The Murder of Florence Unger
For this case, I watched an episode of Forensic Files. It’s season 13 episode 23, titled ‘Drowning Sorrows.’
A young mother is found dead just outside her cabin.
Background
Florence ‘Flo’ Gabrielle Stern was born on March 16, 1966. Mark and Florence met while both attending the University of Michigan. They married in 1990, and eventually had two sons together.
Florence worked as a bank loan officer, and Mark was a mortgage broker and sports radio personality.
While they seemed like they had a great marriage, those closest to the couple said they had many issues. Mark had lost his job as a mortgage broker, due to his addiction to gambling, drugs, and alcohol. Florence wanted to move on, and had filed for divorce shortly before her death.
Florence ‘Flo’ Unger
Mark and Florence
The Discovery
In October 2003, Mark, Florence, and their two sons took their usual trip to Watervale. They usually took the trip every year, and stayed in a cabin on the water.
On the evening of October 24, Mark was inside the cabin with the boys, while Florence was outside getting some air. Mark believed that Florence was on the deck just outside the cabin.
After Mark put their sons to bed, he went outside, but didn’t see Florence. He saw the lights on at the nearby cabin of their friends, and figured Florence was there. He went to bed, but when he woke up the next morning, she wasn’t there.
Around 7:30am, Mark contacted the resort owners, Linn and Maggie Duncan, and asked if they had seen Florence. They said no. They went out to look for her, and made a horrible discovery. Florence’s body was found in the water. They called 911.
Accident, Suicide or Murder?
The police immediately took notice of the faulty railing that was just above where Florence’s body was found. When they measured it, they discovered that it was 10 inches below the state code.
The police believed that Florence could’ve been sitting on the railing, and fell backwards when it broke. This theory soon changed when L.J. Dragovich, the medical examiner, performed her autopsy.
Florence had severe trauma to her head, but she had fluid in her lungs. It was the drowning that had killed her.
The police took every lead seriously. Florence’s family said that there was no way she would’ve committed suicide. They were suspicious of Mark right away.
The deck above where Florence was found
The Experiments
Mark hired a private independent forensics team. The team produced five different animations and scenarios of how Florence had ended up in the water. They said that the impact of her fall could’ve projected her into the water.
Dr. Dragovich disagreed. He said bodies didn’t bounce, and he had been examining Florence’s brain tissue. He focused on the neurons, and discovered repair proteins. He said that Florence had been struggling to survive after she had fallen off the railing. He said she was unconscious for about 90 minutes before she was put into the water.
The blood stain on the pavement didn’t line up either, with the broken portion of the railing. To prove that Florence couldn’t have broken the railing, analysts did an experiment with a load cell. A load cell is a scale with a series of springs and sensors that measures compression. A T-bar and a bicycle seat were attached to the load cell. The analysts added 200 lbs of pressure to the railing, and it didn’t break. Florence had weighed about 110 lbs, and couldn’t have broken the railing.
The Motives
Mark learned that the police were looking at him as more of a suspect. Mark denied killing Florence, and said he loved her.
The police learned that Florence had filed for divorce just 2 months before she died. Mark was also the sole beneficiary of Florence’s two life insurance policies. One was for the amount of $25,000, and the other was $500,000.
The police also learned that Florence had been seeing a man named Glenn, who was also friends with Mark. Florence had seen Glenn just a few days before she died. It’s believed that Mark either knew about the relationship, or found out before they had left for their trip.
Friends of the couple told the police that Florence had confided in them that she was afraid to go on the trip. They had begged her not to go, but she went anyways.
Linn Duncan later testified that Mark had known exactly where to go when he told him that Florence was dead. The owner had left out the location of Florence’s body on purpose.
The investigators did an experiment. One investigator had a video camera, and stood where Mark and the resort owner had been talking. A mannequin took the place where Florence was found. The experiment proved that Florence’s body couldn’t have been seen until they were practically right next to it.
Circumstantial Evidence
The evidence against Mark was very circumstantial. That was until a discovery was made on Mark’s shoes.
The Michigan State Crime Lab discovered a white smear that was believed to be have been paint. They took six different paint samples from Mark’s shoes, and the shoes themselves, and sent them to Keith Lamont, a forensic scientist. With inferred light, Lamont was able to conclude that the paint samples were virtually identical.
It’s believed that Mark had most likely kicked the railing to make the murder look like an accident.
Mark was charged with first degree murder, 7 months after Florence died.
The Conviction
Mark’s defense argued that there was no case against him.
The prosecution said that Mark had wanted to salvage the relationship with his wife, but that she said no. She was moving on, and Mark had either known about her relationship with Glenn, or found out about it that night.
When Florence rejected Mark, he became violent, and pushed her off the railing. Florence was lying on the pavement, while Mark put their kids to bed. He then went back outside, and discovered that Florence was alive. He pushed her into the water, and kicked the railing to make it look like an accident. However, he made a mistake when he didn’t line up the blood stain with the broken railing.
Three years after Florence’s death, Mark Unger was convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison. Mark was very surprised about the conviction. He had believed that he was going home that day.
Mark during trial
Mark in a recent mugshot
Other
Mark and Florence’s kids were raised by Florence’s parents. They also won a $10 million lawsuit against their father for projected lifetime earnings, and and personal loss to her survivors.
In 2019, Mark lost his bid for a new trial.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There was a lot of science in this case that I knew nothing about. I had to rewind so many times to make sure I was typing the correct names and words of everything.
While I do believe some of the evidence is circumstantial, I also believe the right person is in prison. Mark was the last person to have seen Florence, and had several motives. I believe Florence was over the marriage, but maybe felt bad for Mark, or just wanted to be with her kids, which is why she decided to go on the trip. Mark is scum, and deserves to rot in prison.
Sources
https://forensicfilesnow.com/index.php/2021/09/30/drowning-sorrows/
https://thecinemaholic.com/florence-unger-murder-where-is-mark-unger-now/
https://www.mlive.com/news/2018/07/michigan_man_who_pushed_wife_o.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/accident-murder/story?id=2107342
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/mi-court-of-appeals/1239278.html
