidential step an obituary cannot reproduce. “Mallove was murdered” is not merely a characterisation made by grieving colleagues. It rests on a forensic determination and a homicide investigation.
The police record also provides information that memorial notices could not have known when written. A 2005 Norwich Police Department release sought Mallove’s missing wedding ring, digital camera, mobile telephone and wallet and noted that his stolen van had later been recovered. In 2009, Connecticut State Police announced a $50,000 reward and stated unequivocally that Mallove’s death had been ruled a homicide. It also identified the Norwich Police Department, New London State’s Attorney’s Office and Connecticut State Police Eastern District Major Crime Squad as participants in the Mallove Homicide Task Force.[Eugene Mallove]eugenemallove.comEugene Mallove Press Releases on Mallove InvestigationEugene MallovePress Releases on Mallove InvestigationJanuary 24, 2005…
Those records do more than repeat that Mallove died violently. They document what investigators actually knew and what remained unresolved at particular points in the case.
The investigation changed the story
Mallove’s murder also demonstrates why researchers should not freeze a case at the moment its obituary was published. The criminal investigation developed over many years, and some early investigative conclusions did not survive.
Two men, Gary McAvoy and Joseph Reilly, were arrested in 2005. A court initially found probable cause, but investigators subsequently excluded them as sources of relevant DNA profiles and prosecutors eventually dropped the charges. The official Connecticut appellate record therefore preserves an important correction to the early history of the case: an arrest, even accompanied by probable cause, was not the same thing as a final determination of guilt.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
The investigation later shifted towards people connected with the rental property. According to the judicial record, Mallove had recently evicted Roy and Patricia Anderson and had travelled from New Hampshire to clean the Norwich property. Their son Chad Schaffer and Schaffer’s girlfriend Candace Foster had also lived there. In 2009, investigators received information alleging that Schaffer had possessed bloodied clothing on the night of the murder and that Foster had lied about his whereabouts. Another witness told police that Schaffer had said he assaulted Mallove with Mozzelle Brown and took Mallove’s possessions to stage the attack as a robbery.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
Foster subsequently supplied several accounts to investigators and eventually admitted her own involvement, according to the court’s recitation of the case. Schaffer and Foster were arrested in April 2010. In April 2012, Schaffer pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and third-degree robbery. Brown was subsequently tried and convicted in 2014 of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, receiving a 58-year sentence in January 2015. Foster later pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
This later record gives the case a concrete connection to the property from which Mallove had evicted tenants. It provides a substantially better evidential basis for discussing the circumstances of the killing than speculation based on his professional activities.
It does not mean every part of the criminal record is permanently settled. In January 2025, the Connecticut Appellate Court ruled that prosecutors had improperly suppressed material concerning possible consideration for Foster, a cooperating witness. The court directed that Brown’s murder and conspiracy convictions be vacated and that he receive a new trial. The ruling addressed the fairness of Brown’s prosecution rather than reversing the medical finding that Mallove was murdered, but it is a significant qualification to any simple statement that the entire case was conclusively resolved by the 2014 verdict.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
That development reinforces, rather than weakens, the methodological lesson: the strongest available record must be checked at each evidential level, and later court decisions can supersede older summaries.
Research-related theories need their own evidence
Because Mallove was a forceful advocate for cold fusion and other unconventional energy ideas, his murder naturally entered narratives about scientists allegedly killed because their research threatened powerful interests. Those theories are historically relevant: they were voiced by people within Mallove’s own community and have continued to circulate. They should therefore be reported as claims when examining the development of suspicious-death narratives.[Enterprise Mission]enterprisemission.orgEnterprise Mission In Memory of Dr. Eugene MalloveEnterprise MissionIn Memory of Dr. Eugene MalloveMay 14, 2004…
But the existence of such a theory is not evidence that the killing was research-related.
The official and judicial records instead developed a detailed line of investigation connected with the Norwich rental property and people associated with its former tenants. The 2025 appellate opinion states that Mallove had evicted the tenants the previous month and had gone to Norwich to clear the property. It records subsequent witness evidence, Schaffer’s guilty plea and the prosecution of Brown and Foster. None of that proves that every unanswered question surrounding the crime has disappeared, and Brown’s successful appeal makes caution particularly important. But it provides direct case-specific evidence that a memorial writer in May 2004 simply did not possess.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
The distinction is subtle but crucial. Mallove’s research is relevant to explaining why people suspected a research-related motive. It is not, without additional evidence, proof of why Mallove was murdered.
