Jersey City cop killer is captured in Newark; will face parole revocation hearing

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The sniper who murdered Jersey City Police Officer Casper Buonocore Jr. in 1973 is back behind bars after being tracked to a Newark residence yesterday and arrested for his most recent parole violations, officials said.

"Through a concerted effort, we were able to arrest an individual who has a total disregard for the law, an individual who killed a Jersey City police officer," Jersey City Police Director Sam Jefferson said of Franklin Jennette, 65, formerly of Jersey City.

"Even after nearly three decades in prison, he refuses to live by the laws of our society," Jefferson added.

Jennette's picture appeared on the front page of The Jersey Journal on Friday after officials announced he had disappeared and was wanted for parole violations including failing to get an approval to change his address and missing a parole meeting.

He was arrested yesterday morning without incident in the Vailsburg neighborhood by detectives with the state Division of Parole, U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, Jersey City Police Department, and Hudson County Sheriff's Office.

On Sept. 12, 1973, Buonocore, 26, was responding to a report of a double-parked car and he discovered the car owner was wanted on a warrant. As he and his partner attempted to arrest him, the suspect's 13-year-old daughter attacked them, and the incident became the focus of a larger crowd.

After the suspect was arrested, Jennette opened fire with a .32-caliber handgun from a third-story roof, striking Buonocore in the neck.

Jennette was in prison from Jan. 3, 1974 to Aug. 26, 1999, for the murder, corrections records say. Two prior parole violations put him back in prison from May 14, 2002 to Aug. 13, 2002 and Sept. 8, 2006 to Aug. 11, 2008, state Division of Parole spokesman Neal Buccino said.

Jennette will likely remain in custody at Hudson County jail in Kearny while awaiting a parole revocation hearing before parole board members, Buccino said.

Buonocore's brother, Ronald Buonocore, was chief of the Jersey City Police Department from January 2003 to October 2004.