Investigator Investigated

Oliver Mackson: GOSHEN — Mabel Waingrow outlived her husband, her only son, all five of her brothers and her sister. She closed up her coffee shop out on Route 94 in Blooming Grove and lived alone as she entered her 90s, bedeviled by loneliness and convinced that someone was stealing from her.

Ten years ago, her complaints about the thievery fell upon the ears of Nick Stagliano Jr., a veteran criminal investigator for the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

Stagliano investigated the complaints and determined that they were unfounded. But he remained friendly with Waingrow after the investigation ended. He started running errands for her, cut her grass and helped her around the house,…