SUSPECT IN SHARKEY SHOOTING WORKED AT LIQUOR STORE IN PLATTE CITY
Two days after The Landmark had reported authorities were speaking to a person of interest, Platte County prosecutors charged that person in the Jan. 10 shooting death of Dennis Sharkey on Interstate 29 in Platte County.
Ruslan Huseynov, 34, of Kansas City in Jackson County, is charged with second degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action.
Huseynov has ties to the Platte City community in that he was an employee at a local liquor store, multiple sources have told The Landmark.
A probable cause statement filed in court documents shows authorities received a 911 phone call on Jan. 10 shortly after 7 p.m. related to a shooting. That call came from a couple who had been traveling southbound on I-29 between Barry Road and NW 72nd Street. They saw a dark-colored car, later identified as the suspect vehicle, followed by a white car, later identified as a 2019 Chevrolet Spark, which was driven by the victim, Dennis Sharkey, age 50. Sharkey was a sports reporter for the Platte County Citizen in Platte City. Previously, he had worked as a news reporter for The Landmark for several months in 2009-2010.
The couple said that the two cars came to a stop in the far right lane of the Interstate, requiring the vehicle in which the couple were traveling to also stop. As the couple pulled around the stopped cars, the driver of the dark colored car got out of his vehicle with a gun in his hand and pointed at the victim’s car. As the couple accelerated from the scene, they heard a gunshot.
The female witness described the suspect as a male of possible Italian or Middle Eastern descent.
The victim’s car crashed approximately a quarter mile south of NW 72nd Street, coming to rest against a fence that separates I-29 and NW Prairie View Road.
Authorities say emergency workers found Sharkey in the vehicle unresponsive with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Sharkey was taken to North Kansas City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed the preliminary cause of death to be a single gunshot wound.
A canine belonging to the ATF discovered a recently expended single 9 mm shell casing on I-29, north of NW 72nd Street.
Sharkey’s cell phone was recovered from his vehicle. A search warrant related to data from the phone showed the phone communicating at 6:57:50 p.m. on the night of the shooting with the cell phone tower near 6600 NW Tower Drive at 6:57:50, which is located about 950 meters from where the shell casing was found.
A search warrant for other cellular signals traveling southbound at the same time revealed a cell phone allegedly belonging to Huseynov traveling southbound on I-29 and communicating with the cell phone tower on NW Tower Drive at 6:57:43 p.m. on the night of the shooting.
Court documents indicate that phone spent 62 seconds on I-29 in a space of 900 meters, leading investigators to believe Huseynov’s phone was in a vehicle that stopped on I-29 at the time of the shooting.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage documenting what the eyewitness couple reported.
On June 9, authorities began interviewing Huseynov. According to court documents, he allegedly confirmed his cell phone number and denied owning a gun.
However, a search warrant was executed at his residence in Jackson County late on Monday, June 9, and authorities say they located a 9mm Stoeger pistol in a safe in his bedroom.
The Landmark was first to report about a Jackson County search warrant issued on June 9 being related to the Sharkey case, and Platte County Sheriff Erik Holland later that day confirmed that investigators were speaking to a ‘person of interest’ in the Sharkey case. That person of interest was Huseynov.
Court documents state that testing by the Kansas City Police Crime Laboratory confirmed that the shell casing located at the scene of the crime and the bullet removed from Sharkey’s body during the autopsy were identified and verified to test fires performed on the pistol recovered from Huseynov’s bedroom.
Huseynov is being held in the Platte County Jail without bond.
Multiple sources close to the investigation have told The Landmark that Huseynov was an employee of Worlds Liquors, located at 1302 Platte Falls Rd., Ste. E, in Platte City.
Huseynov had been taken into custody last Monday, June 10 in an unrelated case–shoplifting at the Price Chopper in Platte City. Court documents outline how once the sheriffs department had him in custody in the shoplifting case, detectives began questioning him about the I-29 shooting.
Huseynov is charged with one count of misdemeanor stealing in the Price Chopper case. Authorities allege he stole alcohol and food. Authorities allege that on multiple occasions Huseynov packed food from the buffet into a takeout style container and left the store without paying. On another occasion, authorities allege, Huseynov placed two bottles of Maker’s Mark Whiskey into a black bag and left the grocery store without paying. Total value of goods Huseynov is alleged to have stolen from Price Chopper is just less than $150, according to the allegations in that case.
Later on June 9, Huseynov was booked into jail on an investigative hold and then later was charged in the stealing case while investigators continued to develop evidence in the Sharkey shooting. His bond on the shoplifting case had been set at $10,000 cash-only, with conditions that he would have to surrender his passport prior to release to the street, and be on house arrest with GPS monitoring arranged prior to his release on bond. The extreme bond conditions for a case of stealing less than $150 were another clue that Huseynov was the suspect being interviewed in the Sharkey shooting.
Court documents in the shoplifting case indicate Huseynov “has several police interactions and a conviction for sexual battery out of the state of Kansas wherein he was sentenced to nine months confinement. I do not believe Huseynov will show up to any court proceeding as he stated he plans to leave the county next month to travel back to Azerbaijan,” states the allegations from Detective Sgt. Jason Penix of the sheriff’s department in court documents.
Azerbaijan is a country located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union for over 70 years, until gaining its independence in 1991.
The Sharkey case is being investigated by the Platte County Sheriff’s Department. The Kansas City Metro Squad, Kansas City Metro Squad, Kansas City Police Crime Laboratory, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation also assisted in the investigation.
At a news conference announcing the charges last Wednesday, June 11, Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “This has been a complex investigation where deputies with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office pieced together cell phone data and surveillance footage to identify a suspect. Investigators arrested that man, served a search warrant at his residence, and located the weapon we allege was used in the shooting. I can’t say enough about the dogged determination of investigators who refused to give up on this difficult case.”
Platte County Sheriff Erik Holland said, “This has been a difficult investigation that involved multiple agencies. I cannot thank the Metro Squad, the Kansas City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms enough for their help throughout this case. We would not be here today however, without the incredible work performed by the Platte County Cyber Crimes Unit and particularly Sgt. Jason Penix. They have been relentless in their pursuit of this case and seeking justice for Mr. Sharkey and his family.”
