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Sayreville official wants Attorney General to investigate slain councilwoman's death
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Apr 25, 2023
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Sayreville GOP and Christian Onuoha via Facebook
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Apr 25, 2023
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A slain Sayreville councilwoman’s running mate says he wants the New Jersey attorney general to take over the murder case because he fears political influence could be harming the investigation.
Sayreville Council President Christian Onuoha, a Republican, said he is frustrated because he believes the investigation into the Feb. 1 killing of Eunice Dwumfour has not focused on any of her political work in town. Instead, Ohuoha believes investigators are focused on Dwumfour’s church and her friends in Newark.
“The church conveniently is majority African American in Newark,” said Onuoha, who like Dumfour has served as a pastor with the Nigeria-based Champions Royal Assembly’s congregation in Newark. “If you're going to spend all your time there, sending Sayreville police there, which is what you believe is your due diligence, fine. But it’s been two months now, right? Going to three.”
But a spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said it doesn’t have any plans to take over the case from the the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, which is leading the investigation with the participation of the Sayreville police.
The prosecutor’s office has been nearly silent throughout the case, and declined comment on Onuoha’s remarks. Officials from the office haven’t said if they suspect a motive that led to Dwumfour, 30 being shot and killed in her car outside her home. Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said in February there was “not an ongoing threat to the community” but didn’t name any suspects or say what information she had to support that conclusion.
The day after Dwumfour’s killing, Gov. Phil Murphy said on WNYC’s monthly “Ask Governor Murphy” call-in show that Dwumfour’s death didn’t appear related to her role as a political figure, based on conversations he’d had with local Republican leaders and government officials.
But Onuoha said he’s frustrated officials ruled out political involvement in conversations with Murphy so soon after the killing.
Dwumfour ran alongside Onouha as a Republican in 2021, unseating two Democratic incumbents. They were the first Black council members in Sayreville.
During the council’s meeting in January, they formed a bipartisan voting block with another Republican and the Democratic mayor, effectively taking power away from the Democratic majority on the council, Onuoha said. He described it as a significant moment that came just days before Dwumfour’s killing.
Former New JErsey Assemblyman John Wisniewski speaks with media in March at a gathering with members of slain Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour's family.
Louis C. Hochman/Gothamist
“You had those who were political operatives that, you know, were used to having power and then you had, all of a sudden, a coalition of elected officials that just wanted to be beholden to the members of the public and not really to any party ideology,” Onuoha said. “So, that was what made our coalition very unique.”
The mayor, Victoria Kilpatrick, announced recently she would not run for reelection because she feels afraid to continue in public life. She told MyCentralJersey.com she’d received threats including a letter “filled with swastikas and racial slurs” that was opened by municipal staff and read to her by the borough’s police chief. She said she was called “an 'n-lover’” and that the letter included comments such as “I heard that one of your [racial slur] was murdered and something to the effect that more of you need to go."
Glenn Skarzynski, the Sayreville administrator and a retired police officer, said he forwarded the letter to the police department.
Skarzynski said he hasn’t heard from other employees or elected officials in town who are feeling threatened. Kilpatrick hasn’t returned a call from Gothamist to her municipal office seeking comment.
Onuoha said he was interviewed by detectives from both the county prosecutor’s office and the borough police, but he wasn’t asked if there may have been any political fights that could have led to Dwumfour’s death.
“She was involved in the different committees that she served on. You know, what were those relationships like on a day-to-day basis?” Onuoha said. “When she voted yes on certain things, what was the response to that? When she voted no on certain things, what was the response to that? And what were the relationships?”
County prosecutors are responsible for investigating major crimes in New Jersey. Those county offices are supervised by the attorney general, which directs the state police and can take over investigations.
“I am surprised that on a high-profile case like this of an elected official, that the state police are not involved,” said Jim Robinson, a Sayreville real estate agent who served as chief of staff to a former State Assembly Speaker Alan Karcher in the 1980s, as well as a former member of the Sayreville Planning Board. “And I would urge them to become involved in this investigation, as they are involved in the wall.” State police are helping investigate what they’ve have described as a “large-scale act of vandalism” after someone used heavy machinery to damage the retaining wall at a controversial construction project in January.
At her last council meeting in January, Dwumfour was appointed to be in charge of oversight of the police department for a second year, as the borough’s public safety liaison. David Sivilli, president of Sayreville NJ PBA Local No. 98, wrote to the mayor ahead of that meeting, opposing her appointment.
“The PBA has great concern over comments Mrs. Dwumfour made at the last meeting over her and her family’s previous experiences with police in general,” Sivilli wrote. “Her comments included her stating that in their experiences in the past, interactions with police in general were not favorable.”
Mary Dwumfour, left, leaves the podium of the Sayreville Borough Hall Council Chambers in tears March 22 as she discusses the Feb. 1 shooting death of her daughter, Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour. She was comforted by her daughter's husband, Peter Ezechukwu, who also goes by the name Eze Kings.
Louis C. Hochman/Gothamist
News 12 reported in February that the letter had been turned over to prosecutors. Sivilli told News 12 at the time his union believed another council member would have been a better fit for the position. Sivilli has not yet returned a call from Gothamist seeking comment.
In late February, the borough council selected recently retired Sayreville Police Chief John Zebrowski to replace Dwumfour. He was one of three nominees by the borough’s Republican Committee.
Former Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is representing Dwumfour’s parents, said he has concerns about the investigation and the role Dwumfour’s relationship with local police may have.
“In the 21st century, should anybody be shocked that a young Black woman would express distrust of a police department?” Wisniewski said.
Wisniewski said he is frustrated with the investigation. He said investigators asked Dwumfour’s parents to look for a city-issued cell phone after the investigation had already been underway for a month, he said. Family members have also said they’ve had little interaction with investigators, and that no one asked if they knew reasons Dwumfour might have been targeted.
“This town is in really strange straits,” Wisniewski said. “You’ve got the local Democratic Party chairman indicted. You have a councilwoman murdered, and you have threats issued to the mayor and the governing body.”
Former Sayreville Democratic Party Chairman Thomas Pollando and two relatives were named in a 14-count indictment with charges ranging from bribery to witness tampering, according to MyCentralJersey.com reported.. Pollando is accused of a range of crimes including using another candidate’s campaign funds for personal expenditures, and of taking thousands of dollars from a local business in exchange for a promise to influence a criminal case. He resigned in September after charges were announced.
A call left with the Middlesex County Democratic Organization Monday hasn’t yet been returned.
Wisniewski said that with all the problems in town, Onuoha might be right that the investigation needs to be taken over by the state.
“I think it’s something that might be necessary. I think we’re close to that point,” Wisniewski said. “I’d have to think of it more to see that we’re at that point.”
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