Cop Admits Killing Estranged Wife In Video, Morris Co. Prosecutor Says

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — The trial against a Newark police officer accused of killing his estranged wife and seriously injuring her boyfriend has officially begun.

Lt. John Formisano, a 24-year veteran of the Newark Police Department, is accused of murdering his 37-year-old wife, Christie Solaro-Formisano. She was discovered dead on July 14, 2019, following a report of shots fired. Formisano was apprehended during a traffic stop in Livingston, with the alleged murder weapon in his car, police said.

Video of former Newark police Lt. John Formisano admitting to the shooting death of Christie Solaro-Formisano was played in Superior Court in Morristown on Thursday, according to NJ.com.

“I wasn’t involved in a domestic my entire life. I never shot anybody until today,” Formisano is seen on camera telling another police officer.

Formisano previously said he did remember shooting Formisano who was also known as Christie Solaro at the time of her death. He also remembered shooting her boyfriend, 40-year-old Timothy Simonson, but he was in a "blacked out state," according to the probable cause affidavit Patch obtained.

Simonson was shot seven times and required emergency surgery, according to a 2020 lawsuit against Formisano and the Police Department.

Read related: 'Black Out:' Chilling Details In NJ Cop's Alleged Murder Of Wife

In connection with the July 2019 shooting, Formisano has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and endangering the welfare of his two children. According to police, the Formisanos' two children were at home at the time of the shooting.

He has entered a plea of not guilty.

Read related: NJ Cop Was In Uniform During Alleged Murder Of Wife: 911 Calls

According to two 911 callers, on the day of the murder, Formisano was in his uniform when he allegedly shot his estranged wife dead in Jefferson.

"He's a Newark cop, he lives on the corner, I saw him through my window, he's in his uniform," the woman said on a 911 call reporting the shooting. "You gotta hurry, she's dying on my porch."

A second 911 caller also said Formisano was in uniform the night of the July 14 shooting. "He's a Newark cop, my wife saw him in his car in his police uniform, and he shot his ex-wife," the second caller, a man, told dispatchers.

Simonson previously attempted to sue Formisano and the Police Department, claiming that Formisano acted under color of state law at the time of the alleged shooting, which means acting in the capacity of a police officer.

Simonson contended that Formisano acted in the capacity of a police officer because he arrived at the home in his police uniform, shone his service-issued flashlight into the house and used his service weapon to commit the shooting.

The court, on the other hand, concluded that there is no way to prove that Formisano's wearing his police uniform to his own house suggests an exercise of official authority or is otherwise sufficient to clothe his actions with state law authority.

The trial is expected to continue on Friday and could continue into next week.