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Police & Fire
'Chameleon': Wife-Killer Facing Charges In 33-Year-Old NJ Murder Case Featured On Dateline NBC 'Chameleon': Wife-Killer Facing Charges In 33-Year-Old NJ Murder Case Featured On Dateline NBC
'Chameleon': Wife-Killer Facing Charges In 33-Year-Old NJ Murder Case Featured On Dateline NBC A convicted killer facing new charges in connection with his second wife's death in Mercer County will be featured in a two-hour broadcast titled "Chameleon" on Dateline NBC on Friday, April 26. John David Smith III has served 20 years in an Ohio prison for the murder of his first wife. Now, he faces murder charges in New Jersey for killing his second wife, Fran Gladden-Smith, 33 years ago in West Windsor. At 9 p.m. Friday, Dateline NBC said it will reveal a "gripping investigation exposing (the) man suspected of multiple murders." Victims' relatives and detectives who put Smith behin…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Ex-Con Sentenced For Home Invasion, Sexually Assaulting Woman In Asbury Park: Prosecutors Ex-Con Sentenced For Home Invasion, Sexually Assaulting Woman In Asbury Park: Prosecutors
Ex-Con Sentenced For Home Invasion, Sexually Assaulting Woman In Asbury Park: Prosecutors An Asbury Park ex-convict will spend more than three decades in prison after he was convicted of a home invasion and sexual assault, authorities said. Shawn Connolly, 37, was sentenced on Tuesday, Apr. 23 to 40 years in prison, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced in a news release. He'll be eligible for parole after 34 years under the No Early Release Act. Asbury Park police responded to a home on Seventh Avenue just before 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021. Officers immediately found Connolly, arrested him, and recovered what he stole from his pockets. Investigat…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching NJ Woman, 70, For Money Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching NJ Woman, 70, For Money
Man Convicted Again Of Murdering, Torching NJ Woman, 70, For Money 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Questionable DNA evidence found under the fingernails of a 70-year-old Bergen County woman bludgeoned and burned in her home may have gotten her killer a new trial, but it didn't change the outcome. For a second time, a jury in Hackensack convicted Daniel Rochat on Wednesday of all charges in the brutal September 2012 slaying of real estate agent Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home. Rochat, 48, of Wood-Ridge was originally convicted in June 2017 of beating Vernieri, then pouring gasoline on her and around her home before setting it on fire to cover up the crime scene. Pros…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Video Shows Target Worker Interrupting Shoplifters In South Jersey Video Shows Target Worker Interrupting Shoplifters In South Jersey
Video Shows Target Worker Interrupting Shoplifters In South Jersey Three women nearly got away with $581 in merchandise before they were stopped by a Target employee in Camden County, authorities said. On Monday, April 22, at approximately 5:30 p.m. the three pictured suspects entered the Target store on Berlin Cross Keys Road, Gloucester Township police said. All three suspects gathered up merchandise and placed it into a cart, police said. A suspect with the pink coat exited the store and parked a silver Jeep SUV, with an unknown temporary NJ license plate and spare front right tire, out front of the store.  The other two suspects approached the r…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Fugitive Wanted In South Jersey Stabbing Arrested In Mississippi: Prosecutors Fugitive Wanted In South Jersey Stabbing Arrested In Mississippi: Prosecutors
Fugitive Wanted In South Jersey Stabbing Arrested In Mississippi: Prosecutors A Cape May County man wanted in a stabbing was caught in Mississippi nearly three weeks later, authorities said. Imani Goodman, 26, from the Villas section of Lower Township, was arrested in Wayne County, Mississippi, on Tuesday, Apr. 23. Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland announced his arrest in a news release on Wednesday, Apr. 24.  Lower Township police responded to a home on Oregon Avenue where someone was stabbed several times on Wednesday, Apr. 3. The victim was rushed to Cape Regional Medical Center in Middle Township and was listed in critical but stab…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
WATCH THIS: Enraged Driver From NJ Mounts Mid-Manhattan Sidewalk Aiming For Pedestrian WATCH THIS: Enraged Driver From NJ Mounts Mid-Manhattan Sidewalk Aiming For Pedestrian
Watch This: Enraged Driver From NJ Mounts Mid-Manhattan Sidewalk Aiming For Pedestrian An enraged New Jersey driver was recorded trying to run down a shirtless man in broad daylight on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk. The wild road rage pursuit continued up West 39th Street near Seventh Avenue before the driver left his Ford Taurus with three wheels on the sidewalk and confronted his target, footage shared by What Is New York on Instagram shows. "Call the cops! Calls the cops!" the man shouts. The pedestrian -- whose pants are down around his thighs, exposing red boxer shorts -- responds, then tries to duck into a building. A man at the door shoves him back onto the street. T…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Wanted Man Accused Of Having Child Porn Arrested Under Jersey Shore Boardwalk: Police Wanted Man Accused Of Having Child Porn Arrested Under Jersey Shore Boardwalk: Police
