Former Bergen County Cop Admits He Killed Childhood Friend: Report

A former Hasbrouck Heights cop has admitted, after more than three years in state prison, that he killed his childhood friends using a knife and hammer in 2011, according to a report in The Record.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Scott J. Smith, 37, will be sentenced to 25 years in prison Jan. 20, his defense attorney Robert Stahl said in the report.

Smith pleaded guilty to an amended charge of aggravated manslaughter and possession of a knife and hammer for an unlawful purpose, theft of money, and hindering apprehension by lying to detectives, the report states.

Amendola was found stabbed to death in December 2011 in his Wood-Ridge home. Authorities said Smith was socializing at Amendola’s home early one morning when the two got into an argument and Smith reportedly stabbed Amendola “multiple times” with a knife and he regularly on his person.”

Smith’s tenure with the Hasbrouck Heights police department was marred by him allegedly not responding to calls, filing a false report, and a absenteeism, The Record reported, before he left in 2008 when he was only 29.

(PIctured: Scott J. Smith in court in 2011 after he was charged/Patch file photo.)