This prevents a common reasoning error in collections of supposedly suspicious researcher deaths. If a researcher works on a controversial subject and then dies violently, the two facts can appear meaningful when placed next to one another. Establishing a causal connection requires another evidential step: communications showing threats related to the work, investigative findings identifying such a motive, financial or institutional links between perpetrators and threatened interests, credible witness evidence, or comparable documentation. In Mallove’s case, the publicly available criminal record instead gives investigators a specific property dispute and a group of people connected with that property to examine.
The evidence hierarchy in a genuinely criminal death
Mallove’s case provides an unusually clear hierarchy for evaluating researcher-death claims because there is evidence at several levels.
Memorial and obituary material is strongest for identity, biography, family relationships, professional reputation and the reaction of colleagues. It establishes beyond reasonable historical doubt that Mallove was an important figure within the cold-fusion and unconventional-energy community.[Infinite Energy]infinite-energy.comInfinite Energy Memorializing GeneInfinite Energy Memorializing Gene
Contemporary journalism adds independently reported information about the discovery of the body, police activity and statements attributed to investigators or medical authorities. It is particularly useful for reconstructing what was publicly known at each stage, although reports written during an active investigation may later become outdated.[Steve Quayle]stevequayle.comSteve Quayle Dr. Eugene F. MalloveSteve QuayleDr. Eugene F. Mallove - MurderedMay 16, 2004…
Medical-examiner evidence is stronger for the physiological cause and legal manner of death. In Mallove’s case, the post-mortem and associated records support the conclusion that he suffered severe head and neck trauma and that his death was a homicide.[The Black Vault]documents2.theblackvault.comThe Black Vault U.S. Department of JusticeThe Black Vault U.S. Department of Justice
Police and prosecutorial records are stronger for the mechanics of the investigation: missing property, recovered vehicles, suspects, forensic testing, witness statements and changes in investigative theory. The Mallove case is instructive precisely because the first charged suspects were later eliminated from the case.[Eugene Mallove]eugenemallove.comEugene Mallove Press Releases on Mallove InvestigationEugene MallovePress Releases on Mallove InvestigationJanuary 24, 2005…
Court records are normally the strongest public source for what evidence was formally tested in criminal proceedings, but even judgments require attention to procedural history. Schaffer’s guilty plea is part of that record; Brown’s 2014 conviction is another part; and the 2025 appellate decision ordering Brown a new trial is now equally indispensable.[Connecticut Judicial Branch]jud.ct.govConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of CorrectionConnecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
The hierarchy therefore does not mean that the highest-ranked document automatically answers every question. It means matching the source to the claim. A family tribute may be the best evidence for how Mallove’s children or colleagues remembered him. The medical examiner is the better source for cause and manner of death. A court record is better for determining what happened to a prosecution. None, by itself, proves a broader conspiracy.
What Mallove’s murder changes in disputed-death research
Mallove is a useful control case within discussions of allegedly suspicious deaths involving UFO, antigravity and unconventional-energy researchers because there is no serious uncertainty about the basic classification of his death: he was the victim of a homicide. Connecticut authorities treated it as such, the medical evidence supported that determination, and criminal proceedings followed.[CT.gov]portal.ct.gov50000 reward being offered from homicide investigation norwich 2004CT.gov50000 Reward Being Offered from Homicide Investigation Norwich 2004…
The disputed issue lies further downstream: who was legally responsible at different stages, what precise sequence of events occurred, and whether the killing had any relationship to Mallove’s scientific advocacy. Those are not questions an obituary is designed to resolve.
This makes Mallove different from cases in which a memorial notice merely records that a researcher died while online accounts later supply an unsupported cause of death or suspicious narrative. Here there is a substantial independent evidential trail. It also shows why apparently authoritative summaries must be dated: writing in 2004, 2008, 2015 and after the January 2025 appellate ruling would produce materially different descriptions of the state of the criminal case.[New Energy Times]newenergytimes.comOpen source on newenergytimes.com.
