New Jersey Homicide Survivors for S-171
Dear Members of the New Jersey State Legislature,
We are family members and loved ones of murder victims. We desperately miss the parents, children, siblings, and spouses we have lost. We live with the pain and heartbreak of their absence every day and would do anything to have them back. We have been touched by the criminal justice system in ways we never imagined and would never wish on anyone. Our experience compels us to speak out for change.
Though we share different perspectives on the death penalty, every one of us agrees that New Jersey’s capital punishment system doesn’t work, and that our state is better off without it.
To be meaningful, justice should be swift and sure. Life without parole, which begins immediately, is both of these; the death penalty is neither. Capital punishment drags victims’ loved ones through an agonizing and lengthy process, holding out the promise of one punishment in the beginning and often resulting in a life sentence in the end anyway. A life without parole sentence for killers right from the start would keep society safe, hold killers responsible for their brutal and depraved acts, and would start as soon as we left the courtroom instead of leaving us in limbo.
At the same time, a system of life without parole in place of the death penalty would save scarce funds. As New Jersey taxpayers, we have spent over $250 million since capital punishment was reinstated in New Jersey in 1983. What has it bought us? Not a single execution, years worth of appeals and overturned sentences, and a system so broken that fixing it is probably impossible.
Those dollars could be spent in better ways if death-eligible killers were sentenced to life without parole. $250 million dollars could put more police on our streets and provide them with the very best equipment available. Law enforcement programs that work might have prevented the tragedies we suffered at only a fraction of the cost. $250 million could mean more counseling and aid to children orphaned by these horrible murders, or to other services we so desperately need as we attempt to get on with our lives. Only a handful of arbitrarily selected murderers are sentenced to death. Is it worth the price?
It is vitally important that our state address the needs of surviving family and friends as we struggle to heal. We know that elected officials who promote the death penalty often do so with the best intentions of helping family members like us. We are writing to say that there are better ways to help us. The death penalty is a broken and costly system. New Jersey doesn’t need it, and victims’ families like ours don’t want it.
Signed (see three pages of signatures):
Bandele A. and Saundra Addison, Maplewood, New Jersey 07040
We lost our brother, David S. Addison, to murder.
Hon. Ras Baraka, former city councilman, Newark, New Jersey
I lost my sister, Shani, to murder.
Joanne Barlieb, Atco, New Jersey
I lost my mother, Cynthia, to murder.
Chick and Eileen Bennett, Mauricetown, New Jersey 08329
We lost our beautiful daughter, Wendy Bennett McCarter, 35, and two sweet grandchildren, Scotty D. McCarter, 12, and Melanie Rae McCarter, 6, to murder in 2006.
Unity Christine Bennett, Vineland, New Jersey
I lost my sister, niece and nephew to murder.
Jane and Craig Barnabei, Somers Point, New Jersey 08244
We lost our brother and uncle, Walter Southard, to murder.
Jazelis and Hector Burgos, Toms River, New Jersey
I lost my father (Hector’s father-in-law), to murder.
James E. Clark, Sicklerville, New Jersey
I lost my uncle and cousin to murder.
I lost my uncle, Frank Pindle, to murder.
Dorothy L. Clark, Carney’s Point, New Jersey 08069
I lost my brother and my niece to murder.
Kelly and Celeste Fitzgerald, Chatham, New Jersey 07928
I lost my cousin, Ann, to murder.
Dolores Davis, Montclair, New Jersey
My brother, Bruce Tyrone Brown, was a murder victim.
Michele S. Vedus-Deeney and Ray Deeney, Monroe, New Jersey 08831-5300
I lost my cousin (Ray’s cousin-in-law), Steven Kublin, to murder.
Edith Frank, Morristown 07960
My nephew, Raymond Gilbert, was murdered.
Kim Gaddy, Irvington, New Jersey 07111
I lost my niece, Wytonya Thompson, to murder.
I lost my nephew, Jimmy Myers, to murder.
We lost our daughter, Amanda, to murder.
Kathy Gluchoski, West Milford, New Jersey 07480
I lost my sister, Deborah Appleton, to murder.
Kathy Hainsworth, Oakyn, New Jersey 08107
I lost my brother, Joseph C. Gaus, to murder.
Eddie and Karen Hicks, Galloway Twp., New Jersey 08205
We lost our eldest daughter, Jamila, to murder.
Kathy Hiltner, Mount Laurel, New Jersey
My uncle, Peter Mulvahill, was murdered.
Maureen King, Oceanport, New Jersey 07757
I lost my husband, Patrick King, to murder.
Patrick and Todd King, Oceanport, New Jersey 07757
We lost our father, Patrick King, to murder.
Dolores Luciano, Kearny, New Jersey 07032
My son, Nick, was murdered on May 4, 2006.
Sheila and Michael Massoni, Hackensack, New Jersey 07601
We lost our daughter (Michael’s stepdaughter), Morgan Kelly Cameron, to murder.
Val Mazur, Edgewater Park, New Jersey
I lost my daughter, Alisha “Nikki” Karaska to murder.
Eileen Croker McCann, Wyckoff, New Jersey 07481
I lost my brother, Dennis Croker, to murder.
Joseph M. and Madelyn McHale, Dumont, NJ 07628
I lost my mother (Madelyn’s mother-in-law), Sally McHale, to murder.
Bryan Miller, Haddonfield, New Jersey 08033
I lost my brother, Mike, to murder in Washington DC.
Rev. Daniel W. Murphy, Wayne, New Jersey
I lost my brother, Edward C. Murphy, to murder.
Mitzie Myers, Chesterfield, New Jersey 08515
I am the mother of Jimmy Myers, a victim of murder.
I lost my great aunt, Margaret Coogan, to murder.
Sandra Nutbrown, Burlington, New Jersey 08016
I lost my mother, Mildred Place, to murder.
Michael Peterson, Roselle Park, New Jersey 07204
I lost my sister, Susan Marie Peterson, to murder.
Bill Piper, Pennington, New Jersey 08534
I lost my mother, Arlene, to murder.
Richard Pompelio, Sparta, New Jersey
I lost my son, Tony, to murder.
Shelley Potter-Abrahamsen Howell, New Jersey
My brother-in-law was murdered in Brooklyn. It is an unsolved case.
Lorry W. and June Post, Mount Laurel, New Jersey 08054
I lost my daughter (June’s stepdaughter), Lisa, to murder.
Lois Teer Seeligsohn, Collingswood, New Jersey 08107
I lost my cousin, Margaret DeVault, to murder.
Vivian Sanks-King, Orange, New Jersey 07050
I lost my son to murder.
Mary Snyder, Cape May, New Jersey 08204
I lost my grandmother, Inez Jeanette Strom, to murder.
I lost my father to murder.
Robert and Madeline Ucciferri, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08002.
Our son Bobby was murdered in 2002.
Eileen M. Varia, Hillsborough, New Jersey 08844
My two cousins were both brutally murdered. One on each side of the family.
Molly Weigel, Pennington, New Jersey 08534
I lost my mother-in-law, Arlene, to murder.
James Wells, Union, New Jersey 07083
I lost my son, Jafari R. Wells, to murder.
Edward G. Werner; Allentown, NJ 08501
I lost my son, Eddie, to murder
I lost my niece, Rasheeda, to murder and also my step-daughter, Keisha, to murder.
I lost my brother, Walter J. Pratt, to murder
Martha Young, Wayne, New Jersey 07470
I lost my daughter, Susan, who disappeared more than 10 years ago.