Former Police Officer Pleads Guilty

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A former police officer pleaded guilty to murder Thursday for a shooting spree in which he walked from house to house in his neighborhood, killing four people, including his granddaughter.

John W. Mabie had been charged with four counts of murder and possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose. In a deal with authorities, Mabie agreed to plead guilty to the murder charges and drop his defense claiming diminished capacity, Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Robert Gasser said.

Prosecutors will seek a 30 year sentence at Mabie's sentencing on Nov. 21, Gasser said.

On Feb. 21, 2002, authorities said Mabie, then 70, locked his wife in the basement and walked out of his Dover Township home with a .38-caliber revolver. He walked down the street to his mother-in-law's house, where he shot and killed 22-year-old Natalie Gingerelli, who was said to be his favorite granddaughter.

He left the house, walked to a nearby home and fatally shot Sue Keiran, 42.

Mabie then went to another home and shot Thomas Luyster, 27. The body of Luyster's fiancee, Suzanne Lavecchia, 27, was found on the lawn in front of the house. The couple had been planning a June 2002 wedding.

Acquaintances have said Mabie, who retired from the Newark police on disability in 1976, never got over a 1971 accident in which he struck and killed an 11-year-old boy in a go-cart.

Mabie's shooting spree was the first of two deadly Toms River neighborhood shooting sprees, both allegedly by lawmen.

On April 9, 2002, Seaside Heights police Officer Edward Lutes Jr. fatally shot five neighbors before driving to Barnegat, where he wounded his boss and later committed suicide in a stranger's driveway.

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Author: NBC10