WRONGFUL DEATH RELATED INJURY

Families share $5.7M for loved ones murdered by cop

Wrongful Death > Litigation

September 18, 2007

Trenton, NJ - When Seaside Heights Patrolman Edward L. Lutes went on a shooting in 2002, he killed five people of two families. These two families will be paid $5.7 million to settle their lawsuits against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River.

Dominick Galliano's sister and a cousin of Gail Galliano, filed the wrongful death lawsuit of Gail Galliano, 49, her husband, Dominick, 51, and their son, Christopher, 25, through their lawyer, Darren Gelber, against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River.

George, Theresa and Robert Williams whose parents were murdered by Edward Lutes in their Toms River home filed the wrongful death lawsuit of Gary Williams, 48, and his wife, Tina, 46, through their lawyer, James J. Carroll III, against Seaside Heights and its now-retired police chief and Toms River.

On April 9, 2002, Patrolman Edward Lutes used his department-issued MP5 machine gun to shoot and kill Gail Galliano, her husband, Dominick and their son, Christopher along with two members of the Williams family, Gary Williams and his wife, Tina.

Edward Lutes' rampage ended after he drove to the Barnegat home of then-Seaside Heights Police Chief James M. Costello and shot and wounded the chief. He then fatally shot himself in the driveway of a nearby home.

The lawsuits, filed in 2003, by members of the Galliano family and the three Williams children, detailed months of erratic and abusive behavior on the part of Lutes, who at the time of the killings was 42 and a highly decorated member of the Seaside Heights force.

The suits claimed that in the months before Edward Lutes killed his neighbors, he had been exhibiting irrational, erratic and threatening behavior. But police authorities in Seaside Heights and Toms River did nothing to stop him or get him the help that he needed.

According to the settlement, George, Theresa and Robert Williams will receive $2.3 million from the Municipal Liability Joint Insurance Fund.

Relatives of the Gallianos will receive $3.4 million pending approval in U.S. District Court, Trenton, which

is expected to be approved within 60 days.

 
 
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