Mother remembers Mariani as ‘a young man any mother would be proud of’

CALGARY – Almost a week has passed since 47-year-old Mark Mariani was found dead in a northwest parking lot, and as the family prepares for his funeral, they are courageously speaking out.

Mark’s body was found Sunday morning in the parking lot of a small strip mall in the 1500 block of 16th Avenue N.W.

Police believe he was assaulted in the alleyway on the corner of 16th Avenue of 15th Street northwest and as he tried to stagger to his vehicle in the parking lot, he died.

Investigators believe Mark could have been the victim of a random attack.

“Robbery is certainly a motive and that’s what we’re struggling with right now. We want to find out what the motive might be. This individual is certainly not known to the Calgary police service,” says police spokesman Kevin Brookwell.

Mariani’s mother, who did not want to be identified by her first name, says she wants people to know her son for who he really was, and not the senseless crime that took his life.

She says Mark was a young man that any mother would be proud of; a gentle man who had been suffering from Chrohn’s disease for the last 20 years.

Mark chose to live with his parents for the last decade of his life, working at the family pub or driving a school bus from time to time.

"He worked wherever he could, but sometimes it got the best of him again, and he had to leave it. I said just leave it …just stay here. Do the best you can" says Mark’s mother.

Two days before Mark was murdered, he learned he was going in for surgery later this month to have a procedure that could potentially give him a more normal life.

"He wanted to find a wife and have his own children. Like we’re a family, he wanted a family of his own."

It’s what Mark’s mother wanted for her son’s future, but now, all she can do is remember and honour the life he lived.

Police have not released any new information on the case and are still looking for people with information to come forward.

Meantime, funeral arrangements for Mark are being made for next week.