Suspended Police Sgt. Seidle accepts 30-year prison plea
Remanded to Mercer County Jail sentencing set for August
Suspended Neptune Township Police Sgt. Philip Seidle accepted a plea deal Thursday afternoon that results to his acceptance of first degree aggravated manslaughter and second degree endangering the welfare of a child, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.
As part of his plea agreement, Prosecutors will recommend a 30-year prison term, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act, which requires he serve 85 percent of the imposed sentence imposed or 25 years and six months before being eligible for parole. The mandate also requires 5 years of parole supervision upon his release.
Sentencing for the 51-year-old Neptune resident is scheduled for August 18 before Monmouth County Superior Judge Joseph Oxley, according to a new release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Seidle admitted before Judge Oxley Thursday to the June 16 car chase that ended in his ex-wife Tamara Wilson-Seidle’s death.
Seidle set pursuit of wife while his then 7-year-old sat in the back seat of his vehicle. The chase ended when Wilson-Seidle’s car collided into a parked vehicle on Sewell Avenue in Asbury Park. He further admitted to killing his wife after he exited his vehicle by shooting 12 bullets at her as she sat inside her vehicle and his daughter sat nearby inside his vehicle.
Seidle, a 22-year veteran of the Neptune Township Police Department, was first hired as a patrolman on July 1, 1993, and has obtained the rank of sergeant in the Patrol Division since on Jan. 1, 2009. He is currently suspended without pay from his duties.
The couple’s children ranged in age from 7 to 24 at the time of their mother’s death.
From the news release:
Asbury Park police responded to a report of an unrelated motor vehicle accident near the intersection of Ridge and Sewall Avenues in the city at approximately 11:26 a.m. on June 16, 2015.
During that service call, the black 2012 Volkswagen Jetta, driven by Tamara Seidle, turned the corner onto Sewall Avenue before crashing into a parked 2002 Ford Focus. The Jetta was being followed closely by the 2005 Honda Pilot driven by Philip Seidle, who exited the vehicle, pulled out a handgun and approached the driver’s side of the Jetta. Philip Seidle fired multiple shots into the vehicle, striking Tamara Seidle. Philip Seidle then turned the weapon on himself, pointing the weapon at his head, before moving to the front of the Jetta and firing several more shots into the windshield of the vehicle.
After firing the second round of shot-bursts, Philip Seidle returned the weapon to his head prompting a stand-off with on-scene police officers from the Asbury Park and Neptune Township police departments. The stand-off with Seidle ended around 12:17 p.m. when he surrendered and was taken into custody. In addition to officers from the Asbury Park and Neptune Township police departments, investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Service responded to the scene.
Seidle remains at Mercer County Jail in Hopewell Township in lieu of $2 million cash only bail set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia.
The case is assigned to Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Marc C. LeMieux and Assistant Prosecutor Christopher J. Decker, the Director of the Office’s Major Crimes Bureau. Seidle is represented by Edward C. Bertucio, Esq. of Eatontown.
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