Body of husband in murder-suicide remains unclaimed
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Before he killed his wife, Christian Mogensen built a resume typical of the nomadic high-tech industry, working for months-long stretches in giant software companies and small start-ups in Greater Boston until the contract petered out.
And years earlier, Mogensen earned his living being the piano man in Boston nightspots in the 1970s.
About two weeks before the murder-suicide that authorities say he orchestrated, Mogensen chatted with Jonathan Thomson. The two had bonded over a shared love of jazz music when they met at
"He seemed a little bit more glum than usual," Thomson said as he recalled the conversation. "I just don't get it. He loved Sharon a lot. I think his relationship and the home they lived in was the foundation for his life."
It was in his home - an apartment on the 20th floor at Charles River Park in the West End - on Sept. 28 that the 61-year-old Mogensen shot Sharon Glassman, his wife of 11 years, to death. He summoned Boston police, told them he was going to kill himself when they arrived - and kept his word.
Now, in another twist to a macabre case, as of Friday his body lay unclaimed in the state's morgue in the South End. And the man who once lived in one of the city's most well-known apartment complexes could end up in a pauper's grave.
Glassman was buried in Long Island earlier this month, according to city records.
On his website, Mogensen had posted his resume and described himself as a "skilled IT Generalist with strong experience in bringing complex initiatives to successful and timely closure."
According to Boston police and court records, Mogensen blamed financial pressures for the murder-suicide. The couple had fallen $6,100 behind in rent and were facing eviction. Mogensen faced court judgments of about $28,500 for unpaid loans.
Mogensen shot his wife once around 9:30 p.m. and then called 911, telling a dispatcher what he had done and then promising to shoot himself when police arrived. With a Boston police SWAT team outside his apartment, Mogensen shot himself in the head.
Before he died, he updated his website and announced his death, the death of his wife, and the date of their marriage, Christmas Eve 1996, next to a sepia-tinted photograph of the couple at City Hall Plaza on their wedding day.
According to a law enforcement source who has been briefed on the investigation, Mogensen left behind a note blaming his actions on money.
He also left instructions on who should get the couple's cat, known as Muggsy. Authorities would not identify the recipient, a close friend, by name.
On Friday, Glassman's stepmother, Alice, said she will be in Boston this Friday when Brigham and Women's Hospital holds a memorial service in Glassman's honor in Carrie Hall.
"I have a speech to make," she said. "I will not be speaking about him."
Friends have described Sharon Glassman, who was 60, as a "lovely, lovely person" who visited museums with friends.
Glassman worked at Brigham as a program manager. Before that, she was a secretary in the radiology department at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2004 to 2006, and she spent about 15 years working at Lotus Development, the software company now owned by IBM, according to officials and co-workers.
A spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley noted that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
"Domestic violence takes many forms, and one of them is the type of deadly violence displayed in this case," said Jake Wark. "That this suspect killed himself doesn't minimize his culpability."
Wark said there is no evidence that Glassman had any idea what she faced inside the apartment where the couple had lived for about a decade.
"Investigators have recovered no indication of any planning by Ms. Glassman that would indicate her involvement," he said. "All of the available evidence points to a murder-suicide."
Thomson and friends of Glassman find themselves unable to understand why Mogensen did it. Thomson said Mogensen once told him the couple expected to inherit the Florida home of Glassman's stepmother.
Mogensen once recounted how the couple met, Thomson said. The couple knew each other in Cambridge in the late 1960s and Mogensen loaned Glassman a camera, which she failed to return. In the 1990s, they were walking through the hallways at Lotus in Cambridge when Mogensen recognized Glassman.
"Where's my camera?" Mogensen asked, and the relationship blossomed, Thomson said.
A spokesman for the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said unclaimed remains become the responsibility of the Department of Transitional Assistance after two weeks. If no relatives are found, the department arranges for a burial.
