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Oct 27

FOR BLACK YOUTHS, AN UNEASY START

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by Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 27, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

Toward the end of his workshop Saturday, the Rev. Clarence L. James Sr. asked boys in the front pew at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Hackensack what it takes to be a man on the street.

Sell drugs, someone said. Kill somebody, another said. Beat your woman, replied another boy. And on and on: Fight to get respect, have many women, rape someone, gamble, have a gun, pimp.

The street is one of the primary institutions where black males are initiated into manhood, said James, a Baptist minister and evangelist from Atlanta who has been conducting a weeklong revival at Mount Olive Baptist Church that addresses the issues facing the black family. The other institutions he named were prison, military service, and college.

He scrunched his face in mock disgust and winced with each reply.

“That is not the kind of man we need,” James said. “We need husbands for our daughters, fathers for our children, a provider.”

The audience consisted of 100 males, including 50 boys from Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck, Westwood, Rutherford, and Paterson. James discussed the role of black men during slavery, black men and education, black men and the military, and black men in the family.

The Rev. Gregory J. Jackson, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church, said the workshop was an important part of the church’s yearlong celebration of the black family.

“The idea is that we are losing too many of our boys and men to jail, drugs, alcoholism, crime, et cetera,” he said. “We need to develop ways for saving our boys . . . find ways that we can help lost boys make a transition from adolescence to manhood.

“Many of these boys have fathers who are dead or in jail. They are our kids. We’ve got to help the kids grow up as men. You can’t just leave them out there for the world to raise. ”

James said part of their rites of passage into manhood must include educating them about their African heritage and instilling pride in that heritage.

The street, prisons, the service, and colleges have failed the black man because they have failed the black man and his family, James said. He cited the church as an institution where God-fearing Christians can help turn black boys into moral, upstanding men.

Samuel E. Adams, 35, of Englewood said the workshop is a godsend to the black community and that it should be done weekly.

“We first must be taught who we are to love ourselves,” he said. “With this knowledge we are gaining, we must take care of our own. We will never gain respect as a people until we start owning and controlling our community and our resources. ”

Caption: PHOTO – ROBERT S. TOWNSEND / THE RECORD – Youths and their elders joining in prayer at Hackensack’s Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Oct 27

Love0

POLICE HELD AT BAY IN BOMB THREAT

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 27, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

A man, at first thought to have explosives, held Hawthorne and Passaic County sheriff’s officers at bay for several hours Saturday and caused the evacuation of his neighborhood before surrendering without incident, authorities said.

Steven E. Kuiken, 25, of 38 Pasadena Place was being treated for cuts to his hands sustained when he punched out windows in the house, police said.

He was then to be transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson for psychiatric evaluation, authorities said.

“His mood changed several times during the negotiations,” Hawthorne police Capt. David A. Noble said.

Police said he was drinking beer and tequila during the day.

Noble said that Kuiken had been charged on Sept. 3 with burglary and theft in a break-in Aug. 23 at a home on Emmaline Drive. He did not show up for the preliminary court hearing, Noble said. His bail was revoked and a warrant issued for his arrest.

“And what happened today was one of our officers that knows him by sight observed him in the area of his home. He fled on seeing the officer and was observed going into his home. The officer called for assistance,” Noble said.

About 3:30 p.m., two officers from the Sheriff’s Department warrant squad responded and police entered Kuiken’s home, where he was barricaded in a second-floor bedroom.

“He instructed the officers to leave, that he had explosive devices in the house,” Noble said. The officers backed away, “per policy,” he said.

What followed was about five hours of negotiations, conducted by the Sheriff’s Department negotiations team. The bomb squad also was at the scene.
Four houses on Pasadena Place were evacuated and other area roads were blocked off.

“He was finally convinced to give himself up, and did so without any struggle,” about 9:35 p.m., Noble said.

Kuiken had 20-pound propane tanks in the house and two electronic remote control devices, Noble said. He also had a part from an electronic toy taped to a tank, he said.

“It in fact resembled a bomb, and on several occasions we could see it. It certainly caused us to exercise caution,” Noble said. About 7:30 p.m., Kuiken threw an ignited tank onto the lawn, but it burned itself out, Noble said.

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – STEVE HOCKSTEIN / THE RECORD – Police removing items from the house in Hawthorne where Steven E. Kuiken barricaded himself on Saturday.

