A former Newark police lieutenant was found guilty of murder and related charges for shooting his estranged wife to death three years ago at the Morris County home they once shared. John Formisano was sentenced Monday to 79 years behind bars with multiple charges.
Guilty of Killing Wife
The 52-year-old John Formisano was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2019 slaying of Christie Formisano; the former couple was living apart at the time of her death. On Monday, when the judge announced his lengthy prison term, Christie’s mother reportedly read a letter that the couple’s now-11-year-old daughter had written.
John was also found guilty after an eight-day trial of two counts of second-degree illegal possession of a weapon, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of first-degree attempted murder, and one count of third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution. According to the station, John’s legal counsel intends to challenge the judge’s ruling, MSN posted.
Declined to Apologize, Discusses Dead Wife’s Shortcomings
According to the prosecution, Formisano lost his cool when he saw Solaro-Formisano and Simonson inside the former couple’s marital home. Formisano had argued that he “blacked out” when he first saw the couple and, due to a mental defect, did not deliberately kill his wife and injure her boyfriend.
Judge Michael Gaus ended the case of John Formisano by criticizing the former lieutenant’s demeanor on Monday after he rambled for more than a half-hour about the inadequacies of the prosecutors and what he called “lies” told during the trial, a source posted.
Formisano also made use of this opportunity to discuss the alleged shortcomings and flaws of his deceased wife’s ex-boyfriend and himself, but he declined to apologize for his actions or express r
