Toscano father, son sentenced
By Roman J. Uschak, Staff Writer
The Toscano family murder case that began almost a year and a half ago came to a close last week in Superior Court, Newark.
Peter Toscano, who fatally shot his cousin, Jordan Voorhees, with a .38-caliber handgun in 2008, pleaded guilty on March 1 to an amended charge of aggravated manslaughter. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
“He also pled guilty to disturbing human remains,” said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey last week.
Toscano had originally been charged with murder. He was 20 years old when he killed Voorhees with multiple gunshots on the morning of Oct. 19, 2008, at the Toscanos’ Smallwood Avenue residence in Belleville.
Toscano’s father, Gerald, who then helped his son to dispose of Voorhees’ body, pleaded guilty last week to disturbing human remains and obstructing justice and was sentenced to one year in prison.
Voorhees, formerly of Bloomfield, was 22-years-old at the time of his death, and had been living with his cousin and uncle for approximately six months at the time of the shooting.
Gerald Toscano, who was 47 at the time of the incident, assisted his son in removing and disposing of Voorhees’ body, which detectives believed had been left in the Meadowlands marshes in nearby Kearny.
The Toscanos were also believed to have utilized a rowboat to dispose of the body, after having brought both the body and the boat to the Meadowlands in the back of a pickup truck.
Belleville Police and other law enforcement agencies searched for Voorhees’ body for several weeks, but it was never recovered.
The Toscano family murder case that began almost a year and a half ago came to a close last week in Superior Court, Newark.
Peter Toscano, who fatally shot his cousin, Jordan Voorhees, with a .38-caliber handgun in 2008, pleaded guilty on March 1 to an amended charge of aggravated manslaughter. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
“He also pled guilty to disturbing human remains,” said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey last week.
Toscano had originally been charged with murder. He was 20 years old when he killed Voorhees with multiple gunshots on the morning of Oct. 19, 2008, at the Toscanos’ Smallwood Avenue residence in Belleville.
Toscano’s father, Gerald, who then helped his son to dispose of Voorhees’ body, pleaded guilty last week to disturbing human remains and obstructing justice and was sentenced to one year in prison.
Voorhees, formerly of Bloomfield, was 22-years-old at the time of his death, and had been living with his cousin and uncle for approximately six months at the time of the shooting.
Gerald Toscano, who was 47 at the time of the incident, assisted his son in removing and disposing of Voorhees’ body, which detectives believed had been left in the Meadowlands marshes in nearby Kearny.
The Toscanos were also believed to have utilized a rowboat to dispose of the body, after having brought both the body and the boat to the Meadowlands in the back of a pickup truck.
Belleville Police and other law enforcement agencies searched for Voorhees’ body for several weeks, but it was never recovered.
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