Notes: Late run

Oct 25

Love0

HOMEMADE PLANE CRASHES; FRANKLIN LAKES MAN KILLED; CRAFT HIT CABLE OVER U.S. PARK

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, October 25, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

A 26-year-old Franklin Lakes man was killed Wednesday when a single-engine plane he was flying over a national park hit a television cable, landed upside down in the Delaware River, and broke into pieces, authorities said.

Laurence W.P. Rizzo died instantly from the impact of the experimental, homemade aircraft on the water, Pike County Coroner James J. Martin said.

Rizzo had been a flight instructor for about 15 months at Sussex Airport. He had taken off from the airport at about 2 p.m., airport manager Paul Styger said. The plane crashed about 50 minutes later in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pike County, chief ranger Barry Sullivan said.

Rizzo was pulled from 4 feet of water, Sullivan said. Martin pronounced him dead at 3:12 p.m. He said Rizzo died of a broken neck.

Rizzo was alone when the plane crashed. The tail section separated from the rest of the fuselage.

Styger said Rizzo, who was born and raised in Paterson before moving to Franklin Lakes in 1976, had been teaching flying at the airport while building up time to apply for work as either a corporate or commercial airline pilot. Rizzo was a 1990 graduate of LeTourneau University in Long View, Texas.

Witnesses told Stroudsburg radio station WSBG-WVPO the plane had been flying low and appeared to have engine trouble as it dipped over the river, striking a cable line.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause of the crash, agency spokesman Duncan Pardue said Thursday.

Pardue described the aircraft as a wood and fiberglass plane built from a kit.

This article contains material from The Associated Press.

Keywords: PENNSYLVANIA; AVIATION; ACCIDENT; DEATH; FRANKLIN LAKES; MAN; LAURENCE RIZZO

Oct 24

Love0

FLORIO SEEKS NEW WIRETAP LAWS CITES ELECTRONIC USE IN CRIME

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Thursday, October 24, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

Against a din of voices protesting his policies, Governor Florio on Wednesday proposed updating state wiretap laws to enable law enforcement officials to intercept communications on electronic devices such as beepers and fax machines.

“It is time we stop fighting crime with one hand tied behind our back,” Florio said in front of city police headquarters as he proposed the amendment, which Assemblymen Byron M. Baer, D-Englewood, and D. Bennett Mazur, D-Fort Lee, said they would introduce in the Assembly next month.

The amendment would target drug dealers and organized drug activities, Florio said, and would allow police to get court orders to intercept communications on beepers, faxes, and cellular telephones, which they are not allowed to do under current law.

“If there is anything we’ve learned about dealing with drug dealers, it’s that they are very sophisticated. They keep up with the times. They are right in there using all the high technology to further their bad business. Today they communicate with beepers, computers, fax machines, whatever,” he said.

Current laws allow law enforcement officials to get court orders to wiretap traditional telephones when they suspect criminal activities are taking place. New Jersey failed to update its laws in this area in 1988, as required in a 1986 law updating federal wiretap laws, the governor said.

Hackensack Police Chief William C. Iurato said any tool that assists police in fighting drugs is appreciated, particularly in the areas delineated in Florio’s proposed legislation.

Lt. Ron Natale, commander of the department’s detective bureau, said the proposed amendment would enable police to remove drugs from the streets as well as conduct other investigations.

Natale mentioned a search in June for Kelly Gonzalez, a 4-year-old Hackensack girl kidnapped from her home because her father was allegedly involved in a dispute over drugs. Kelly was returned to her mother after eight days in captivity.

“He, the victim’s father, had beeper contact with numerous people, and had we had legislation of this nature at that time, it may have led to a more speedy recovery of the victim,” Natale said.

Baer said he would work to get the bill passed quickly.

“Without these tools, even the legendary Elliot Ness and Joe Friday would be left behind by modern criminals who use beepers, radios, computers, fax machines, ultramodern automatic weapons, and cop-killer bullets,” Baer said.

A group of about 30 placard-carrying protesters waited for Florio, heckled him during his 10-minute speech, then booed when he finished. An amused smile playing on his face, he weathered cries of “Florio, go home” and other shouts from passing motorists.

“It’s the political season, after all,” Florio said.

