(Editor’s note: This story was originally published on June 17, 2002)
A week before Jeff Zack was killed by a motorcycle hit man, a disturbing message was left on the Stow man’s answering machine.
“You have one more out,” the male voice said.
About the same time, Zack told his 12-year-old son the name of a man who might be responsible if something happened to him.
Clearly, Zack had an inkling that he might be in danger.
He was right.
A year ago Sunday — June 16 — Zack was parked at a Home Avenue gas station when a motorcyclist pulled up behind him, got off the bike and shot him in the head. The black-clad figure hopped back on the motorcycle and sped away.
To this day, the identity of the shadowy figure remains a mystery.
Police have not yet made an arrest, though they now believe a hit man was responsible. The case is sensational for the Akron area because of the method of the murder and the mystery. It’s the type of tale that normally hails from a much larger, crime-ridden city.
“We haven’t had anything like this ever,” said Lt. Dave Whiddon, who heads the investigation.
Over the last year, Akron detectives have focused on who might have hired a professional killer — and why.
One fact is clear: Zack made many enemies during his 44 years. He fought with his neighbors. He was an unfaithful husband and a man who had been involved in some questionable business dealings.
“He did a lot of nutty things. But he didn’t deserve what he got,” said Elayne Zack, his devoted mother, during a recent telephone interview from her Arizona home.
SHOT IN THE HEAD
Zack left his home about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 16. At noon, he pulled his blue 1993 Ford Explorer into the BJ’s Wholesale Club gas station at 1677 Home Ave. and stopped at a pump.
Police say a motorcyclist parked behind the Explorer, got off the bike, walked to the driver’s side and fired one shot, hitting Zack in the head.
Bystanders realized something was wrong when Zack’s head came to rest on his horn. He was pronounced dead at Akron City Hospital 37 minutes later.
The motorcyclist was riding a black, white and lime green Ninja-style bike and was dressed in all black with a full helmet. The biker was last seen driving north on Home Avenue, possibly headed toward Cuyahoga Falls.
In the weeks following the shooting, police tried to find out as much as they could about Zack to figure out who might have wanted him dead. The information they gathered was surprising, the list of suspects lengthy.
“He led a complex life, was into a lot of different kinds of things and came into contact with lots of different people,” said Whiddon.
Zack was an Israeli paratrooper who spoke five languages and had dual citizenship with Israel.
He had a criminal background that included a conviction in Arizona in 1981 for his part in an escort agency using minors as prostitutes. More recently — in 1996 — he was convicted of disorderly conduct for grabbing and kissing a teenage clerk in a Stow hardware store.
He also had an ongoing feud with his Temple Trail neighbors, who had filed multiple complaints with Stow police accusing him of being belligerent.
Investigators called Zack “loud,” “arrogant” and “aggressive.”
“One thing about Zack is he talked a lot, he bragged a lot and he lied a lot,” said Detective Vince Felber. “He made a lot of people mad.”
SUSPECTS NARROWED DOWN
Police initially thought Zack’s killing was either the result of road rage, a random act or the work of a hit man.
Now, road rage is the “least likely,” a random act is the “next least likely,” and the hit-man theory is the “more likely,” said Capt. Elizabeth Daugherty, who heads the detective bureau.
Detectives have eliminated Zack’s business associates as suspects and do not think his death had anything to do with his Israeli military background or his criminal past.
Investigators are now focusing on a small list of possible motives and suspects. They declined to specifically discuss any possible suspects.
“We can create a list of people who would want to see him killed,” Whiddon said. “Out of the list, a few seem more likely than others. There are major areas that have emerged.”
Detectives have interviewed Bonnie Zack, Zack’s wife, though she now speaks to them only in the presence of her attorney. Police gave her a polygraph examination. They have declined to discuss the results.
“It would not be fair to say she had been uncooperative,” Felber said.
Bonnie Zack declined repeated interview requests through her attorney, Frank Pignatelli.
Detectives have kept in close contact with Elayne Zack. She has called investigators at least once a month, asking for updates on the case.
“This is very painful for her,” Daugherty said.
ANGRY THAT AFFAIR ENDED
Elayne Zack was playing bridge with friends when she learned that one of her three sons had been slain. Her husband — Zack’s stepfather — called her to break the bad news.
“I was screaming,” she said. “I was in total shock. It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. It’s a mother’s worst nightmare.”
Elayne has spent the passing months wondering why her son was killed.
One thing she thinks about is her son’s longtime affair with a married woman, a relationship that ended shortly before he was killed.
Elayne said her son often bragged about the affair.
When Zack would visit his mother in Phoenix, Elayne said the woman would constantly call. When Elayne went to see her son in Stow, the woman would often show up at Zack’s house.
Elayne said she repeatedly told Zack to break it off.
Ultimately, Elayne said, it was the woman who called it quits — a development Zack told her about when he visited her for Mother’s Day in May, a month before his death.
Zack wasn’t happy about this turn of events. Elayne said that Zack told her he could not walk away and instead had been calling the woman’s home and taunting her husband.
“Jeffrey could not accept rejection,” Elayne said. “That is something he could not tolerate.”
BUSINESS DEAL GONE BAD?
Elayne Zack also ponders her son’s many business dealings. Regardless of investigators’ beliefs, she thinks it’s possible her son may have been involved in a business deal that went sour.
Zack was a salesman. He had dealt in penny stocks, contact lenses, cranes, flooring and scrap metal. At the time of his death, he was working in flooring and owned several vending machines.
His mother thinks someone may have lost money investing with Zack — and blamed Zack for the loss.
One of the reasons she thinks that is possible is the strange message left on Zack’s answering machine.
The message — by an unidentified male caller — said, “You have one more out,” followed by the man asking, “Do you want me to call your parents?”
Elayne said the message, which she personally listened to, seemed to upset her son and make him nervous. She said she doesn’t think the message had anything to do with her son’s personal relationships.
Zack kept the tape, and police now have it.
Detectives told Elayne the call was made from a gas station in Akron — though it was not the BJ’s station where he was killed.
And then there was Zack’s statement to his son.
A few days before his death, Elayne said Zack told his son the name of a person he said might be responsible if something happened to him. The boy, who is now 13, shared this information with his grandmother at his father’s funeral.
The family then told detectives, who declined to comment on the statement.
POLICE STILL OPTIMISTIC
Detectives declined to comment on the possibility that Zack’s death may have been the result of an affair.
“We can’t discuss specific suspect information at this time,” Daugherty said.
Police say they remain optimistic that they will eventually crack the case. They also say they firmly believe there are people who know more about Zack’s murder than they have so far shared. Investigators hope they will come forward now.
“One person might have the piece that will answer everything,” Felber said. “If they are out there, we hope they will come forward.”
In the meantime, Elayne Zack spent the first anniversary of Zack’s murder with his widow and son, who headed to Phoenix for a visit.
The mother has undergone counseling since her son’s death.
“I wish they could find the killer,” she said. “It’s so frustrating. I think about it all the time. I don’t know what to do to solve it.”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Whodunit perplexes detectives
Reporting by Stephanie Warsmith / Akron Beacon Journal
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