After only about an hour and 45 minutes of deliberation, a jury found today that a man serving a 98-year term for murder had fatally shot a Rahway, N.J., police officer nearly 45 years ago. The jury awarded the officer's family $9.5 million in damages.
After the decision, Elizabeth Bernoskie, the 72-year-old widow of the officer, Charles Bernoskie, exchanged hugs of jubilation with her six grown children and several of her 16 grandchildren. Family members said they were overjoyed that someone had finally been found legally responsible for a murder that had lingered unresolved for nearly half a century. The monetary award against the convict, Robert Zarinsky, was secondary, the family said, to the resolution of the crime and the family's sense that a nagging gap in their lives had been closed.
I'm happy they won, but exactly how do they collect? I'll bet some convict who's been locked up for 40+ years doesn't own much.
Good catch. I didn't think of him, until you mentioned it.
Zarinsky questions retired Rahway detective on 1958 homicide
Statements about officer's shooting conflict, defendant says
Thursday, August 14, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
The convicted killer of an Atlantic Highlands teenager, who is representing himself in a wrongful death civil trial involving a Rahway police officer, yesterday interrogated a retired Rahway detective for 2 1/2 hours.
Robert Zarinsky questioned former officer John DeStefano in Superior Court in Elizabeth about conflicting witness statements taken in the hours and days after officer Charles Bernoskie was killed Nov. 28, 1958.
Zarinsky is bent on showing the jury that he could not have been Bernoskie's killer. He wants to prove he was not one of the men caught burglarizing Miller Pontiac- Cadillac on St. Georges Avenue and then shot and killed Bernoskie.
The slaying was unsolved for 41 years until Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, turned him and cousin Theodore Schiffer in to police. Schiffer confessed and testified against Zarinsky. But Zarinsky was acquitted of murder in criminal court in 2001 because of lack of evidence.
Witnesses said one gunman was medium height and build, the second was a little shorter and slimmer, Zarinsky said to former officer John DeStefano, who investigated the killing and retired from Rahway in 1977.
"Out of these two individuals, none of them matched my discrimination in 1958," declared Zarinsky. "I was a weight-lifter.
"If I could show you a picture of how I looked at 225 pounds and 5 feet, 9 inches," Zarinsky said, then tried to show DeStefano a photograph of himself taken in 1969 to establish his physical description in 1958.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Lyons refused to allow Zarinsky to use the photograph saying it was taken 11 years after the slaying and was not a reliable tool to establish his appearance in 1958.
Zarinsky pressed on.
"In 1958, how old was Robert Zarinsky?"
Zarinsky answered his own question, declaring he was 18. He then pointed to other witness descriptions of an individual 20 to 25 years old and to a composite sketch of a man under 5-foot-10 and very athletic.
Then Zarinsky asked DeStefano if the person in the composite sketch had mutton-chop sideburns and a thick goatee.
DeStefano said no.
Zarinsky said witnesses reported seeing three men fleeing Miller Pontiac-Cadillac and that now police are trying to say there were only two gunmen.
"There were two assailants and officer Bernoskie.
"But he was in uniform," Zarinsky shot back
"He had a cape over his uniform," DeStefano said.
Zarinsky wanted to know about the type of bullets recovered, how many were recovered, and the possibility that there were three different guns used.
DeStefano said officer Bernoskie used a .38-caliber weapon. The gunmen used a .32-caliber weapon. Zarinsky declared to the court he believed a .25-caliber weapon might also have been used.
DeStefano returns to the witness stand today. Sapsa is also expected to testify.
Judith Lucas covers Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.
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Angry sister testifies on cop-killing
Zarinsky grills her in trial over'58 case
Friday, August 15, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
It was clear from the outset that the two siblings were braced for a battle.
Judith Sapsa told police in 1999 that her brother, Robert Zarinsky, and cousin, Theodore Schiffer, killed a Rahway police officer in 1958.
Zarinsky, already serving a life sentence for killing an Atlantic Highlands teenager in 1969, had proof that his sister stole more than $100,000 of his inheritance and sold his car and furniture. He called her a liar and a thief.
Yesterday, despite the dignity of a Superior Court room in Elizabeth, the two snapped at one another, talked over one another and alternately glared at each other.
They bickered and battled like children, leaving Judge Thomas Lyons to mediate.