Keywords: FLORIO; NEW JERSEY; LAW; ELECTRONIC; HACKENSACK; POLICE; CRIME

Caption: PHOTO – JOHN DECKER / THE RECORD – Governor Florio on the steps of police headquarters in Hackensack on Wednesday calling for updated state laws on the use of wiretaps.

Oct 23

Love0

GRIM TALES, HARD DRUGS, TOUGH LESSONS; THESE DEGREES HAVE NO VALUE

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 23, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

They met informally after a talk on drug addiction given by two Bergen County Jail inmates. A handful of Fair Lawn High School students walked onto the stage to meet the prisoners, to ask a question, or make a statement.

One of the students, a 17-year-old senior, felt a special kinship with the pair: He is a recovering cocaine addict.

“It’s true everything they said,” the student said. “You can go to alcohol, and it will bring you right back to drugs.”

The cycle had just been vividly recounted for him and about 270 other Fair Lawn seniors at a forum Tuesday morning in the school auditorium. The program is being offered this month in county schools by the Sheriff’s Department’s “Hit Team.”

The two inmates Michael, 48, and Greg, 28 told of lives disrupted because of addictions, beginning with alcohol and escalating to illegal drugs.
“If you play the game of drugs, you are going to end up one of three ways: addicted, in jail, or dead,” said Michael, who is serving a five-year sentence for possession of cocaine.

Greg said his descent began in the eighth grade, when he tried to use alcohol to mask the pain of mental, physical, and sexual abuse by his father. It soon escalated to nocturnal walks in New York City, looking for crack.

“You have to understand that these little six-packs and cases of beer you drink at victory parties . . . I don’t know, does it really make the music sound all that better? I don’t think so,” Greg said.

“It just doesn’t happen overnight. It started at a young age. It started with drinking. It started as fun. All my friends did it. So I did it, too.”

Michael said he was from Washington and once had a well-paying job and a family. But his addiction put him in the wrong place at the wrong time in a car when police busted the driver with a kilo of cocaine.

Joelynn Lisa, 17, said the two men’s stories were powerful. “It makes you think twice about doing drugs,” she said.

The Hit Team is two inmates, a corrections officer, a deputy sheriff, and an undersheriff or Sheriff Jack Terhune.

Student at Fair Lawn High School fires a pistol in class.

Keywords: FAIR LAWN; SCHOOL; STUDENT; MEETING; BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; DRUG; ABUSE

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – BOB BRUSH / THE RECORD – Fair Lawn High School seniors listening to Bergen County Jail inmates Greg and Michael tell the stories of their addictions.

Oct 20

Love0

TAKE PRIDE, PROFESSOR URGES BLACKS

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 20, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

After professor Rosalind Jeffries concluded a speech urging blacks to take pride in their heritage, a waiter went over and thanked her for inspiring him and exhorted her to press on with her work.

The 45-minute speech struck the same chord with many of the 350 people at Saturday’s NAACP annual Freedom Fund Awards Luncheon who gave her several standing ovations and flocked to the podium to speak with her.

Jeffries, the wife of controversial college professor Leonard Jeffries Jr., is an art historian and curator, and is a professor at New Jersey State Teachers College. She talked about the contributions of Africans and African-Americans to history, religion, science, and the arts.

But people of all races contributed to civilization, Rosalind Jeffries said. So blacks have to bring forth research that acknowledges contributions of Africans that have long been ignored.

“She didn’t make a speech, she made a statement,” said George J. Powell, president of the Bergen County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“She made a statement about life, a statement that when we say we are pro-black it doesn’t mean we are `anti anyone. See, there’s a lot of myth out there about blacks not being bright.”

Speaking with a flourish, and injecting humor and sarcasm, Rosalind Jeffries challenged those myths.

And, without naming names, she touched on a subject that black communities around the country have been embroiled in the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill confrontation before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

She decried the spectacle of two successful, educated blacks being part of such a lurid display before the nation.

“I hate to see a woman destroy a man in public because she was wounded,” she said. “Even when you are wounded and hurt there’s a time when you must sacrifice. I don’t condone sexual harassment and I am for women’s rights. But I think you must use wisdom in living, along with the knowledge that you acquire.”

