Reward in Cold-Case Murder of Philly Cop Increased To $40,000
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It is the coldest of cold cases: the unsolved murder of a Philadelphia police officer forty-four years ago this month.
And now there is a new and growing reward for information that may help solve the murder of Officer Frederick Cione in 1970.
Officer Cione was gunned down when he stopped three males near 17th and Oxford Streets in North Philadelphia, Police say one of them opened fire. The killers fled, and have never been identified.
Retired officer Nicholas Cione, who followed in his brother's footsteps, joined the force shortly after his brother was killed, is hopeful the money, conscience, the publicity -- anything will prompt someone to come forward.
"Yeah, it would be nice for the family," Nicholas Cione said today. "It would be nice, especially for me, because I am still around. My mother and father, unfortunately, have passed. It would have been nice if it would have been solved while they were still alive because it would have meant a lot to them -- it really would. But unfortunately, it didn't happen. They passed. So, (I'm) still hanging in there and hoping I will see it before I pass on, too."
And standing beside him were two of his sons, sergeants in the police department, also walking in the footsteps of heroes.
Police believe the killers and others who have information on the crime are still around, and they are urging anyone with information to call police.