NJ Cop Indicted For Killing Estranged Wife In Morris County

JEFFERSON, NJ - A Newark police officer was indicted Tuesday for murdering his estranged wife and attempting to murder her boyfriend on July 14, according to authorities.

John Formisano, 49, formerly of Jefferson Township, faces the charges of first degree Murder, first degree Attempted Murder, two counts of second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, second degree Official Misconduct, two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and third degree Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, according to the indictment returned by the grand jury.

Formisano had been in the custody of Department of Human Services receiving treatment for an unspecified psychiatric concern. He agreed to remain there pending a trial, waving his right to both a pretrial detention hearing and a probable cause hearing.

He denied being under the influence of any medications, or of having any mental conditions that would impair his understanding when he plead not guilty to the initial charges at the end of August.

Formisano told investigators that he "blacked out" upon realizing the two were inside a bedroom together in the estranged couple's Jefferson Township home. Formisano, a 24-year veteran of the Newark Police Department, said he did remember shooting Christine Solaro Formisano, 37, who was using the name Christine Solaro at the time of her death. He also remembered shooting her boyfriend, identified as 40-year-old T.S. in documents, but that he was in a "blacked out state," according to the affidavit of probable cause, which Patch obtained.

Formisano told investigators that he'd gone over to the couple's 1 Mirror Place home in the Oak Ridge section of Jefferson Township late Sunday night to drop off a pair of glasses for one of the couples' children. When he began to suspect that Solaro had a man in the bedroom he began to "black out," Formisano told police, but that he remembered firing his gun multiple times.

T.S. told police that Formisano and Solaro spoke on the phone shortly before her death; just after the call, Solaro said she saw a flashlight outside the home and warned T.S. that Formisano was on the property.

Solaro and T.S. were in the bedroom when Solaro spotted Formisano outside the home. After noticing the flashlight, Solaro left the bedroom and locked it behind her, the affidavit says.

It was then that Solaro called out, "he's got a gun," and, "call 911," T.S. told investigators. Just after her cries, shots rang out.

After shooting Solaro, Formisano broke down the bedroom door, T.S. told police, and shot T.S. several times.

Solaro tried to flee the home, running to 3 and 5 Mirror Place to try and get inside a neighbor's house, the affidavit says. A witness told police that she saw Formisano shoot Solaro outside of 5 Mirror Place, where her body was eventually found by police. She was pronounced dead at the scene, with gunshot wounds to her torso, arm, leg, hand, and head, police said.

T.S. was conscious but bleeding when the Morris County Sheriff's Emergency Response Team found him. He was taken to the Morristown Medical Center trauma unit with injuries to his thigh, hand, arms, and abdomen. Formisano was arrested in a parking lot in Livingston around 2 a.m. Monday morning. Police say they found a handgun inside his car trunk, but that Formisano threw his cell phone away.

The couples' two children, who are both under 10 years old and were not named in the affidavit, were home at the time of the shooting, the complaint alleges, and were "located nearby" at the time of the slaying.

If anyone has any information related to this investigation, they are encouraged to call the Major Crimes Unit of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office at 973-285-6200, or the Jefferson Township Police Department at 973-697-1300.

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