Prosecutor: Former NJ Cop Charged In Drug-Related Murder Of Life-Long Friend
WOODRIDGE, NJ (CBSNewYork) -- A former Hasbrouck Heights police officer has been charged in the case of a Woodridge man who was found stabbed to death on Sunday.
Scott Smith, 33, of Hasbrouck Heights was arrested on Monday on murder and weapons charges.
Authorities have alleged that Smith killed his long time friend, 39-year-old John Amendola, following a violent dispute over prescription drugs, which the pair may have been illegally trafficking.
Smith then fled the scene taking the murder weapon with him, according to a statement released by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.
The body was found on Sunday afternoon by a friend who came to the Union Avenue home for a visit, but instead found a lifeless Amendola his body riddled with stab wounds.
Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli told 1010 WINS reporter Steve Sandberg that the severity of the wounds indicate that the crime may have been premeditated.
1010 WINS Reporter Stave Sandberg was there
Podcast
Police say that no one else was in the house at the time of the murder and that Smith was known to carry a certain blade on a regular basis. That knife, which Molinelli described as a "rather significant hunting knife," is believed to be the murder weapon.
Smith is currently being held on $2 million bail.
What can authorities do to curb drug related violence in the Garden State? Leave your comments below...