Wanted Man Accused Of Having Child Porn Arrested Under Jersey Shore Boardwalk: Police A Cape May County man accused of having more than 1,600 items of child pornography was found by police under the Wildwood Boardwalk, authorities said. Keith Aubrey, 42, of Wildwood, was arrested on a warrant on Thursday, Apr. 18, the Wildwood Crest Police Department said in a news release. He was charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Jail records said Aubrey was charged for possession of child pornography on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. During that arrest, investigators found him with an SD card, and a warrant was obtained to search it. The SD card was lat…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
Threatening Bathroom Graffiti Temporarily Closes Private NJ School As Police Investigate Threatening Bathroom Graffiti Temporarily Closes Private NJ School As Police Investigate
Threatening Bathroom Graffiti Temporarily Closes Private NJ School As Police Investigate 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Police were reviewing security video to determine who's responsible for a threat specifically mentioning Blacks and Hispanics that was found scrawled on a bathroom wall at Dwight-Englewood School. The K-12 school was closed on Wednesday, April 24, following the discovery earlier in the week of a message that investigators said threatens to "get even." The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office was alerted and police in Englewood are working the case, assisted by the county sheriff's forensics team, which collected evidence. "There's concern right now considering what just recently trans…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Gloucester County Opens New Center In Woodbury To Fight Abuse Against Children Gloucester County Opens New Center In Woodbury To Fight Abuse Against Children
Child Advocacy Gloucester County A new Child Advocacy Center has opened in Gloucester County to deal with the steady rise in abuse and neglect cases, authorities said. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new center at 432 Glover St. in Woodbury took place on Tuesday, April 23. Local prosecutors said they found the need for a larger space necessary due to a rise in the number of crimes against children during and following the coronavirus pandemic.  Child abuse and neglect cases rose from 3,334 cases in 2000 to 4,355 last year in Gloucester County, according to the Rutgers University School of Social Work.  Statewi…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
South Jersey Duo Found With Kilos Of Cocaine, AR-15 In Large Drug-Dealing Network: Prosecutors South Jersey Duo Found With Kilos Of Cocaine, AR-15 In Large Drug-Dealing Network: Prosecutors
South Jersey Duo Found With Kilos Of Cocaine, AR-15 In Large Drug-Dealing Network: Prosecutors Two men from Egg Harbor Township were accused of running a large drug-dealing network, authorities said. An Atlantic County Superior Court Judge detained 46-year-old Felix Mujica and 47-year-old Wilfredo Latimer on Tuesday, Apr. 23, the county prosecutor's office said in a news release. An undercover officer purchased more than five ounces of cocaine from the two men in Atlantic City. Police executed several search warrants in the investigation on Thursday, Apr. 18. Mujica was found alone in his home with 2.5 kilograms of cocaine throughout the house.  In Mujica's home, police al…

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by Chris Spiker
Police & Fire
She's Leaving Home: End Of Marriage Triggers Uneventful Mahwah 'Standoff' She's Leaving Home: End Of Marriage Triggers Uneventful Mahwah 'Standoff'
She's Leaving Home: End Of Marriage Triggers Uneventful Mahwah 'Standoff' A SWAT team and other tactical units responded to a Mahwah home Tuesday afternoon after a resident expressed concern over suicidal comments she told police her husband had made, authorities confirmed. Fortunately, they weren't needed. The woman went to police headquarters early Tuesday afternoon, April 23, concerned over her husband's response when she said she was leaving him, responders said. A quick check determined that there are weapons in the home in the northeast section known as Cragmere near the Rockland County border. Out of "an overabundance of caution," Mahwah Police Chief Tim…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Camden County Man Arrested In Fatal Shooting: Prosecutor Camden County Man Arrested In Fatal Shooting: Prosecutor
Camden County Man Arrested In Fatal Shooting: Prosecutor A 21-year-old man from Gloucester Township has been arrested by U.S. Marshals in connection with a fatal shooting last week, authorities said. Hasan Battie was taken into custody on Monday, April 22 in Camden, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay  Battie has been charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses, she said. On Tuesday, April 16, at approximately 5:30 p.m., Gloucester Township Police officers were dispatched to a residence in the LaCascata development for a report of a person shot. Police found a male victim later identified as…

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by Jon Craig