Youth Achievement Awards were presented to Wendi Celeste Dunlap, a Hackensack High School sophomore; Richard Howard Jones, a Teaneck High School honors student; Kaileen T. Alston, a senior at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood; and Natalie Louise Jenkins, a graduate of Demarest’s Academy of Holy Angels and a freshman at Spelman College. Also honored were: Lou Schwartz, Anne Strokes Joyner, Jacqueline Caraway-Flowers, and Curtis and Michelle March, all of Teaneck.

Keywords: SPEECH; BLACK; RIGHT; ART; HISTORY; TEACHER; AFRICA; RELIGION; SCIENCE; TEANECK; EAST RUTHERFORD; ORGANIZATION

Oct 16

Love0

MAN’S BODY DUE IN ENGLEWOOD Exumation from Potter’s Field set

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Wednesday, October 16, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B03

The body of Edward Gee Jr. is expected to be returned home to Englewood this weekend for proper burial 16 weeks after his family first reported him missing and 10 weeks after they discovered he had died in a New York City hospital.

Gee’s family had the body, which was buried July 9 under the wrong name in Potter’s Field, exhumed for verification, which is expected to be done Thursday, William J. Ewing, the family’s lawyer, said Tuesday.

A wake has been planned for 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Nesbitt Funeral Home in Englewood. The funeral will be held at the funeral home at 10 a.m. Saturday, with burial to follow at Fair Lawn Cemetery.

Gee, 32, had disappeared after work on June 20. His mother, father, and a sister went to the Englewood Police Department on June 28 to report that they had not seen him and were worried.

Gee was conscious and was talking with paramedics when the New York City Emergency Medical Service picked him up at 172nd Street and Broadway on June 20 and took him to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Ewing said.

Although he had several pieces of identification in his wallet when he died of acute cocaine intoxication at the hospital that night, the hospital sent Gee’s family a bill for $278 for emergency room services on July 7 and told them that he had been discharged June 27. He was buried on Hart Island, a city burial ground for unclaimed bodies, three weeks later as an indigent with the name Edward Lee Jr.

The city Medical Examiner’s Office and city police said they were not responsible for the misidentification. Leslie Bernstein, a spokeswoman for Columbia-Presbyterian, said the hospital had completed an investigation into the case but said the results were confidential.

“We have not received any formal explanation from the hospital at all,” Ewing said. The family declined comment Tuesday, referring all questions to Ewing.

Following weeks of investigation by Englewood police and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, and after the family received two bills from the hospital, the family identified a photograph of Gee’s body at the Medical Examiner’s Office on Aug. 5.

“The family didn’t waste any time,” Ewing said. “The family immediately signed all necessary documents and paid the necessary fees for the return of their son. We have no explanation for why so much time was necessary to return the body from the city cemetery.”

A private forensic pathologist hired by the family will observe Thursday when the Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to verify that the exhumed body is the same as the one the family identified in the photograph, Ewing said.

“There is no doubt that the family will file a lawsuit immediately for redress in this matter,” Ewing said. “However, the formal investigation has not yet been completed, and the family specifically wants to complete the autopsy and the positive and definitive identification before the suit is commenced.”

The family filed notice of a $6 million claim with the city on Oct. 9, Ewing said.

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; MAN; DEATH; NEW YORK CITY; CEMETERY; ERROR

Oct 16

Love0

ATTACK STIRS HISPANICS ANGER ANEW

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By Michael O. Allen and Vera Titunik, Record Staff Writers |

Wednesday, October 16, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 6 Star | NEWS | Page B01

The mugging of a 67-year-old Englewood man well-known in the Colombian community has angered the city’s Hispanics, who were victimized by a series of muggings earlier this year.

Julio Hincapie, who was often seen in the city’s Colombian restaurants or riding his old bicycle and toting an ever-present leather pouch, was beaten and robbed Friday night by four men on Demarest Avenue, near Central Avenue.

He remained in Englewood Hospital Tuesday in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Those who know him say Hincapie sells things and helps people out by conveying messages and running errands.

“He’s a guy who is very popular,” said David Bernal, vice president of the United Latin Lions Club of Englewood. “He’s everybody’s messenger. You need someone to go to the bank, to go to the grocery store, he goes for you.”

The Colombian-born Hincapie is known as “Parranda,” a nickname he picked up in his youth meaning somebody “who likes to party,” Bernal said.

