Thomas Trantino

Last updated

Thomas Trantino (born February 11, 1938) is an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to life in prison for the execution style shooting deaths in 1963 of two police officers in Lodi, New Jersey. He was sentenced to death by electrocution, which was commuted to life in prison after capital punishment was suspended in the 1970s. This began a long battle for parole, which continued until his release from prison in 2002.

Contents

Trantino grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was expelled from school for truancy, became a drug addict in his early teens and served the remainder of his teenage years in jail for robbery. [1]

Murders

Responding to reports of a disturbance at the Angel Lounge on U.S. Route 46 in Lodi on August 26, 1963, Sgt. Peter Voto and P.O. Gary Tedesco were dispatched to follow up on the call. Voto entered the bar — leaving behind Tedesco, a probationary officer who could not carry a weapon — and was immediately ambushed by Frank Falco and Thomas Trantino, who were there to celebrate a successful robbery. When Voto did not return, Tedesco went into the bar and was also ambushed. Both were tortured and killed execution style. Falco was shot while resisting arrest and killed in Manhattan by officers of the New York City Police Department. [2]

On August 29, a funeral for the 21-year-old Tedesco was held at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Roman Catholic Church in Garfield, New Jersey and a separate service for 40-year-old Sgt. Voto was held at St. Joseph's Church in Lodi, with more than 1,000 officers representing 40 different departments in attendance, a memorial described as the largest such funeral in New Jersey police history. Governor of New Jersey Richard J. Hughes flew in from Trenton, New Jersey to offer his condolences to the respective families. [3]

Arrest and conviction

Trantino was placed under arrest after turning himself in at the East 22nd Street Station in Manhattan on August 28 after 66 hours in hiding; he was arraigned and the case was adjourned until September 17 with Trantino held in jail without bail. Trantino's attorney described both of the accused killers as "gentlemen", saying that Trantino had never killed anyone and that the half-Jewish, half-Italian Trantino was called "Rabbi Tom" because he was so kind to others. [3]

Trantino was transferred from New York on September 26, 1963, after an extradition hearing, transported in leg irons and accompanied by Bergen County first assistant prosecutor Fred C. Galda. [4]

In his summation at the February 1964 trial, held at the Bergen County Court House, prosecutor Guy W. Calissi said that Trantino had pistol whipped Sgt. Voto, forced him to undress and shot both Voto and Tedesco after the second officer entered the bar. Trantino's attorney argued that both officers had been shot and killed by Falco and that Trantino—who had been previously jailed on a robbery charge and had a history of addiction to narcotics—had been too drunk to have committed the crime. On February 19, 1964, the jury of seven men and women took 7 hours and 20 minutes to find Trantino guilty.

The jury's decision not to recommend mercy had the consequence that the death sentence would be imposed. Trantino's attorney Albert S. Gross recommended a life sentence, saying "isn't a lifetime in prison enough?" [5] On February 28, Bergen County Judge Joseph W. Marini sentenced Trantino to death in the electric chair to take place in the week of April 5. At the sentencing, Trantino's attorney argued against the death penalty, stating that "legalized murder was no better than criminal murder". [6]

Prison

Trantino was originally sent to Trenton State Prison where he sat on Death row. After New Jersey abolished the death penalty in the state in 1971, Trantino was sent to Rahway State Prison. [1]

While in prison at Rahway, Trantino pursued an interest in poetry and art. His paintings were described by The New York Times in a 1973 article as being reminiscent of Pablo Picasso. The firm of Alfred A. Knopf agreed to publish two books of his works. [1]

In 1974, Trantino was one of five prison inmates found to have organized an illegal mass meeting attended by 200 inmates in which the subject was believed to be criticism of the prison's administration. The group of 200 had started meeting and refused to disperse for 30 minutes after guards ordered them to end the meeting, citing the explosive security risk arising from such a gathering. The five leaders, including Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, were transferred to other prisons around the state. [7]

Parole

Trantino's sentence had been commuted on January 17, 1972, to a single life sentence, which would make him eligible for parole in 1977, after serving 15 years in jail. Under the Parole Act of 1979, the parole board could require the sentencing judge to set restitution as a condition of parole, with Trantino being the first case under the law after two previous parole applications had failed. The New Jersey State Parole Board was willing to release him once arrangements were made for making restitution to the survivors and Judge Theodore Trautwein took responsibility for setting the amounts as the original sentencing judge had retired ten years earlier. In September 1980, 500 police officers protested at the steps of the Court House in Hackensack, joining the families of the slain officers in arguing that Trantino should remain in jail and that compensation would not be accepted in exchange for the deaths of the two police officers. [8]

