Oheka Castle owner speaks out on 1-year anniversary of shooting

HUNTINGTON -- A year after surviving a gunshot wound to the head, an influential suburban New York businessman released a six-minute video Tuesday announcing a $100,000 reward for help finding his assailant and offering a biting criticism of both a political opponent and a newspaper's coverage of his shooting and its aftermath.

Gary Melius, who owns the lavish, 127-room restaurant and catering hall Oheka Castle on Long Island's storied Gold Coast, was shot a year ago while walking to his car outside the castle, where he also resides.

Melius said it took about two months to recover from his injuries. "I'm fine," he said of his condition in the video released to news organizations.

He announced that friends and family are offering the reward to help Suffolk County police find the unknown assailant. The family also announced it was establishing a telephone tips hotline, separate from the police department's general hotline number.

A statement from Suffolk County police said there is no detriment to having two tip lines. The department's own Crime Stoppers line has received "a handful" of tips in the year since the shooting. Police had previously announced a $5,000 reward for information in the case.

Several persons of interest have been investigated, but no arrests have been made, police said, describing the case as "an active and ongoing investigation."

Melius, a politically influential businessman and registered independent who has donated more than $800,000 to campaigns since the late 1990s, was on his way to lunch with former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, a friend, when he was shot. He praised detectives working on the investigation, saying, "They give me great confidence that they'll find out who did this."

The 70-year-old Melius was critical of Newsday's coverage of the shooting and its aftermath, as well as former state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs, a political foe of Melius'.

"They have caused great harm to my financial position, but more importantly, they have caused a lot of hurt to my family," he said.

In the year since the shooting, Newsday has published a series of articles that found Melius and his associates were awarded $900,000 in fees linked to the appointment of lawyers to carry out court directives in foreclosures and other matters. Newsday also reported last summer that Melius' son Thomas had been named a suspect in the shooting; the son's attorney and the elder Melius both dispute that Thomas Melius was involved.

Newsday spokesman Paul Fleishman said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that the newspaper stands behind its coverage.

In responding to Melius' criticism in his video, Jacobs on Tuesday repeated an accusation he made a year ago, that "all evil in Long Island politics goes through Oheka Castle." Jacobs said he thought the shooting was "horrific" but insisted the businessman's influence on the Long Island political scene needed to be curbed.

"He built a culture of insider dealing that has benefited himself financially and his friends through his access to the court system," Jacobs said.

Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.