Police responded to his calls for help about 9:15 p.m. Friday and found him bleeding from a cut on the right side of his head, Englewood Detective Capt. C. Kenneth Tinsley said.

The attackers kicked and punched him and knocked him to the ground, then removed his coat and his leather bag, which contained an undetermined amount of money, Tinsley said. Hincapie was also treated for an arm injury, he said.

Residents came before the City Council in force early last spring after a spate of muggings in a largely Hispanic neighborhood near St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church on Demarest Avenue.

Police responded in the spring by meeting with neighborhood leaders to encourage the formation of a block association. They also set up a mobile police precinct a made-over bookmobile to increase police presence and reach out to the community. But because the mobile precinct became stifling in the summer heat, it was rarely put to use.

“We want to speak to the mayor and police,” Bernal said. “What have they been doing since the problem started in the Hispanic community?”

Mayor Donald Aronson said he deplored the violence and would speak to the city manager, but said his authority was limited. Under the city charter, the city manager, not the mayor or council, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city’s departments, including the police.

“The Hispanic community looks at the mayor of Englewood as if he was the mayor of Bogota,” Colombia, Aronson said. “I will bring it up to the people who have authority. I will find out the facts. I will see him [Hincapie] and express the anguish of the city of Englewood.”

Keywords: ENGLEWOOD; ASSAULT; HISPANIC; RACE

Oct 13

Love0

PSYCHIATRIC DEFENSE UNCERTAIN FOR POST OFFICE MURDER SUSPECT

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, October 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A20

Joseph M. Harris is one of six inmates in the Bergen County Jail and its annex who have been convicted or accused of murder.

Bergen County Sheriff Jack Terhune said Harris is being kept on suicide watch in a single cell in the mental ward in the annex. Other than that, the living arrangements for Harris will be no different from anyone else’s in the jail, Terhune said.

Harris has had one visitor: a cousin who declined to discuss the visit, made on Friday, and asked that he not be identified. The sheriff confirmed that the cousin was the only visitor.

Harris journey through the courts has barely begun, and will be a long one.

“What we are doing is preparing the case for a grand jury, and, in addition, this case is one that we have to decide whether or not to ask for the death penalty. We have not made that decision yet,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy.

“He has not asserted any kind of psychiatric defense. He may. That’s his right,” Fahy said.

In readying the case for presentation to a grand jury, investigators are seeking to determine how and where Harris amassed the arsenal he took to the Ridgewood post office. He carried a .22-caliber gun that can be purchased legally, but it was equipped with an illegal silencer. The Uzi and MAC submachine guns he also carried could have been purchased legally in New Jersey prior to May 31, when they were outlawed as part of a state ban on assault weapons.

Investigators also will be checking Harris telephone records, as well as those of the families and friends of his victims.

Fahy said he expected an indictment in six to eight weeks.

“There’s no doubt this is the worst murder I’ve seen since I’ve been a prosecutor,” Fahy said. “The scary thing is that it could have been a lot worse. ”

Keywords: WAYNE; RIDGEWOOD; MURDER; MAIL; EMPLOYMENT; MENTAL; HEALTH

ID: 17357983 | The Record (New Jersey)

Oct 13

Love0

TEANECK YOUTH SHOT IN LEG

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By MICHAEL O. ALLEN | Sunday, October 13, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A10

A 16-year-old Teaneck youth was shot in the leg accidentally Friday as he and three other township youths played with a gun at the victim’s home on Genesee Avenue, police said.

The victim, whom police declined to identify because of his age, was treated at Holy Name Hospital for a wound above his left ankle and was released, said Detective Sgt. Robert Adomilli.

A 15-year-old boy who was being questioned by police Saturday about the shooting was charged with illegal possession of the .22-caliber handgun used in the shooting and aggravated assault, the sergeant said.

The shooting occurred about 5 p.m., Adomilli said. Someone reported a drive-by shooting, but police were able to determine within an hour that the youths had not been telling the truth, Adomilli said, adding that it did not appear that the shooting occurred as a result of an argument.

The investigation was continuing, Adomilli said.

Keywords: TEANECK; YOUTH; SHOOTING

Oct 12

Love0

AFTER THE KILLING SPREE, SUICIDE WATCH FOR SUSPECT

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By Bill Sanderson and Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writers | Saturday, October 12, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A01

Joseph M. Harris, the fired postal worker accused of killing four people early Thursday, was under a suicide watch Friday in a single cell in the Bergen County Jail’s mental health ward, said Bergen County Sheriff Jack Terhune.

