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Justice John Michalski, age 61, died in his Amherst home in Erie County, according to multiple reports that were confirmed on Tuesday, April 5.
The suicide came following investigators storming his home to execute a search warrant, reports said, though Michalski and his wife cooperated with police during the investigation.
No one was taken into custody and no charges were or have ever been filed against the judge or his wife.
Michalski’s death comes approximately a year after he was struck by a freight train at a rail yard near Buffalo, which prompted a leave of absence that he returned from in January after being reinstated by the State Office of Court Administration.
According to The Buffalo News, Michalski had been questioned last year ahead of being struck by the train - a reported potential suicide attempt - by FBI agents regarding his longtime friendship with strip club owner Peter Gerace, who is facing federal charges of drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and bribing a DEA agent.
“I am saddened to learn of the passing of State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski.,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement released on Wednesday, April 6.
“I, along with my colleagues at the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, extend our deepest condolences to his family during this difficult time.”
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