Task force is formed in NJ to probe 5 additional killings of female prosties,separate from Essex County hooker killings,no confirmation that killings are work of SK
Joe1orbit
Darn it, I ran into a major AOL software problem and had to spend the last 3
hours getting it fixed. Still not properly fixed, but the good old AOL
technician, after a 45 minute wait, told me that this fix should work, but it
takes time, a day or two, for the fix to 'take effect'. Sounds like a lie, but
we shall have to wait and see. Meanwhile, 3 hours of PRIME posting time has
been wasted, I am without my Favorite Places file, and I'm therefore only going
to be able to squeeze in 2 or 3 posts for the rest of today. Bummer!
Most of you have probably heard that the excavation search for more victims
of serial killer John Wayne Gacy in IL, turned out to be a bust. That was a
major disappointment for me, but things are always percolating on the serial
murder front, and the below news item is proof of that.
As you know, there is strong reason to believe that a serial killer targeting
female prosties is active and on the loose in Essex County, NJ. He may be
responsible for 10-16 harvestings, over the past 5 years. We learn below that
there seems to be a DIFFERENT serial killer of prosties, also in New Jersey,
but operating in Somerset county. It sounds as though there are 5 killings here
that are being investigated separately from the other 16.
These 5 hookers were tied up and beaten, prior to being killed. Some were
also shot. They were NOT left in hotel rooms, as most of the Essex county 16,
but instead were dumped into the water, or at least had their dead bodies
placed near the water, along isolated beaches and bays.
A special task force has now been set up to probe these 5 additional
killings. Police are NOT saying that they are the work of one serial killer,
but there is speculation that they might be.
One man IS under arrest, 22 year old John J. Korman, Jr. was indicted on
Friday, charged with murdering ONE gal. She, unlike the other 4, was not dumped
outside, in or near a body of water. I think it is most likely that this
killing is not connected to the other 4. But the other 4 very possibly are
connected to each other. It does perk up my spirits to think of a new SK on the
loose, makes up for the disappointment of the JW Gacy excavation.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's Associated Press news wire:
Task force centered on Somerset examines links among five killings
The Associated Press
11/23/98
SOMERVILLE, N.J. (AP) -- The killings of five suspected prostitutes with links
to Somerset County since 1993 is now the focus of a task force involving police
agencies from around the state, Somerset Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said
Monday.
A similar task force formed by his counterpart in Essex County is already
looking into the killings of 16 women over the past five years who also are
believed to have been prostitutes.
Forrest said his group was formed because the five victims had similar
lifestyles, and many were tied and beaten.
"We believe many of them had drug problems, as well as were prostitutes,"
Forrest said.
So far one person has been arrested and charged in one of the five Somerset
killings: John J. Korman Jr. was indicted Friday, accused of murdering Nancy
Nott on Aug. 22.
Her bound and bludgeoned body was found in a shallow grave in the back yard of
Korman's North Plainfield residence in Somerset County. Nott, 21, of
Plainfield, visited Korman's house Aug. 15, where Korman killed her with a blow
to the head after a dispute, authorities said.
Could one killer be responsible for all or several of the killings?
"You always have to consider that as a possibility when you have unsolved
homicides," Forrest said.
His office got involved in the Essex task force because of the November 1997
killing of Tamara Tignor, 23, who lived on the streets of Newark. Her beaten
and strangled body was found in woods in Bridgewater, Somerset County.
The Somerset task force includes State Police and investigators from
prosecutors' offices in Essex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union counties.
In addition to Tignor, the Somerset task force is also investigating these
killings:
--Anna Rosado, 31, of Staten Island, N.Y., who was found floating in shallow
water in Barnegat Bay off Seaside Park, Ocean County, on Sept. 30, 1996.
--Ada Roman, 39, of Perth Amboy, found beaten to death on a beach in Aberdeen,
Monmouth County, on Aug. 1, 1993.
--An unidentified white female pulled from Raritan Bay near the Earle Naval
Weapons Station pier by Sandy Hook on Sept. 5, 1995. She was bound and tied to
a large cinderblock, and shot several times.
Forrest asked those with information about the victims or the killings to
contact the task force at 908-231-7100 or a toll-free hot line at
1-888-577-TIPS (8477), and said all calls will be kept confidential.
Debby Sobwick
days....
Debby S.<sarg...@injersey.com>