New Castle man says he and veteran agreed to switch identities in the '80s
Also says ex-wife talked him into VA hospital surgery
Mark Mulcahy
By Pete Fowler
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
May 14, 2008
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - A man accused of pretending to be a veteran for more than 20 years said he had permission to assume the real veteran's identity.
He told an investigator that while in California the two agreed to switch identities and exchanged documents in 1986 or 1987.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, an investigator for the Denver District Attorney's Office obtained the information during an April 18 interview with Mark Mulcahy, 47, at the Garfield County Jail.
Mulcahy pretended to be David Keith Anderson, who had changed his name from David Ronayne. Anderson lived in California and died in a bicycle accident in 2006, according to an affidavit.
Mulcahy told the Denver investigator he met Anderson in the early 1980s in San Jose, Calif. Anderson served in the U.S. Army from 1973-74. Mulcahy said Anderson had a problem with authority figures, couldn't adjust and was thrown out, according to affidavits.
"Mulcahy indicated Anderson was all right with him assuming his identity," an affidavit says. "Mulcahy admitted to living as Anderson since the late 1980s. ... Mulcahy indicated he did not want to keep Anderson's identity, but he felt trapped."
In 2003 and 2004, Mulcahy received free gastric hernia surgery and other care worth $6,296 at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Denver by falsely using Anderson's identity, affidavits say. Mulcahy said he went to the VA hospital after injuring himself on a drilling rig and getting unsuccessful surgery in Glenwood. He said he was sorry about the Veterans Administration hospital and wished he never would have let his ex-wife talk him into it, an affidavit says.
His ex-wife said he also scammed to get prescription drugs for his friends.
Mulcahy said his ex-wife handled intake at the VA hospital and forged some of the documents, according to an affidavit. He even told the investigator that he wanted to pay back the hospital bill "because he did not feel right about it," an affidavit says.
Mulcahy's ex-wife told an investigator that Mulcahy didn't like the care he was receiving in Glenwood Springs. She said she recognized inconsistent statements Mulcahy was making about supposedly being in the Marines. She said Mulcahy was asked to produce his "DD-214" - a form issued upon separation of military service - but he said he lost it. Mulcahy's ex-wife said for whatever reason the VA hospital issued him a medical identification card and Mulcahy was able to obtain the surgery, according to an affidavit.
Mulcahy's ex-wife said Mulcahy told her he had legally changed his name to David Anderson because Anderson was an old war buddy of his. She left Mulcahy in 2005 and called authorities about the surgery after she dug into his past and discovered Mulcahy was "living a lie," an affidavit states.
Investigators believe Mulcahy became commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in 2004.
At least one person was sentenced to community service that amounted to chores at Mulcahy's New Castle home.
Mulcahy's brother said their family was from Springfield, Ill., and they have a total of eight siblings. Mulcahy reportedly also lived in Washington, Oregon and California.
After his ex-wife's phone call, a VA investigator discovered Mulcahy's true identity and contacted the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, which determined Mulcahy gave the false identity and forged documents during arrests and contacts with police between 2004 and 2007.
Mulcahy, living in New Castle, was arrested Feb. 28. The 9th Judicial District Attorney's Office charged Mulcahy with seven felonies on March 19 and alerted the Denver District Attorney's office about Mulcahy April 15. The U.S. Attorney's Office had declined to prosecute the case because it didn't meet a minimum amount of financial loss. The Denver District Attorney's Office is charging Mulcahy with three more felonies.
Mulcahy is being held at the Garfield County Jail on $45,000 bond for the seven counts that include identity theft, forgery of a public record and criminal impersonation. A $10,000 bond was set Monday for the Denver charges of theft, criminal impersonation and forgery.
Contact Pete Fowler: 384-9121
pfowler@postindependent.com
