NYC NOW - SPECIAL EPISODE from Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery

Episode Date: June 29, 2024

Listen to Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery

Welcome to NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre. George Norcross, an unelected party boss who was considered one of the most powerful people in New Jersey, was indicted last week. State prosecutors charged Norcross and five others with racketeering, extortion, corruption, and financial crimes. The case revolves around the Norcross political machine and the development on the Camden waterfront. WNYC's Nancy Solomon has been following George Norcross closely since 2019. Her podcast, Dead End, a New Jersey political murder mystery, was the culmination of much of her reporting. And this weekend, we're bringing you a special episode of NYC Now from Nancy Solomon. Dead End tells the story of former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner and Healthcare Executive John Sheridan and his wife Joyce.

They were both found dead in their home near Princeton in 2014. On the dining room table, the night they were killed were documents that detailed a conflict between John Sheridan and George Norcross. That conflict was about a real estate deal on the Camden Waterfront, and that same deal is a central part of the story in last week's indictment. Here's Nancy Solomon. George E. Norcross III was indicted for running a criminal enterprise on Monday, June 17, 2024. and the press conference held by Attorney General Matt Platkin was a bit unusual. In the front row, in a dark suit and his recognizable shock of silver hair, was George Norcross himself, smiling, wearing shiny leather loafers with no socks.

And behind him, in the second row, were a bunch of his lawyers. Now, the front row was reserved for staff. There were signs on the seat. When the spokesperson for the Attorney General tried to get Norcross to move from the front row, he flat out refused. Is there someone more significant that the lead defendant in the case? They have a seat in front row while he's being excoriated by the Attorney General of the state. It's hard to hear, but I was there.

One of North Cross's lawyers says, is there anyone more significant than the lead defendant in this case to be given a seat while he's being excoriated by the Attorney General of the state? It's the first time I've ever seen a defendant show up at a press conference where their indictment is being announced. Norcross refused to move out of the front row, which was just a foot or so from the podium. From his perch, he could face down the Attorney General of the state of New Jersey, who was accusing him of breaking the law 13 times. I'm Nancy Solomon, and in this episode of Dead End, a New Jersey political murder mystery,

we're going to dig into that indictment of George Norcross. It tells a very detailed story, and it's a lot like the story we told you in the podcast. But first, let's stick with that strange afternoon in Trenton. After the press conference, Norcross stood on the steps of the Hughes Justice Center and told reporters the indictment was nothing more than a political vendetta. We want to go to trial. Two weeks, Matt Plackett, Come join us, try the case, because your people don't want to try anything. You get down here and back up your words and stop it.

Okay, thank you. One last question. Norcross and his lawyers had been talking for about 20 minutes, and I hadn't had a chance to ask anything yet. I was standing about six inches from Norcross and his lawyers. One of them is Michael Critchley, who faithful dead-end listeners will remember, I had tangled with before. This letter you received from me is litigation hold notice.

Attorney General Plattkin said during the press conference that there have been attempts to intimidate him and intimidate other government employees. Do you think that coming here today and making these remarks kind of gives a little bit of liveliness to that? He comes here and defend yourself. It's very unusual for the defendant to be at the Attorney General's press conference. He's innocent. He's not afraid of the allegation. He has a First Amendment right to be here. He wouldn't even do that. that this is part of what he's talking about, the intimidation to come here and to attack him?

Are we entitled to defend ourselves, or is this a different country? Is this Matt Placken worldview? Well, we cannot come down here and say, guess what? Matt Placken, we challenge you. The attorney general should not be intimidated by people who he's going to excoriate and charge with an indictment from coming in and listening to his press conference. It's pop into the public. Why can we not come down here? Is there something wrong with that?

Maybe in Russia, that doesn't happen. But this is still America. We have constitutional rights, and we are going to exercise those constitutional rights. Whether Mr. Placken likes it or not, whether Nancy Solomon likes it or not. And, Nancy, you know, you and I have a disagreement on this in terms of your journalistic bias. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right.

