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Published in the Courier News, Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Man admits guilt in '83 slayingBy CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer
Ex-South Plainfield man faces more than 13 years in prison.
He was a South Plainfield resident who moved to Florida after shooting and killing a Plainfield man in 1983 because of a failed drug deal.
A year and a half ago, New Jersey police working on a cold-case file tracked down and arrested Domenico Anastario near Longwood, Fla. -- and on Monday, the 45-year-old machinist pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in state Superior Court, Elizabeth.
"Fortunately, in New Jersey there is no statute of limitations on our murder statute," Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said in a statement.
Anastario will face up to 131¼2 years in state prison when he is sentenced in about a month.
The former South Plainfield man had been accused of gunning down 23-year-old Marcus Jones in the early morning hours of Nov. 27, 1983, as Jones walked with two other men on Clinton Avenue near the Piscataway-South Plainfield border.
"He admitted that he and two friends went to Plainfield that day, tried to buy marijuana and had their money stolen," Union County Assistant Prosecutor Rob Rosenthal said.
Afterward, Anastario told police the men drove back to his house, took his father's loaded .22-caliber rifle and went looking for Jones in the same neighborhood.
They found Jones a short time later walking with friends on Clinton Avenue. He was shot and killed by a single bullet that pierced his heart, according to an autopsy report released about a week later.
Another man, 22-year-old Charles K. Gordon, also was caught in the crossfire and suffered wounds to the ear, face, leg and arm.
One of the first officers to respond to the shooting that day was South Plainfield police Chief Robert Ferraro, then a patrolman. He found Jones alive but unconscious and bleeding, and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to try to keep him alive until help arrived.
The Union County Prosecutor's Office said Jones' killing went unsolved for more than two decades, but eventually was cleared by several dogged detectives who followed Anastario and rumors of his part in Jones' death.
"The authorities got word that he was talking about what would happen -- or what he said would happen -- if anybody talked about it," Union County Assistant Prosecutor Robert O'Leary added.
Officials credited Plainfield detectives John Furda and Fernando Sanchez, along with Frank Pfeiffer, a former Plainfield detective who now works on cold-case files for the prosecutor's office, for resolving the slaying.
Anastario, who has remained in custody since he was arrested in December 2004, will be sentenced July 21 in Elizabeth before Judge Joseph Perfilio.
Chad Weihrauch can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or cweihrau@gannett.com
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060614/NEWS01/606140346/1006
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