Edward Lutes

Case record: Edward Lutes

Identification

Edward Lutes, 42, was a police officer.

Background

Local community members described Edward Lutes as meticulous and efficient during his years as a police officer in the coastal community. Friends said he stayed physically fit with regular workouts and that he always showed up for work with a freshly pressed shirt and trousers. Friends said he favored a closely cropped crew cut. He was described as a weapons expert and as someone who helped form the local Police Department's special assault team seven years earlier. He regularly underwent training while continuing his patrol duties on a 7 a.m.-to-3 p.m. shift.

Friends said his disciplined nature made it impossible to fathom the rampage attributed to him. In April 2002, acquaintances described being shocked and said he did not act as if he was “wound too tight.”

A liquor store owner, Jim Loundry, said:

''I'd like to give you a real prophetic statement but I can't,'' ''I'm just shocked. He didn't act like he was wound too tight. He was never like that. He used to joke around a lot. I just really don't know what happened to him.''

Relatives described setbacks in the last decade that left Edward Lutes mildly depressed. His sister, Karen, and his step-sister, Lisa Smith, said his emotional setbacks started in 1991 when his mother died of cancer at the age of 54.

In March 1999, a neighbor in nearby Toms River, Dominick Galliano, was charged with sexually assaulting Edward Lutes’s daughter, now 11 years old. Dominick Galliano, 51, was one of the people killed during Edward Lutes’s rampage. Authorities said Dominick Galliano was acquitted of the assault charges in January 2001.

Two months later, Edward Lutes’s fiancée, Cindy L. Mansuy, was killed when a school bus hit her car in South Toms River. Lisa Smith said:

''He had a lot of losses, one after another,'' ''He never had time to recover. He never bounced back.''

Karen Lutes said her brother seldom talked about his feelings and that he held things in:

''He just holds too much in,'' ''There was no indication he was this depressed,''

Jimmy Bellio, a public works employee for 31 years, said he had seen Edward Lutes on Monday and that Edward Lutes was looking forward to a trip to Atlantic City planned for that weekend. Bellio said:

''He was a pretty decent craps shooter,'' ''He was always even keel. If there was something bothering him, nobody saw it. I don't think anybody saw this coming.''

The local fire chief, Reece Fisher, who said he had known Edward Lutes for 20 years, called the deaths a “crushing blow.” Fisher said Edward Lutes had been devastated by his fiancée’s death last year and was still able to return to the job. Fisher said:

''he was still able to come back to the job,''

Fisher also said:

''But who's to say what was going on inside. He was still the same friendly guy. Something had to be bothering him. It's just a shame he didn't try to talk to someone about it before it built up to this extent.''

At the Seaside Heights Town Hall, the borough administrator, John A. Camera, and the borough attorney, Jean Cipriani, said they had no inkling Edward Lutes was distraught. Cipriani said:

''What went on in his head yesterday is a mystery''

Camera said he believed Edward Lutes “got along very well” with his boss, James Costello, the police chief of Seaside Heights. Camera said Edward Lutes “got along very well” with his boss:

''got along very well''

Edward Lutes lived with his daughter, a new girlfriend, and her daughter in a two-story beige frame house in Toms River about five miles west of Seaside Heights. Neighbors said he often walked neighborhood streets with his two pet dogs.

Some neighbors described him as stern and humorless. Neighbors said he was meticulous about his lawn and had little patience with children who walked on it. Debra Woldanski, 42, recalled that several months earlier she walked past Edward Lutes’s home with her son when a frog in the boy’s hand jumped free and went onto the lawn. When the boy chased after it, Edward Lutes came out of the house and screamed at her son. Woldanski said:

''If you even stepped on the corner of his lawn, he'd come out and yell at you,''

Woldanski said:

Other neighborhood accounts described that Edward Lutes had strict rules about when children in his house could eat snacks, how they could wash their hands, and what toys they could play with. Reilly said:

''He'd stand with his mean face just watering his lawn like he was having a bad, bad day, always,''

As a child, Reilly said she and her friends avoided riding their bicycles past Edward Lutes’s home after Edward Lutes yelled at a boy for crashing a bike into the back of his pickup truck.

Police authorities said there was a great deal of acrimony between Edward Lutes and his neighbors and said it was not a random shooting. Gregory Sakowicz, the executive assistant to the Ocean County prosecutor, said:

"Certainly, it wasn't a random shooting."

The Dover Township Police Chief, Michael Mastronardy, said Edward Lutes and a neighbor were involved in an Oct. 30 criminal mischief case and said he would not give details. Mastronardy would not give details:

Authorities said they did not know how long Edward Lutes had been dead when his body was found.

Gregory J. Sakowicz later said there were several matters subject of ill-feelings and refused to identify neighbors with whom Edward Lutes feuded or describe the subjects. Sakowicz said:

''There were several matters that were the subject of the ill-feelings,'' ''He refused to identify the neighbors with whom Officer Lutes feuded or describe the subjects.''

A Toms River lawyer, Thomas Aballo, who represented Edward Lutes and his father in separate bankruptcy filings several years ago, said the shootings took him by surprise. Aballo said Edward Lutes discussed problems he had with a department supervisor but did not pursue legal action against the police. Aballo said:

"During the time I knew him ... I would have absolutely no indication that he was capable of anything of this nature," and: "I never got the indication of anything but a dedicated officer and an overall good guy."

The offence

Edward Lutes killed five neighbors and shot his boss during a shooting spree, and then took his own life. Police said the Seaside Heights policeman killed five neighbors and shot his boss Tuesday night.