Now, to be clear, I don't relish getting into fights with George Norcross and his lawyers. This indictment is a racketeering case. It's New Jersey's version of RICO, the racketeer influenced and, corrupt organizations law. It's about intimidation. To better understand what the indictment could mean, I went to the guy in New Jersey who knows how to prosecute a RICO case, Ed Steer. I've never seen it before. Showing up and staring down the Attorney General is a kind of intimidation tactic that he's charged with. Racketeering. and running a criminal enterprise. Ed Steer is a lawyer, and he's one of the founders of the

Division of Criminal Justice at the New Jersey Attorney General's office. Dead End devotees will remember Steer. We met him in episode four. During his tenure at the AG's office, he successfully took down several mobsters and corrupt politicians, using the kind of charges that Norcross now faces. Stier thinks Norcross miscalculated by showing up and challenging. the Attorney General. It was surprising because it, in my view, it's foolish because it reinforces the notion that he's somebody who will use his political clout to get what he wants. Stier knows it's that very behavior that is causing trouble for Norcross.

There's a very famous case, organized crime case, federal case. an extortion case in which two people are sitting at a table in a restaurant. One guy says to the other, you better give me the money. And if you don't, you see that guy standing in the corner? Do you know who he is? The victim sees a thug and knows his reputation for violence. So in extortion cases, reputation is extremely important because it's the reputation that can convey the threat that causes the victim to give up whatever the value is to the person designated by the defendant.

And Stier says the new indictment includes evidence that points over and over again to the reputation of George Norcross. Let's talk about this. I brought a copy of the indictment, and I think ignore my scribbles all over it. It's 111 pages long and starts with a bang. That George E. Norcross III led a criminal enterprise whose members and associates agreed the enterprise would extort others through threats and fear of economic and reputational harm and commit other criminal offenses to achieve the enterprise's goals. The indictment goes on to describe in detail the alleged events that took place from 2012 through 2018. The way I look at this, it's about the use of raw political power to extract economic value from people who had a right to keep that value and were forced to give it up.

It's all there in episodes five and six of the podcast. We documented how the Norcross political machine controlled elected officials from Camden City Council to the president of the state Senate. The Norcross brothers and their associates were able to obtain property at a discounted price. That's the extortion charge. Then they went on to construct buildings on the Camden Waterfront without actually paying for them. How? Phil Norcross's law firm helped rewrite the state's tax break law. That allowed the Norcross brothers and their allies to get the entire amount of their investment paid back to them in the form of a tax break.

Norcross and his allies were awarded more than a billion dollars because of that. Even if there were no tax credits, that would still be a chargeable offense. The tax breaks, whether or not they were fraudulent, were a way for the Norcross Enterprise to extract more money from the development at the Camden Waterfront. The way Ed Steer sees it, the crux of this case is that the Norcross Enterprise allegedly forced developers to give up their valuable rights to the waterfront. The indictment cites a call with one of those developers, in which Norcross tells him, and excuse the language, if you fuck this up, I'm going to fuck you up like you've never been fucked up before. I'll make

sure you never do business in this town again. This, Ed Steer says, is classic extortion. Let me give you an example. You own a factory. Somebody wants that factory from you. And they say that unless you sell me that factory for less than it's worth, I'm going to burn it down. And you believe that they have the power to burn it down. It's an extortion. If they say, I'm going to buy your factory and we're going to negotiate and you'll get whatever it's worth, not a crime. Same thing happens in the end. The factory goes to the party that wants it. One's a crime and the other isn't a crime. The indictment charges George Norcross, his brother Phil, their attorney, Bill Tambusi,

former Camden Mayor Dana Red, and two businessmen who are partners with George in several buildings in Camden. My first comment is, where's the beef? Back outside at last week's press conference, George Norcross's lawyers argued that politics is a contact sport in New Jersey. Being a bully isn't a crime. Norcross himself said

