Officer Murdered By Son
Son charged in shooting
By JOSHUA BURD, STAFF WRITER
HOME NEWS TRIBUNE
PISCATAWAY — A 19-year-old township man has been charged with the murder of his father, a veteran police officer and respected community figure who was found shot to death early Thursday morning.
Jerry Mahoney, 49, a police officer for 26 years, was found dead in his Gibson Street home after a 911 call was placed by his son, John, at about 7:34 a.m. to Piscataway police.
John Mahoney, who lived with his father, was found in the home with a self-inflicted,
nonfatal gunshot wound to his left arm, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.
The body of the elder Mahoney was found in a living room chair with multiple gunshot wounds to his face.
He was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:34 a.m., the prosecutor said.
John Mahoney was charged as a result of a police investigation that included evidence found at the crime scene, the prosecutor said.
Authorities believe the weapon used in the shooting was Jerry Mahoney's .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun, a weapon he was allowed to carry off-duty as a police officer. The weapon was recovered at the home.
There were no signs of a break-in or items stolen from the home, nor was there any evidence of a struggle before the murder, according to the investigation.
Bail was set at $800,000 with no 10-percent cash option for John Mahoney, a Middlesex County College student. He was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.
Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch said a motive is still being investigated. He was unable to comment on whether the son had a prior criminal record or whether there were previous incidents reported at the home. Sewitch said Jerry Mahoney and his wife were divorced.
The younger Mahoney has a MySpace.com profile that is set to private and could only be viewed by his friends. The Web site listed Thursday as the most recent day he had logged in.
An autopsy was performed Thursday afternoon on Jerry Mahoney, but results are pending.
A Middlesex County Medical Examiner van arrived at Mahoney's house at about 12:15 p.m. and the body was removed at 1:07 p.m. The van backed up across the lawn to the front of the house, and officers held up tarps on both sides of the front porch as the body was placed into the van. Neighbors watched in silence, most with their hands folded in front of them.
"That's sad," one finally said.
John Mahoney was treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and released Thursday afternoon.
As a drizzly rain continued to fall Thursday, the quiet neighborhood formerly known as Irishtown was a hub of activity. The entire block was sealed off with yellow police tape, and Mahoney's body reportedly still was inside his home -- a beige-tone ranch with brown trim.
The Middlesex County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit had been at the scene, and the township's Mobile Command Unit was nearby. A number of law enforcement officers wearing civilian clothing, but with their badges clearly visible, also were at the scene.
In 2003, Mahoney, along with Piscataway police Sgt. Ken Blair, negotiated with an
83-year-old man over the phone during a two-hour standoff with police. They then began talking through the living room window, and the officers finally were able to persuade the man to put down his gun.
Mahoney began his law-enforcement career as a uniformed patrol officer, then went on to vice and undercover drug busts before requesting a transfer to the juvenile section.
Mahoney also served as the Piscataway Police Department's public relations officer, a Piscataway Turn On Youth Coalition representative and a Piscataway Municipal Alliance Substance Abuse Task Force member.
An off-duty police officer who was a popular public figure in Piscataway, N.J., was shot and killed in his house on Thursday by his teenage son, who shot himself in the arm to cover up his act, prosecutors said.
The officer, Jerry T. Mahoney, 49, was shot at least twice in the face, prosecutors said.
His son, John Mahoney, 19, who was wounded in the left arm, was treated and released Thursday afternoon at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, a hospital spokesman said.
When the police arrived at the one-story ranch-style house shortly after 7:40 a.m., they found Officer Mahoney sitting in a living room chair. He was pronounced dead soon after, according to a statement from the Middlesex County prosecutor, Bruce J. Kaplan.
His son, who also lived in the house, was there. Investigators said they recovered the murder weapon, a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun, Officer Mahoney’s personal weapon.
John Mahoney was charged with murder and held in $800,000 bail. The authorities refused to discuss any motives, but they said they found no evidence of a struggle.
The officer’s friends said that he spoke of his son with great pride and that the two seemed close and friendly, but a friend of the son’s said he complained that his father smothered him at home.
“Jerry loved his kid,” said John Kostiw, 61, a neighbor. “The last thing he’d want is for this kid to be paying for this for the rest of his life.”
Described by many as Piscataway’s unofficial mayor, Officer Mahoney had spent decades involved in the town’s civic life.
He was best known as a 26-year veteran of the Police Department, and as the founder of the local chapter of a national drug abuse education program, called DARE. He also served on that organization’s state board.
“He was one of the greatest guys I’ve ever met,” said Nicholas R. DeMauro, the chairman and chief executive of DARE New Jersey. “He just had a passion for helping people.”
Since 1995, Officer Mahoney had been a member of the Piscataway Board of Education, which had drawn notice for its role in the national debate on affirmative action.
In 1997, when Officer Mahoney was the board president, the board agreed to a financial settlement with a white teacher who had sued the district years earlier, saying she had been unfairly dismissed in favor of a black teacher.
After years of legal wrangling, the case was on its way to the United States Supreme Court when the sides settled. Before the settlement, Officer Mahoney received telephone calls from national civil rights leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who asked him to settle, fearing that the Supreme Court could use it to strike down almost all affirmative action programs.
Catherine Sucher Greeley, who was elected to the board the same year as Officer Mahoney, spoke highly of him Thursday and said the two of them had vigorous discussions about discrimination at the time.
“Jerry and I used to have differences of opinion,” Ms. Greeley said. “But both of us wanted kids to do as well as they could.”
His friends said Officer Mahoney doted on John, who was attending Middlesex County College. “He gave him one of his Mercedes,” said Angie Hills, who said she had known Officer Mahoney for about a decade. “They were inseparable.”
Officer Mahoney and his wife separated several years ago, friends of the family said.
A friend of the son’s said the father was a disciplinarian and fought frequently with his son. The friend, who gave only his first name, Jayro, drove by Officer Mahoney’s house on Thursday afternoon and was visibly upset when told of the shooting but said he was not surprised.
“He overprotects his son,” the friend said of Officer Mahoney. “He was too strict.” The friend also said that John, often forbidden to go out, frequently stayed home and read books.
Jayro said that when the friends spoke a few weeks ago, John told him he was depressed. When he asked if he wanted to go out to a club, John answered, “Don’t be ridiculous,” saying his father would not allow it.