Judge Trautwein refused to set a restitution amount, saying, "It would be a gruesome, illogical, self-evident act of futility to order the restoration of the victims' lives." [9] Without the restitution arrangements, Trantino's parole had been rejected and he remained in jail beyond the judge's death. [10]

In 1982, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in a case filed by Trantino to uphold a law that requires restitution as a condition of parole, limiting such payments to medical costs, funeral expenses, lost property and wages over a limited period of time. The court's opinion questioned if the 18 years Trantino had spent in prison were adequate, stating that "it is hard to imagine that Trantino has been sufficiently punished to be considered rehabilitated", though it did not place any restrictions on the parole board's authority to release him. [11] In November 1982, the Parole Board ruled that "rehabilitation has not been sufficiently achieved" and that "the shocking nature of the homicides" Trantino committed as "part of a continuing pattern of antisocial behavior usually involving the use of force", would require him to serve an additional ten years in prison, though he could be released in 5½ years for good behavior. [12]

In January 1988, two members of the State Parole Board approved Trantino's release, though the decision could be taken up by all seven members of the Board if a new hearing was requested. [13] In February, a group of 2,000 residents, police and politicians protested the possible parole. [14] When the full parole board met in March 1988, its members voted 4–3 against releasing Trantino on parole. [15]

In his fifth appearance before the parole board, in November 1990, the full board voted against parole and set his next eligibility data for 1994, with the possibility of an earlier date with good behavior. [16]

In November 1998, the New Jersey Department of Corrections rejected Trantino's request to be placed in a halfway house on the basis of the results of an intensive evaluation of the inmate, which indicated that Trantino was still a risk to commit further crimes and would be unable to adapt to a community setting. He had been transferred from Riverfront State Prison in Camden, New Jersey to a facility in Kearny for the review, and was then transferred to South Woods State Prison once his request was rejected. [17]

At a parole hearing in November 1999, by which time Trantino had become the longest-serving inmate in the New Jersey prison system, the board decided that Trantino was still a danger to society on the basis of his pattern of lies about the murders and would have to serve another 4½ years in prison before being eligible for parole. [18]

A three-member panel of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division ordered the Department of Corrections in June 2000 to release Trantino within 30 days and to immediately transfer him to a halfway house or residential center in advance of his release, on the basis of their finding that the parole board's decisions in the case were unreasonable. New Jersey Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr. appealed the ruling. [19] In his fourth appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court, its members voted in January 2001 by a 4–1 margin (with two justices not participating because of potential conflicts in the case) that he should be sent to a halfway house in advance of his ultimate release, calling it long overdue and the result of public pressure to keep him in jail. In its ruling, the court stated that Trantino had satisfied the terms of release and did not pose a danger to commit any further crimes once paroled. He would have to spend a year in a halfway house before being released. [20] He would not be able to leave the halfway house at all for several months and could be allowed to hold a job, with major restrictions. [21]

On February 11, 2001, his 63rd birthday, Trantino was relocated to a halfway house in Camden. There he would be held inside for 24 hours a day in a facility operated by Volunteers of America, until he is deemed ready for a job. [22]

Trantino was finally released on February 11, 2002, after spending 38 years in the New Jersey prison system, making him the longest-serving prisoner in the state as of the time of his parole. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

Pamela Ann Smart is an American woman who was convicted of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and witness tampering in the death of her husband, Greggory Smart, in 1990. Smart, then aged 22, had conspired with her underaged boyfriend, then 15-year-old William "Billy" Flynn, and three of his friends to have Greggory (24) murdered in Derry, New Hampshire. She is currently serving a life sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a maximum security prison in Westchester County, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin State Prison</span> California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men

San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Jersey State Prison</span> Medium-Security prison in New Jersey

East Jersey State Prison (EJSP) is a medium-security prison operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections in Avenel, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. It was established in 1896 as Rahway State Prison, and was the first reformatory in New Jersey, officially opening in 1901. It housed 1,227 inmates as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Penitentiary</span> Prison in Salem, Oregon, U.S.

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), sometimes called Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 172 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Penitentiary, Coleman</span> High-security United States federal prison in Florida

The United States Penitentiary, Coleman I and II are high-security United States federal prisons for male inmates in Florida. It is part of the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. USP Coleman I was opened in 2001, and in 2004 Clark Construction completed a 555,000-square-foot (51,600 m2) additional component for USP Coleman II.

The Parole Board of Canada is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in Canada. It operates under the auspices of Public Safety Canada.

Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women is a prison facility for women of the state of New Jersey Department of Corrections, located in Union Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, near Clinton. Its official abbreviation is EMCFW. The facility was named for Edna Mahan, one of the first female correctional superintendents in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert O. Marshall</span> American businessman

Robert Oakley Marshall was an American businessman who in 1984 was charged with the contract killing of his wife Maria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Full Sutton</span> Prison in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England

HM Prison Full Sutton is a Category A and B men's prison in the village of Full Sutton, near Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Full Sutton is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and held some 596 inmates, as of September 2018. The prison's primary function is to hold, in conditions of high security, some of the most difficult and dangerous criminals in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Scott (boxer)</span> American boxer (1947–2018)

James Onque Scott Jr. was an American boxer and convicted murderer. He became the number 2 ranked contender in the World Boxing Association's (WBA) light heavyweight division while incarcerated at Rahway State Prison in Avenel, New Jersey. Scott fought a total of 22 professional fights. 11 of those fights were contested while he was in prison, and Scott earned pay and WBA rankings from many of those fights, which was considered controversial.

Theodore Walter Trautwein was an American judge from New Jersey who presided over issues related to release of reporter's notes that arose from the 1978 murder trial of "Dr. X" physician Mario Jascalevich, in which Trautwein held a reporter from The New York Times in contempt for refusing to turn over these investigative notes and held the reporter involved in jail for 40 days, triggering a separate set of cases on the limits of shield laws in protecting journalists from testifying about information they collected from their sources.

Frederick C. Galda was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served as a prosecutor in the Thomas Trantino murder case, as a judge on the New Jersey Superior Court who issued the state's first ruling acquitting a woman of murder based on a battered woman defense and served as Mayor of Paramus, New Jersey.

Guy W. Calissi, was an American Democratic Party politician, prosecutor, lawyer and judge, who served for seven years as Mayor of Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, 16 years as Bergen County, New Jersey prosecutor and was appointed in 1970 to serve as a judge on New Jersey Superior Court, a post he served in until his mandatory retirement at age 70 in the year before his death.

Marsy's Law, the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election, is a controversial amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process, including the right to legal standing, protection from the defendant, notification of all court proceedings, and restitution, as well as granting parole boards far greater powers to deny inmates parole. Critics allege that the law unconstitutionally restricts defendant's rights by allowing prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence under certain circumstances, and harms victims by restricting their rights to discovery, depositions, and interviews. Passage of this law in California led to the passage of similar laws in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio and Wisconsin, and efforts to pass similar laws in Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. In November 2017, Marsy's Law was found to be unconstitutional and void in its entirety by the Supreme Court of Montana for violating that state's procedure for amending the Montana Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as Montana under its own state constitution in 2021.

The New Zealand Parole Board is an independent statutory body established in 2002 that considers offenders for parole. Its task "is to undertake an assessment of the risk that long-term sentenced offenders might pose to the safety of the community if they were to be released before the end of their sentence". The Board also sets conditions of release for offenders so their reintegration back in to the community can be effectively managed. Once the conditions are set it becomes the responsibility of Community Corrections to manage the offender." 'Long term' is defined as more than 24 months. Short-term prisoners are automatically released after serving half their sentence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape</span> U.S. prison escape

The 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape was a jailbreak that took place on June 6, 2015, when two inmates, Richard Matt and David Sweat, were discovered missing during a 5:17 a.m. bed check at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, United States. Matt was serving 25 years to life and Sweat was serving life without parole, both for murder. The two prisoners had escaped by cutting a hole in their cell walls gaining access to the utility areas behind and above their cells. Eventually they cut a hole in a steam pipe and used the pipe to escape from the prison into the city sewer, with tools obtained from two cooperating prison employees. Nearly three weeks after the escape, Matt was found in Malone, New York, where he was shot and killed; two days after that, Sweat was shot and taken into custody. The manhunt and investigation were said to have cost about $23 million.

Gregory Ulas "Greg" Powell was an American criminal who kidnapped Los Angeles Police Department Officers Ian Campbell and Karl Hettinger on the night of March 9, 1963. Assisted by accomplice Jimmy Lee "Youngblood" Smith, Powell took the officers to an onion field near Bakersfield, California, where Officer Campbell was fatally shot.

