NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE CHARGE
TWO IN I-78 MURDER
Newark Man Identified As Primary Suspect... 14
Year-Old In Custody...
Investigation Continues...
W. Trenton - Colonel
Carson J. Dunbar, Jr., Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police,
today announced that State Police detectives have secured arrest
warrants charging a 31 year-old Newark resident and career criminal
with murder and related charges in the May 23rd shooting death of
an Ohio truck driver whose body was located on the shoulder of Interstate
78 in Newark. Additionally, the State Police have arrested and charged
a 14 year-old Newark youth for his alleged participation the crime.
The announcement was
made at a press conference at the State Police Totowa Headquarters
where Major Juan Mattos and Capt. Frank Simonetta of the New Jersey
State Police, Major Robert Werts, Pennsylvania State Police and
Essex County Prosecutor Donald Campolo said that detectives assigned
to the Troop B Criminal Investigations Office and the Major Crime
Unit, along with PA State Police detectives and Essex County Prosecutor's
Office investigators are actively seeking murder suspect Norman
James, aka "Za-Kee" or "Zak", a 31 year-old black male believed
to be residing in the Newark area. The arrest warrant charges James
with murder, kidnaping, receiving stolen property and weapons offenses.
The State Police also announced
the posting of an $8,000 reward for information leading to the arrest
and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the May
23rd murder of truck driver James Burt, 56, of McDonald, Ohio. The
reward has been posted by Burt's employer, Illinois-based Boncosky
Services, Inc. Persons with information that will assist State
Police in locating and arresting murder suspect Norman James are
encouraged to contact the New Jersey State Police Troop B Criminal
Investigation Office at (973) 785- 9419. All information will remain
confidential. James should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.
According to State Police,
the investigation got underway on May 23 when State Police communications/dispatch
operators at the Totowa Headquarters were notified that trucker
James Burt was overdue at a Massachusetts delivery destination and
that the company's Global Positioning System had fixed the location
of the truck in the Irvington, NJ area. Trooper John C. Phelan,
assigned to the Somerville Station, located the tractor-trailer
on Interstate 78 parked off the westbound shoulder of the highway
near the Clinton Place overpass in Newark. The body of Mr. Burt
was located lying on the right shoulder, an apparent victim of multiple
gunshot wounds to the head.
Subsequent investigation by
State Police detectives established a link between the Burt murder
and the assault and robbery of a Pennsylvania State trooper on Interstate
80 in Monroe County, PA on May 22. The PA trooper was assaulted
by two black male suspects who subsequently stole the trooper's
service weapon, portable radio and marked patrol vehicle, leaving
the injured trooper at the scene of the roadside assault. The marked
PASP vehicle was later recovered approximately 20 miles away in
Monroe after being wrecked and abandoned on an Exit ramp from I-80
to SR-380.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania
State Police detectives assigned to the investigation determined
that truck driver Burt came upon the accident scene involving the
marked PASP patrol vehicle, stopped to offer assistance, and was
subsequently carjacked by the two suspects. It is alleged that the
two suspects then forced Burt to drive them to the I-78 Clinton
Overpass area of Newark where he was shot and killed.
At approximately 8:30
p.m. yesterday (Tues., June 5), the joint investigation task force
arrested the 14 year-old suspect as he walked on Wainwright Street
in Newark. The arrest was made without incident. The juvenile has
been charged with murder, kidnaping, receiving stolen property and
weapons offenses under the juvenile delinquency act. The juvenile
has been lodged in the Essex County Youth Correction Center pending
arraignment.
New Jersey State Police
DSG Alvin Smith of the Troop B Criminal Investigation Office and
Det. I Kevin Dunn of the Major Crime Unit, along with detectives
from the Pa. State Police Troop N, Fern Ridge Station and investigators
from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office conducted various aspects
of the investigation.
The investigation remains
active and ongoing and additional charges will be filed upon the
arrest of fugitive Norman James. Persons with information related
to the investigation are encouraged to contact the New Jersey State
Police Troop B Criminal Investigation Office at (973) 785-9419.
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