FROM: HOLLEY
CARNRIGHT
DATE: NOVEMBER
19, 2014
RE: MARK CONKLIN SENTENCE
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: WALDEN MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS
IN PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION AND BURGLARY
A 35 year
old Walden man, Mark Conklin, was sentenced in Ulster County Court by Judge Donald
Williams to 15 years in prison for burglary and attempted abduction of his
ex-girlfriend in the Town of Shawangunk, Ulster County.
An Ulster
County trial jury in September convicted Conklin of entering the home of his
ex-girlfriend, assaulting her, and trying to abduct her. Following a five-day
trial and about 4 hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict
convicting Mr. Conklin of the felonies of burglary in the second degree,
attempted kidnapping in the second degree, unauthorized use of a vehicle in the
first degree, and the misdemeanor of assault in the third degree while
acquitting him of the misdemeanor charge of criminal obstruction of breathing.
Mark
Conklin was arrested on February 27, 2014, when he attacked his ex-girlfriend
inside her home where she resides with her children. She had an order of
protection against him at the time. He entered the home in the morning while the
victim was at work; he went through her personal belongings, and hid in the
bathroom until she returned, at which time he emerged from her bathroom and
proceeded to assault her. Armed with an 8-inch knife, Conklin threatened to
kill the woman in her home. When she pleaded for her life and said she did not
want her children to come home and find her body, he forced her at knife-point
to leave the house and he placed her in the passenger seat of her car, but she
escaped as Conklin was entering the driver seat of her car. She ran across the
street to her neighbors and called 911.
Conklin
drove off in her car and was later observed by a Village of Walden police
officer. He led the police on a chase through the village at speeds exceeding
95 miles per hour. He then returned to the ex-girlfriend’s home where he was
instantly taken into custody by officers from the Town of Shawangunk Police
Department.
Conklin was prosecuted by Sr. Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel
Nneji and was represented by the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office.