James Jerold Koedatich is an American serial killer who was sentenced to death for the killings of two women in Morris County, New Jersey, which he committed during the final months of 1982, after having been previously paroled for the 1971 murder of his roommate in Florida. Koedatich had killed a fellow inmate in 1973, but that was ruled to be self-defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Simon (biker)</span> American outlaw biker and murderer (1954–1999)

Robert Ronald "Mudman" Simon, also known as Bobby Simon, was an American outlaw biker, convicted murderer and member of the Pennsylvania-based Warlocks Motorcycle Club. He had formerly been sentenced to death by the state of New Jersey on May 6, 1995, for his part in the fatal shooting of Franklin Township police sergeant Ippolito Gonzalez. However, he was ultimately beaten to death at New Jersey State Prison by a fellow death row inmate before he could be executed.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ferretti, Fred. "An Inmate at Rahway Writes and Illustrates Two Books; He Turns to Art He Talk of His Life", The New York Times , March 4, 1973. Accessed October 15, 2009.
  2. ↑ Voto / Tedesco Memorial, Lodi, New Jersey Police Department. Accessed October 15, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Slocum, John W. "1,000 POLICE JOIN IN LODI FUNERAL; Victims of Gunmen Buried as Town Mourns Citations Ordered Second Funeral Held Emotions Summed Up Trantino Arraigned 'I Held My Breath'", The New York Times , August 30, 1963. Accessed October 15, 2009.
  4. ↑ Staff. "Trantino Sent to Jersey in Irons", The New York Times , September 26, 1963. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  5. ↑ Slocum, John W. "Trantino Convicted in Slaying Of Two Policemen in Lodi, N.J.", The New York Times , February 19, 1964. Accessed July 28, 2016.
  6. ↑ Staff. "TRANTINO GETS CHAIR FOR POLICE KILLINGS", The New York Times , February 29, 1964. Accessed July 28, 2016.
  7. ↑ Treaster, Joseph B. "5 Rahway Prison Leaders Moved After Big Meeting", The New York Times , May 2, 1974. Accessed October 15, 2009.
  8. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "500 Protest Parole of Killer of Two Officers; Sentence Was Commuted to Life Intent of Law Is Explained 500 in Bergen Protest Parole of the Murderer Of Two Police Officers", The New York Times , September 1980. Accessed October 15, 2009.
  9. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "Judge in Jersey Declines to Put Price on 2 Lives; So Restitution Move Fails in Murder Parole Case An 'Impossible' Task Background of the Case Police Demonstration Recalled Judge Declines to Set A Price for Restitution In Murder Parole Case Application to Murder", The New York Times , October 3, 1980. Accessed October 12, 2009.
  10. ↑ Corcoran, David. "Theodore Trautwein, Judge in Landmark Press Case, Dies at 80", The New York Times , September 2, 2000. Accessed October 13, 2009.
  11. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "RESTITUTION PLAN IN MURDER CASES UPHELD IN JERSEY", The New York Times , May 21, 1982. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  12. ↑ via Associated Press . "THE REGION; Trantino Parole Formally Denied", The New York Times , November 23, 1982. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  13. ↑ via Associated Press . "METRO DATELINE; Killer of 2 Policemen Wins Parole in Jersey", The New York Times , January 30, 1988. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  14. ↑ via Associated Press . "2,000 Protest Man's Parole", The New York Times , February 6, 1988. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  15. ↑ Staff. "Metro Datelines; Jersey Denies Parole In '64 Police Killings", The New York Times , March 3, 1988. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  16. ↑ via Associated Press , "Metro Datelines; Killer of 2 Officers Denied Parole Again", The New York Times , November 23, 1990. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  17. ↑ Staff. "METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW JERSEY; Halfway-House Request By Killer of 2 Is Rejected", The New York Times , November 13, 1998. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  18. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "Killer of New Jersey Officers Faces at Least 4½ More Years", The New York Times , November 11, 1999. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  19. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "Court Orders Parole for Officers' Killer, Held for 36 Years", The New York Times , June 10, 2000. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  20. ↑ Peterson, Iver. "New Jersey Court Orders Parole for Man Who Killed Two Officers in 1963", The New York Times , January 19, 2001. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  21. ↑ Newman, Maria. "Paroled Police Killer Will Face Restrictions", The New York Times , January 20, 2001. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  22. ↑ Staff. "Police Killer Is Transferred To Camden", The New York Times , February 13, 2001. Accessed October 16, 2009.
  23. ↑ Staff. "Metro Briefing | New Jersey: Camden: Police Killer Released", The New York Times , February 12, 2002. Accessed October 17, 2009.
  24. ↑ Jacobs, Andrew. "Freed After 38 Years, a Killer Struggles to Fit In", The New York Times , February 27, 2002. Accessed October 14, 2009. "But living in obscurity will be a challenge for Mr. Trantino, 64, who was the state's longest-serving inmate, but was given his liberty only after the New Jersey Supreme Court intervened on his behalf."
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.