For disputed researcher deaths, the practical rule is consequently straightforward. Use an obituary to establish the person and the death. Use the medical examiner to establish how the person died. Use police and prosecutorial material to establish what was investigated. Use court records to establish what was alleged, admitted, proved, overturned or left unresolved. And require separate evidence before claiming that a researcher’s professional work supplied the motive.
Eugene Mallove’s murder is compelling precisely because the stronger records exist. They confirm that something genuinely criminal happened while simultaneously placing limits on the more extraordinary explanations subsequently attached to it. That is why, in a case such as Mallove’s, the obituary belongs near the beginning of the evidence trail—not at its end.
Amazon book picks
Further Reading
Books and field guides related to Obituary Evidence 4 A B6 A356 Mallove Murder.... Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, Dna, and More Tell Us ab...
Crime writer Val McDermid takes readers behind the scenes of real forensic investigations: from bugs that reveal time of death to DNA tha...
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Med...
Fearless memoir of a forensic pathologist's "rookie season" as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases that shaped her as both a physician...
DiMaio's Forensic Pathology
The first two editions of Forensic Pathology have been highly touted as the definitive, go-to text reference on forensic pathology and th...
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Med...
Equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner's Handbook is "a vicious, page-turning story that r...
eBay marketplace picks
Marketplace Samples
Live-tested eBay searches with available results related to this page.
Selected fromscience memorabilia oneBay.co.uk.
Endnotes
1.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Title: — Federal Bureau of Investigation
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/eugene-mallove
Source snippet
FBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation...
2.
Source: infinite-energy.com
Title: Infinite Energy Gene Mallove, Biography
Link:https://infinite-energy.com/genemallovecollection/biography.html
3.
Source: infinite-energy.com
Title: Infinite Energy Memorializing Gene
Link:https://www.infinite-energy.com/iemagazine/issue56/memorial.html
4.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/eugene-mallove/eugene-mallove-final/view
5.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/browse-files-list/search
6.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Title: all data
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/all-data?b_start%3Aint=4420
7.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/view?b_start%3Aint=1500
8.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/search?SearchableText=Eugene+Little
9.
Source: vault.fbi.gov
Link:https://vault.fbi.gov/search?SearchableText=Eugene+Little&b_start%3Aint=960
10.
Source: infinite-energy.com
Link:https://www.infinite-energy.com/resources/unusual-suspects.html
12.
Source: infinite-energy.com
Link:https://www.infinite-energy.com/iemagazine/readarticles.html
13.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Eugene Mallove Story Cold Fusion
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevv7c3Nrlg
Source snippet
Eugene Mallove's Missing Shoes Are Clue In His Murder...
14.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Eugene Mallove’s Missing Shoes Are Clue In His Murder
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2OxNZEyKGs
Source snippet
Arrest Made in 2004 Norwich Murder of Scientist...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The “Conspiracy” to Kill Cold Fusion
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWlBZT7L1qM
Source snippet
Eugene Mallove murder The Eugene Mallove Story Cold Fusion...
16.
Source: jud.ct.gov
Title: Connecticut Judicial Branch Brown v. Commissioner of Correction
Link:https://jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP230/AP230.93.pdf
17.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Link:https://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/news/2004/DrEugeneMallove.shtml
Source snippet
New Energy TimesNew Energy Times - Tribute to Dr. Eugene MalloveMay 17, 2004...
Published: May 17, 2004
18.
Source: enterprisemission.org
Title: Enterprise Mission In Memory of Dr. Eugene Mallove
Link:https://www.enterprisemission.org/_articles/05-18-2004/eugene_mallove.htm
Source snippet
Enterprise MissionIn Memory of Dr. Eugene MalloveMay 14, 2004...
Published: May 14, 2004
19.
Source: stevequayle.com
Title: Steve Quayle Dr. Eugene F. Mallove
Link:https://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=181
Source snippet
Steve QuayleDr. Eugene F. Mallove - MurderedMay 16, 2004...
Published: May 16, 2004
20.
Source: documents2.theblackvault.com
Title: The Black Vault U.S. Department of Justice
Link:https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/scientists/eugenemallove-fbi2.pdf
21.
Source: documents.theblackvault.com
Link:https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/scientists/eugenemallove-fbi1.pdf
22.
Source: eugenemallove.com
Title: Eugene Mallove Press Releases on Mallove Investigation
Link:https://www.eugenemallove.com/em_investigation.html
Source snippet
Eugene MallovePress Releases on Mallove InvestigationJanuary 24, 2005...