Police authorities said Edward Lutes used a handgun and an MP5 found in his car. On April 9, 2002, Patrolman Edward Lutes used his department-issued MP5 machine gun to shoot and kill Gail Galliano, her husband Dominick Galliano, and their son Christopher, and to kill Gary Williams and his wife Tina Williams. In the same April 9, 2002 narrative, the rampage ended after he drove to the Barnegat home of then-Seaside Heights Police Chief James M. Costello and shot and wounded the chief. Edward Lutes then fatally shot himself in the driveway of a nearby home.

Police said Edward Lutes went to the house of neighbors Dominick Galliano, 51, and his wife Gail, 49, killing them with several shots from the MP5. Police said he also shot and killed the couple’s son, 25-year-old Christopher.

Police said Edward Lutes then went to another neighbor’s home and killed Gary Williams, 48, and his wife Tina Williams, 46, in their house. Police said the couple’s son, Robert, jumped out of a window and injured his ankle and that police originally thought he had been shot.

Edward Lutes later shot Seaside Heights Police Chief James Costello twice in the leg and once in the wrist as he was leaving his house after hearing about the shootings, police said. Costello was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, and he was in satisfactory condition.

From his hospital room, Costello said he could not explain the rampage and said:

"I really don't know. He's a very close friend of mine,"

Investigation

More than 100 police officers searched for 12 hours before Edward Lutes’s body was found slumped over in the driver’s seat of his car in front of a house apparently chosen at random. Authorities said they did not know how long he had been dead.

Arrest

No arrest was described.

Trial

No trial was described.

Sentencing

No sentencing was described.

Appeals

No appeal was described.

Outcome

Edward Lutes was found dead in his car in the driveway of a Barnegat Township home about 10 a.m. Wednesday. Police said he committed suicide after the shootings.

Aftermath

In 2007, wrongful death lawsuits were described as settling with family members of the victims.

According to an Injuryhelpline.com account dated September 18, 2007, Trenton, NJ, when Seaside Heights Patrolman Edward L. Lutes went on a shooting in 2002, he killed five people of two families. The account said the two families would be paid $5.7 million to settle their lawsuits against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River.

The account said that Dominick Galliano’s sister and a cousin of Gail Galliano filed a wrongful death lawsuit of Gail Galliano, 49, her husband Dominick, 51, and their son Christopher, 25, through their lawyer, Darren Gelber, against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River. The account said that George, Theresa and Robert Williams, whose parents were murdered by Edward Lutes in their Toms River home, filed the wrongful death lawsuit of Gary Williams, 48, and his wife Tina, 46, through their lawyer, James J. Carroll III, against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River.

The account said that on April 9, 2002, Edward Lutes’s rampage ended after he drove to the Barnegat home of then-Seaside Heights Police Chief James M. Costello and shot and wounded the chief, and that he then fatally shot himself in the driveway of a nearby home. The account said the lawsuits, filed in 2003, by members of the Galliano family and the three Williams children detailed months of erratic and abusive behavior on the part of Lutes. The account stated that the suits claimed that in the months before Edward Lutes killed his neighbors, he had been exhibiting irrational, erratic and threatening behavior and that police authorities in Seaside Heights and Toms River did nothing to stop him or get him the help that he needed.

The account said that, according to the settlement, George, Theresa, and Robert Williams would receive $2.3 million from the Municipal Liability Joint Insurance Fund. It said that relatives of the Gallianos would receive $3.4 million pending approval in U.S. District Court, Trenton, expected to be approved within 60 days.

Separately, an additional New York Times report titled “Suspect Called Dedicated, But 'He Had a Lot of Losses'” described Edward L. Lutes Jr. in his 17 years as a police officer and stated that he exemplified meticulousness and efficiency. It also stated that the authorities said he killed five people, then shot his chief and finally took his own life.

Other details

A CBS News segment mentioned that the latest shootings happened a mile away from where a former police officer allegedly went from house to house killing four people.

A resident, Karen Picht, accompanied her 12-year-old daughter to a bus stop Wednesday because she was concerned about her safety and said:

"To do something like that, they snap,"

Teens said Edward Lutes told them to throw eggs at homes of people he called “enemies.” Christine Woldanski, 16, said Edward Lutes said:

"If you guys don't do it, I'm going to do it later."

Talia Garofano, 15, said she saw Edward Lutes throw eggs himself at the side of the home of Dominick and Gail Galliano, who became his victims Tuesday night.

Seaside Heights Fire Chief Reece Fisher said he met Edward Lutes when he was a firefighter in the 1980s. Fisher said Edward Lutes was devastated last year when his girlfriend died in a car accident and said:

"He was able to come back to the job, but who is to say what was going on inside of him,"

Cara Reilly, 20, said acquaintances of the five slain people said both families were kind, and said the Galliano family always had the best Halloween candy and always bought Girl Scout cookies.

Neighbors said the Williams family shared a car pool for neighborhood kids and that their son who survived the attack worked at a local grocery store.

The borough administrator John A. Camera and borough attorney Jean Cipriani said they had no inkling Edward Lutes was distraught.

William Polhemes, a former Seaside Heights police chief who knew Edward Lutes when he started as a summer officer, said:

"It's a tragedy of the highest order,"

In the New York Times report, it was also mentioned that on Feb. 21, former Newark police officer John E. Mabie allegedly killed his granddaughter and three neighbors in the community with a .38-caliber revolver.