Harris, 35, of Paterson was being held on $1 million bail on charges of killing his former supervisor and her boyfriend in their Wayne home, and of later killing two employees at the Ridgewood post office. He surrendered to a SWAT team Thursday morning.

Harris was armed with two machine guns, several hand grenades, a samurai sword, and homemade pipe bombs when he was arrested.

Investigators were not sure Friday where Harris obtained his guns, or whether he had any gun permits. John J. Fahy, the Bergen County prosecutor, said two of Harris three weapons Uzi and MAC-10 semiautomatic rifles were assault weapons banned under a 1990 New Jersey law.

When the case is presented to a grand jury, the weapons offenses could be added to the list of charges against Harris, which include four counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, and possession of hand grenades.

Fahy said he may seek the death penalty against Harris. He said he will ask prosecutors and investigators for advice on the matter, and that he would also consider psychiatric evidence from Harris defense lawyers.

A state medical examiner’s autopsy of Carol Ott, Harris former supervisor, shows she was stabbed four to six times in the upper body. The other victims Cornelius Kasten Jr., Johannes M. VanderPaauw, and Donald McNaught were gunshot victims.

Keywords: RIDGEWOOD; WAYNE; MURDER; MAIL; EMPLOYMENT; BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON

Caption: COLOR PHOTO – ED HILL / THE RECORD – Postal officer in Ridgewood Friday. Sign reads: “We thank you for your condolences at this difficult time. Please do not ask the window clerks any questions regarding the events of yesterday. Thank you.”

Oct 11

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KILLER’S HOME WAS WELL-KNOWN; HIS NEIGHBORS HAD COMPLAINED

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Friday, October 11, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | 1 Star | NEWS Page A11

Type: PROFILE

The white brick and stucco home at Derrom and 14th avenues where Joseph M. Harris lived has been inspected many times by city zoning officials following complaints by neighbors that it was an illegal rooming house.
Neighbors standing outside Thursday as police entered and left sounded the same complaints, saying blaring horns, loud arguments, and fights at the house often punctuated the evenings. Harris is accused of killing four people during a murderous spree early Thursday morning.
City records show zoning officials began receiving complaints that the home was an illegal rooming house in 1985, zoning officer Thomas Shadiack said Thursday. “We went out there and found there were two rooms in the basement that were rented out,” he said.
Marianna Costa of Haledon owns the stately, spacious home where Harris lived in a second-floor room, above a kitchen at the back of the house.
The house has five bedrooms, five baths, and parquet floors throughout, Costa said. There are two fireplaces, one cobblestone and the other green marble, and one room has a bar with leather trimming and stainless steel fixtures.
Costa bought the house more than a decade ago for her daughter, but a year or so later the daughter decided to move and Costa made an option-to-buy agreement with Carmen Johnson, who put $2,000 down and agreed to pay several hundred dollars a month toward the purchase.
The city cited both Costa and Johnson for illegal conversion of the house to a rooming house after the September 1985 inspection, Shadiack said. Costa convinced a judge that Johnson was responsible for the house, he said, and Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge. She was fined $1,000, plus $25 in court costs.
Records show that zoning officials, responding to more complaints by neighbors, went to the house five times between February 1987 and June 1989 and asked for an affidavit listing the occupants of the house in October 1988. The city sent several letters to Costa and Johnson as a result of those inspections, but no legal action was taken.
Johnson on Thursday denied the home was a rooming house and said all those living there were related to her and didn’t pay rent.
In a Dec. 12, 1988, affidavit, filed by her lawyer, Clifford S. Hinds of Paterson, Johnson listed the following as occupants: herself, her husband, Earl; sons, Archie and Herman Burrell; daughter, Christine McDonald; and husband’s nephew, Harris.

Keywords: PATERSON; RIDGEWOOD; MAIL; EMPLOYMENT; SHOOTING; MURDER; JOSEPH M. HARRIS

Caption: (Early editions only) PHOTO – ED HILL / THE RECORD – Members of a police bomb squad on Thursday leaving the home at 215 Derrom Ave. in Paterson where Joseph M. Harris lived.

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