On a cold winter afternoon, December 21, 1981, New Jersey State Trooper Philip Joseph Lamonaco, a 32-year-old male, was on patrol along Interstate 80 in Knowlton Township. An 11-year veteran of the force and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had served in Vietnam, Lamonaco was a respected and decorated officer, having been named Trooper of the Year in 1979.
That day, during a seemingly routine traffic stop, his life was tragically cut short in a violent encounter that would launch one of the largest manhunts in the state's history.
During the stop, Trooper Lamonaco was met with gunfire and was shot nine times. Despite being critically wounded, he managed to return fire, injuring one of his assailants. A passing motorist discovered the trooper's empty cruiser and found Lamonaco lying face down in the snow. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The investigation quickly identified two suspects: Thomas William Manning and Richard Charles Williams, both members of the radical leftist group known as the United Freedom Front. This group was known for carrying out bombings and bank robberies to fund their operations. The bullet-riddled getaway car was found abandoned miles from the scene, containing bloodstains and fingerprints that helped lead investigators to the suspects.
The extensive manhunt for Lamonaco's killers spanned several years. Finally, on November 4, 1984, several members of the United Freedom Front were arrested, and on April 24, 1985, Thomas Manning and his wife were apprehended in Norfolk, Virginia. Manning and Williams were tried and convicted for the murder of Trooper Lamonaco. Manning was sentenced to life in prison and died in custody on July 29, 2019. Richard Williams was also convicted and died in prison in 2005. The brutal killing of Trooper Lamonaco left behind his wife and three children, one of whom would later follow in his father's footsteps and become a New Jersey State Trooper.