everything he's done has been for the good of Camden. I'm telling you, the governor of this state and all prior governors that are still living have been huge advocates of the Renaissance of the city of Camden. Where's the beef? Where is the beef? Where is it? is the beef here. And this is what the state of New Jersey will have to prove, that the behavior

that Norcross defends to rebuild Camden was in fact illegal. That's what Matt Plattkin argues. This alleged conduct of the Norcross Enterprise has caused great harm to individuals, businesses, non-profits, the people of the state of New Jersey, and especially, especially to the city of Camden and its residents. That stops today. So where were you when you heard the news and what were you doing? I was at my computer writing a book, and Camden was on my mind. Camden is animating the book that I'm writing, so it was very appropriate. After leaving the press conference, I called up Keith Benson.

I've talked with him many times. He's lived in Camden his entire life. He's almost 70. And he's a Grammy Award-winning jazz and R&D. B drummer who's been involved in the community for years. I guess, you know, the main kind of question I have for you, Keith, is like, what does this feel like? How do you feel about hearing about all this?

Well, a gentleman named Martin Luther King said, the Ark of the Universe is long, but it bends towards justice. And I doubt that that was true. But now I see what Dr. King meant, because it bends in a lovely way today, because arguably the most powerful people in New Jersey, and some would say the most corrupt people in New Jersey, are now having to face some level of justice. So maybe it really does bend toward justice, and I could not be more optimistic to see that. Keith is just one of dozens of people I've heard from over the years that told me about the two cities that make up Camden. Those who cooperate

with the Norcross political machine and are rewarded with jobs, grants for their community projects, political positions. And then there's everybody else. The problem I had with Mr. Norcross was none of the organizations or individuals who were doing great work were ever supported. And it always seemed like people who were aligned with his interests got the support. And I would say that Cam would be further along if it wasn't for the interference. And I'll have to call corruption myself and the favoritism at the very least of the George Norcross machine. And I don't mind. tell them the world, I'm happy to see it at least being checked and challenged and let a court

of law for the jury decide who's correct. But before a jury ever hears a word about this case, the attorney general will face a firestorm of criticism, doubts, and political pressure. He is not a pushover. He is tough. That's after the break. This is Nancy Solomon, and you're listening to Dead End. The indictment references a Cooper Health CEO number one. That CEO is John Sheridan, and his boss was George Norcross.

We started the Dead End podcast at Sheridan's funeral, which took place in 2014. It was hard for that event to not be on my mind at last week's press conference. Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here today. When Attorney General Matt Platton spoke, the very first part of the charges that he discussed, focused on a building called L3, a Camden office complex in a prime location that was in good condition. Among the several criminal acts outlined and alleged in the state's indictment is the Norcross Enterprise's unlawful intervention in the purchase of the L3 complex by a nonprofit redevelopment organization. John Sheridan was chairman of the board of that nonprofit, and there were

documents on its dining room table on the night he and his wife were stabbed to death. Those documents showed him trying to stop George and Phil Norcross from taking control of the purchase of the L3 office complex. I asked Plattgen if his office is looking into whether there are any connections between the alleged extortion and the Sheridan deaths. I don't have any case and how do you see the murder of John and Joyce Sheridan is connected to this conspiracy you've played out today? I don't have any update on any of the other or any unrelated case to this. So unfortunately, nothing more to add there. Matt Plattkin was named Attorney General in 2022, at the age of 35, making him the youngest agee in the country at the time.

And to be honest, he looks even younger. His rise in New Jersey politics began when he had coffee with a guy who was a long-shot candidate for governor. I didn't know anybody in the political world in New Jersey, but through some networking, I ended up meeting Phil Murphy. We had each other at hello, as I say. He wasn't even a candidate. He was just thinking about what he would do.