The two were forced together in a civil trial that seeks to hold Zarinsky responsible for the shooting death of officer Robert Bernoskie -- killed Nov. 28, 1958.
Zarinsky is representing himself in the civil case brought by the slain officer's widow, Elizabeth. Sapsa was called to testify by the plaintiff's attorney, Kenneth Javerbaum.
Prompted by questions from Javerbaum, Sapsa, 60, testified that Zarinsky, her brother, had no regrets when he told their family that he shot the officer during a robbery at the Miller Pontiac-Cadillac car dealership in Rahway.
"He didn't regret it," said Sapsa. "He didn't feel bad. His attitude was the cop shouldn't have bothered them. The cop deserved to get shot."
When it was Zarinsky's turn to question Sapsa, she pursed her lips and glared at him.
They squabbled about their mother Veronica's will and why she left $30,000 to Sapsa and more than $100,000 in stocks plus the family house to Zarinsky.
"My mother said she should have drowned me," Sapsa said. "Hundreds of times."
"Mommy told you that?" Zarinsky asked. "That doesn't sound like a woman who would drown you," Zarinsky said, pointing to the $30,000 willed to Sapsa.
"Look at what she left you," Sapsa shot back.
The judge interrupted the squabbling pair.
"This is not a debate between the two of you," Lyons said.
"If Mommy hated you and wished death on you, she wouldn't have left you a plugged nickel," Zarinsky said.
"I didn't say she hated me," Sapsa said.
"Just answer my question," said Zarinsky.
"She didn't treat me the way she treated you," said Sapsa. "What about the time when you beat me up and punched me in the head?"
"All right," Lyons shouted. "That's enough. That's way off the mark."
"She's a hostile witness," Zarinsky told the judge. "She's telling untruths.
"Move on," Lyons said.
Then there were questions about stealing from their mother. Sapsa said she never did that.
Zarinsky started with another question: "Did you ever steal silver dollars from a piggy bank?"
"That's irrelevant," Lyons shouted, cutting off Zarinsky midstream.
The back-and-forth continued for three hours and was expected to resume today.
Sapsa went to police with the story that Zarinsky and Schiffer shot Bernoskie after Zarinsky discovered that she and her husband, Peter, were stealing from his investment funds.
Zarinsky and Schiffer in 1958 came to the family home in Linden bloodied, Sapsa said. Zarinsky had to help Schiffer into the house because he had a bullet wound in the chest. Zarinsky had a bullet in his hip but was able to talk about the shootout at the car dealership, Sapsa said.
Sapsa said she watched her mother use tweezers and tongue depressors to tease the bullet out of Schiffer's chest.
She then worked on Zarinsky. She swore the family to secrecy, Sapsa said.
Sapsa returns to the witness stand today.
Judith Lucas covers Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.
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Judge in Zarinski's civil trial hears Rahway detective recount confession
Saturday, August 16, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
It was supposed to be a simple burglary for cash and car parts from the old Miller Pontiac-Cadillac dealership in Rahway, a police detective testified during a civil trial in Union County yesterday.
Robert Zarinsky and cousin Theodore Schiffer slipped through a side door, said Rahway Detective William White, recounting Schiffer's confession about the pair's involvement in the death of Patrolman Charles Bernoskie on Nov. 28, 1958.
Zarinsky headed for the office in search of a safe; Schiffer rifled the parts department.
But minutes after breaking into the dealership, Schiffer heard a "rumbling" sound that grew closer. Schiffer believed it was the police, said White, detailing Schiffer's account given to police on Jan. 26, 2000.
On the witness stand in Superior Court, White told jurors that Schiffer yelled out to Zarinsky: "I am out of here. Police are here."
Schiffer ran out of the dealership and hid behind a shed. Then officer Bernoskie came up behind him, White said.
"Schiffer said he was frozen; he couldn't move," White testified.
Schiffer heard Zarinsky behind him telling him to run. Then he turned around and heard gunfire. A bullet hit him in the chest. Then he heard his cousin behind him.
Zarinsky yelled to Schiffer, "I am shot," and Schiffer yelled back, "I am shot too," White testified.
The cousins ran between houses down West Milton Avenue. They got into Schiffer's car and drove down Pierpont Street.
Zarinsky tossed the gun into a waterfall in Rahway Park, White said Schiffer told him.
