Dominick Varrone
Dominick Varrone graduated from West Babylon High School in a 1967 and attended S.U.N.Y. at Cortland where he earned a B.A. in Psychology. Upon graduation in 1971, he enlisted in the New York Air National Guard where he served for 12 years, being honorably discharged at the rank of Master Sergeant. While in the National Guard, he joined the Suffolk County Police Department in 1972 where he served for over 39 years, working his way up through the ranks from Patrolman to Chief of Detectives. He retired as Chief of Detectives on 12/31/11. As a police investigative supervisor, he had been involved in the highest profile cases that the Department has faced in the past two decades such as the 1994 Long Island Sniper case and the crash of TWA Flight 800.
In 1992, as a Detective Lieutenant and Commander of the Suffolk PD Kidnap Investigation Team, he headed the investigation of the disappearance/kidnapping of 9 year old Katie Beers, a crime story which garnered national and world-wide attention. This year marked the 20th anniversary of Katie’s rescue and Katie Beers has released a book “Buried Memories”. More recently as Chief, Dominick had been in charge of such high profile cases as: “The Patchogue Murder of Marcello Lucero”, “The Search for Missing Person Shannon Gilbert”, “The Gilgo Beach Serial Murders”, and “The David Lafferl Medford Pharmacy Murders”.
He holds a Master of Professional Studies degree in Criminal Justice Leadership from St. John’s University and is a graduate of the 189th session of the F.B.I. National Academy. Dominick has lectured at the F.B.I. National Academy as well as NYPD’s Homicide School. He has appeared on numerous TV news and talk shows including “Prime Time Live”, the “Discovery Channel” and “20/20”. In July of this year, he was a featured guest on an hour long episode of CBS’;s “48 Hours” about the Long Island Serial Killer.
In 2003, while serving as the Second Precinct Commander, Dominick was selected by the Huntington Tri-Community and Youth Agency to their “Hall of Honor” for community service and dedication to youth. In 2011, while serving as the Chief of Detectives, he was named “2011 Law Enforcement Person of the Year” by ASIS International.
Dominick has been a lifelong resident of West Babylon where he resides with his wife Antoinette. Their two children, John and Catherine, are both West Babylon High School graduates; both are married and also reside in West Babylon. Dom’s lifelong passion has been jazz music and he is an accomplished tenor saxophonist. He participated in the West Babylon Alumni Band Tribute Concert for Ed De Iulio who passed away in May of this year. Dom has fond memories of West Babylon High School, particularly, of the many teachers who had a great impact on his life: “I am forever indebted to Barry Titone who got me started on sax and Ed De Iulio, who with a background as a former marine, taught us discipline and how to strive for excellence; he was one of the most positive influences on my life who helped make me who l am”.