Published: January 24, 2005
23.
Source: portal.ct.gov
Title: 50000 reward being offered from homicide investigation norwich 2004
Link:https://portal.ct.gov/despp/press-releases/2009/50000-reward-being-offered-from-homicide-investigation-norwich-2004
Source snippet
CT.gov50000 Reward Being Offered from Homicide Investigation Norwich 2004...
24.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Link:https://newenergytimes.com/v2/news/2008/NET31.shtml
25.
Source: theblackvault.com
Title: FB I Files: Scientists and Medical Professionals
Link:https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/fbi-files-scientists-and-medical-professionals/
26.
Source: eugenemallove.org
Link:https://www.eugenemallove.org/
27.
Source: oxygen.com
Title: Eugene Mallove, Scientist, Murdered After Housing Dispute
Link:https://www.oxygen.com/an-unexpected-killer/crime-news/eugene-mallove-scientist-murdered-after-housing-dispute
28.
Source: eugenemallove.org
Link:https://www.eugenemallove.org/devastated-family-of-murdered-scientist-still-looking-for-answers/
29.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Title: New Energy Times
Link:https://newenergytimes.com/v2/news/2010/35/3524scienceenergynews.shtml
30.
Source: news.newenergytimes.net
Title: mallove murder case plods along
Link:https://news.newenergytimes.net/2010/06/24/mallove-murder-case-plods-along/
31.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Title: NET30 jgk39gh12f.shtml
Link:https://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/news/2008/NET30-jgk39gh12f.shtml
32.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Link:https://newenergytimes.com/v2/news/2007/NET22.shtml
33.
Source: lenr-canr.org
Title: Eugene Mallove dead
Link:https://lenr-canr.org/wordpress/?p=287
35.
Source: wanttoknow.info
Title: Eugene Mallove Killed
Link:https://www.wanttoknow.info/eugenemallove
36.
Source: eugenemallove.com
Title: Mallove in His Words
Link:https://eugenemallove.com/
37.
Source: eugenemallove.com
Title: death of IE
Link:https://www.eugenemallove.com/death_of_IE.html
38.
Source: eugenemallove.com
Link:https://www.eugenemallove.com/why_write_no_more.html
39.
Source: newenergytimes.com
Title: New Energy Times
Link:https://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/sen/2011.shtml
40.
Source: uapmurders.com
Link:https://uapmurders.com/uaps/Details/Eugene_Mallove/
41.
Source: everything.explained.today
Title: Eugene Mallove
Link:https://everything.explained.today/Eugene_Mallove/
42.
Source: thereluctantactivist.org
Title: Suspicious Deaths
Link:https://www.thereluctantactivist.org/suspicious-deaths.html
43.
Source: imdb.com
Title: Eugene Mallove
Link:https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0540133/bio/
44.
Source: academickids.com
Title: Eugene Mallove
Link:https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Eugene_Mallove
45.
Source: planetary.org
Link:https://www.planetary.org/profiles/eugene-mallove
46.
Source: psiram.com
Title: Eugene Mallove
Link:https://www.psiram.com/de/index.php/Eugene_Mallove
Additional References
47.
Source: uapmurders.com
Link:https://uapmurders.com/uaps/Details/Aaron_Salter_Jr/
48.
Source: uapmurders.com
Link:https://uapmurders.com/uaps/books/
49.
Source: vecteezy.com
Link:https://www.vecteezy.com/editorial/news/chad-schaffer-trial-155843/chad-schaffer-listens-65263214
50.
Source: vettingroom.org
Link:https://vettingroom.org/tag/district-of-connecticut/
51.
Source: thecinemaholic.com
Link:https://thecinemaholic.com/dr-eugene-mallove-murder-where-are-candace-foster-chad-schaffer-and-mozzelle-brown-now/
52.
Source: truecrimene.com
Link:https://www.truecrimene.com/episodes/p6zagfbyw95khxlki00s3o5zfagrz4
53.
Source: aetherometry.com
Link:https://aetherometry.com/Events/in_honor.php
55.
Source: vettingroom.org
Link:https://vettingroom.org/2019/11/19/judge-barbara-jongbloed/
56.
Source: ancientfaces.com
Link:https://www.ancientfaces.com/surname/mallove-family-history/488260



