Crime - Courier - Murder No. 6 in 2006

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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006

Plainfield beating victim dies
Cops seeking information in North Plainfield man's death.

By CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer

PLAINFIELD -- The victim of a vicious beating who was found lying unresponsive on his back in the middle of a city street last weekend has died -- and authorities have appealed for help finding those responsible for the attack.

The man had no identification when he was found, but police later identified him as a former North Plainfield resident, 41-year-old Frank J. Puri of Sterling, Pa.

Police found Puri about 10 p.m. Sunday, lying in the 300 block of Liberty Street. He had sustained serious injuries, including cuts and bruises to his face and chest, police said.

Puri was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was placed on life support. He died at 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

"Anybody who saw what happened -- there's a tip line, it's confidential," police Chief Edward Santiago said Wednesday. "Please do the right thing and call in with the information. This person lost his life, and we're trying to find the people who did it."

Santiago said he was the second officer to arrive on the scene Sunday night after a passing driver called authorities and said a man was being assaulted on Liberty Street. It is unclear whether Puri was being beaten by several people or by just one person whose attack had drawn a crowd.

Whatever the case, police know several people witnessed the fatal beating. Santiago said police suspect Puri was robbed, but since he was found without a wallet or identification, it is unclear what was taken.

Puri's death was the sixth homicide in the city in 2006 after a record 15 homicides in 2005.

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS/607060321

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