Widower reflects on 10 years since Colorado Springs shooting

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Colorado’s scenery for many people provides solace, an escape, a reminder of the beauty of the world.

For Paul Markovsky, the mountains in Colorado Springs are a reminder of his late wife Jennifer who was among three people killed in a shooting at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood in 2015.

“She often said she was homesick in Colorado until she looked at the mountains,” Markovsky said, “if it was one of those gloomy days when the clouds were just hanging over the peaks, but you could see the bottom of them, she said it reminded her of Hawaii except when you drive up high you don’t see the ocean.”

Jennifer Markovsky was born and raised in Hawaii, which was where she and Paul met when he was active duty Army. She was just weeks away from her 36^th birthday in 2015 when a gunman took her life.

“A friend asked for help, and she couldn't refuse,” Markovsky said that was the type of person she was. “It didn’t matter who you were, if you asked for help, she would give it to you, it didn’t matter how little or how much she knew you, she would help.”

Paul Markovsky

Jennifer and Paul were at a club when she caught his eye on the dance floor in Hawaii.

“I came up to her and started dancing and talking, next thing you know, I’m already exchanging phone numbers and setting up the next date,” Markovsky said, “she was attractive and just seemed like a fun person to get to know.” The couple got married in Las Vegas six months later.

“It didn’t take long to figure out [she was the one],” Markovsky said.

Paul Markovsky

“She was the type of person who would easily just go with the flow,” Markovsky said, they often went hiking or road trips. Jennifer Markovsky had a son before meeting Paul, he and Jennifer had a daughter together, who is now 16. Markovsky said his daughter constantly reminds of his late wife.

“My daughter looks so much like her,” Markovsky said, “it’s almost like looking at my wife when she was a teenager, she looks more and more like her every day.”

Paul Markovsky

It was Black Friday in 2015 when Jennifer Markovsky didn’t come home. Paul Markovsky wouldn’t learn what had happened until the following morning.

“She didn’t come back, I tried to call around and see like our friends, if anybody knew and then early in the morning I started searching. [I] went to her friends’ house, there was nobody there, went to the police station in Stetson Hills, I saw on the news some clips of the shooting and that’s when I started to suspect the worst, that’s when I kind of figured out that’s why she didn’t come home the night before,” Markovsky said.

Then the police broke the news to him.

“I felt like the floor just fell out from under my feet,” Markovsky said. The days following were hectic.

“It almost felt like the world was ready to move on and just keep spinning and accepting what happened, it demanded decisions, answers and important things like how was the burial going to be handled, details like the casket,” Markovsky said.

Family members like his brother-in-law stepped in to help make funeral arrangements while Markovsky grieved.

“I was just going, like, come on, I’m not ready for this, I’m not ready to let go,” Markovsky said.

Then there were journalists who wanted to get their story. Markovsky said he did not want any part of the attention the case was getting, but he felt that reporters weren’t leaving him alone.

“At one point, one particularly aggressive reporter told me, you know we’re not going to stop until we get our story,” Markovsky said. “[I thought] what it’s not going to stop?”

Five days later, a larger mass shooting and attempted bombing happened in San Bernardino, California. 14 people died and 22 others were injured. Markvosky said that took attention from reporters away from him.

“I thought, whoa, this is what it takes for me to get my peace? I didn’t want anybody to die for it, but that’s crazy,” Markovsky said.

Paul Markovsky

The years since the tragedy have brought the stages of grief and more for Markovsky like denial and anger.

“I refer to him as an “it” because in my mind, you know, who would, who would kill innocent people simply to prove a point? It cannot be a real person,” Markovsky said.

Markovsky said it took him years to make peace with his wife’s death, “I realized it was like drinking poison, it was only killing me from the inside, [it] was holding me back.”

When Markovsky learned for Robert Dear’s death this week he said, “it’s a shame that it just dragged on for so long.”

Dear never made a guilty or not-guilty plea as his competency was in question for the last decade in both state and federal courts.

“I'm closer to closure, but, you know, there's not going to be a real closure, with something with someone like this who can't even acknowledge what he's done,” Markovsky said.
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