And I basically, I really liked what he was saying, and I offered to help. That led to a stint as the top lawyer in the governor's office and his nomination by Phil Murphy to become the AG. I spent a day shadowing him last year. He wanted to talk about what he was doing to reduce gun violence, and I wanted to talk corruption. The Attorney General's Office and the Division of Criminal Justice really has not successfully taken on any big corruption cases in the last 20 years. And so I'm very, I'm very curious to hear your take on that. Look, I think that the Division of Criminal Justice.

think about the history of that division. It was founded in the wake of a series of Life magazine exposés about the influence of the mafia in public life in New Jersey. And the division was stood up to be a state prosecution agency with a broad mandate, but it included within it public corruption and holding those accountable who have positions of public trust. Plattkin didn't criticize his predecessors. Instead, he said it's hard to know why cases don't get prosecuted and that his focus is making sure his staff has the resources to take on public corruption again. And also that they know that if there is a big case, that they should pursue it.

And the same time they know that if there's something that may look like a big case, but after you kick the tires and determine that it's not, that that's okay to come to that conclusion too. At the time of my ride along with Plattkin, I interviewed Chris Perino, who made the same leap. He was Governor Christie's chief counsel and became Attorney General. During the transition from Christy to Murphy, Perino got to know Plotkin. You know, he is not a pushover. And for those who think they're going to, you know, intimidate him or try and push him around or even to the media, you know,

that they're going to be able to influence what he thinks. should be done or how it should be done, it's not going to happen. He's, he is tough. George Norcross didn't get that memo. At the press conference, he avoided questions about the charges in the indictment and focused on Plattkin himself. He was humiliated. Remember who he is and what he was. He was a second year associate at a law firm, who's a politician now masquerading as an attorney general. His interest is to find himself a venue where he can be hoisted on the shoulders of whomever and try to find something in government service. Ed Steer, the guy who worked at the Attorney General's office during its heyday, has met with just

about every AG in New Jersey, going back decades. And he says the Norcross people have it backwards. You don't run for political office after having a record at. as an aggressive attorney general. It is, it conflicts with your political self-interest. So this accusation that Matt Placken is being overzealous as a prosecutor for his own political self-interest is completely contrary to reality. Plattkin even went up against the governor earlier this year.

when he refused to defend a legal challenge to the way New Jersey allows party bosses to control how the ballot is laid out. Long story short, that torpedoed the Senate candidacy of Tammy Murphy, the governor's wife. And now, Plotkin has accused the most powerful political boss of running a criminal enterprise. So what do you think this does for New Jersey politics writ large? I don't know and I don't care. This is not about New Jersey politics. You don't make prosecutorial decisions based on the political implications. You make them based on whether or not there's a chargeable offense and a reasonable likelihood

of conviction. Being the Attorney General is a very, very lonely job if you do it the right way. always stepping on somebody's toes. And in many cases that I've seen over the years with every really great attorney general, those toes can easily belong to the governor. So anybody who thinks that they'd like to be the attorney general because it's a stepping stone to a political career or because it's a fun job has no one. idea what they're talking about.

In the days after the indictment, there was little comment by elected officials in New Jersey, and a couple of news articles and columns were critical of Platkin. But there's a hint in the indictment that the Attorney General understood there could be political blowback. He's produced what's called a speaking indictment, which means that much of the evidence is laid out in black and white on the 111 pages in advance of the trial. There may be accusations thrown around about Pladkin's motives, or the Norcross Enterprise might try to run out the clock on the 18 months left in his term. But the genie is out of the bottle.

The arraignment for all six defendants is scheduled for July 9th before a state superior court judge in Trenton. Then the defense will have several months to go over all the evidence that the prosecutors have. And then a trial will be scheduled. This is Dead End, a New Jersey political murder mystery. I'm Nancy Solomon. Many thanks to Emily Boutin, Sean Boutich, Ave Carrillo, Lauren Cooperman, Karen Frillman, Lou Hockman, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Paul, and Wayne Schulmeister. Thanks for listening to a special weekend episode of NYC Now. Be sure to check out the whole story by subscribing to Dead End, a New Jersey political murder mystery,

you get your podcasts. And we'll be back with the top headlines and news first thing Monday morning. Have a great rest of your weekend.