They wound up at Zarinsky's house in Linden where his mother, Veronica Zarinsky, used tweezers to remove the bullets from Schiffer's chest and Zarinsky's hip, White said Schiffer told him.
For 41 years, Rahway police did not know what happened outside the dealership. Police knew the officer had emptied his revolver -- firing all six shots.
They knew the officer was hit three times with a .32-caliber revolver but they never charged anyone for the crime.
Then in 1999, Judith Sapsa, facing prosecution for stealing from Zarinsky's investment funds, told police her brother and cousin committed the murder.
Schiffer after initially denying his involvement in the killing, confessed in January 2000. Zarinsky never admitted any involvement and was acquitted in criminal court in 2001.
The acquittal spurred the officer's widow, Elizabeth Bernoskie, to file a wrongful death suit in civil court, hoping another jury will hold Zarinsky responsible for the murder.
Zarinsky, who is representing himself in the civil trial, asked White: "Detective, independent of the statements of Judith Sapsa and Theodore Schiffer, is there any other evidence linking Robert Zarinsky to the murder of Charles Bernoskie?"
White said no.
Zarinsky asked: "Detective, I never confessed to you, did I?
White said no.
The trial resumes on Monday.
Judith Lucas covers the Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.
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In court, cousin calls Zarinsky a cop-killer
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
On the witness stand in Superior Court yesterday, Theodore Schiffer was emphatic.
On the night of Nov. 28, 1958, a Rahway police officer caught him and Robert Zarinsky stealing from the local Miller Pontiac-Cadillac.
Rather than surrender, his cousin Zarinsky fired on the officer, Charles Bernoskie, Schiffer told the jury, during a civil trial taking place in Elizabeth.
A shootout ensued. Schiffer and Zarinsky got shot and hurried to an aunt's house on Bower Street in Linden, then along the same street to Zarinsky's house, Schiffer said.
Schiffer, 65, said Zarinsky's mother, Veronica, pulled out the bullets that lodged in his chest and Zarinsky's hip. They found out from news reports the next day that the officer died, Schiffer said.
Authorities charged Zarinsky and Schiffer with murder in 1999 after Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, told authorities her brother and cousin admitted to the shooting in 1958. Zarinsky was acquitted of the murder in a 2001 trial.
The officer's widow, Elizabeth Bernoskie, filed the wrongful death suit against Zarinsky, hoping jurors determine that Zarinsky was responsible for her husband's death.
Zarinsky, who is representing himself in the civil case, tried to use Schiffer's own words to prove his cousin lied to escape a long prison term.
Zarinsky pointed to Schiffer's statement in January 2000 to illustrate discrepancies in his testimony yesterday. In that statement, Schiffer said Zarinsky's mother treated Zarinsky's wound first, then moved on to him.
On the stand yesterday, Schiffer said he was treated first.
In his statement to police, Schiffer said Zarinsky threw away the murder weapon in a creek at Rahway Park before seeking aid for his wounds.
On the stand yesterday, Schiffer said they went straight from the car dealership and the shootout to Zarinsky's house.
Schiffer was adamant about Zarinsky's participation.
Zarinsky tried repeatedly to get Schiffer to admit that he, Schiffer, and two other men committed the burglary and shot officer Bernoskie. But Schiffer was adamant that no other people were involved.
Schiffer moved close to a microphone, raised his voice and in a measured manner said to Zarinsky: "There was only you and I. There was nobody else involved in this."
Sworn to secrecy by Zarinsky's mother, Schiffer said he told no one and even tried to lie to police when confronted at his home in Pennsylvania in 1999.
"I kind of didn't want to do it," Schiffer said about the plan to break into the car dealership. "He said we would be in and out."
Zarinsky brought a gun, a revolver, "for insurance," Schiffer said. "But he said nothing was going to happen. That's why I went in. But I did wrong."
Authorities had no clues about who committed the murder until 1999, when Sapsa told police.
Sapsa's disclosure came after she faced theft charges for stealing from Zarinsky's inheritance. Schiffer pleaded guilty, testified against Zarinsky and served three years in prison.
Judith Lucas covers the Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.
_________________
Cousin calls Zarinsky a cop-killer in court
Tense cross-examination in civil case stirs memories
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
On the witness stand in Superior Court yesterday, Theodore Schiffer was emphatic.
On the night of Nov. 28, 1958, a Rahway police officer caught him and Robert Zarinsky stealing from the local Miller Pontiac-Cadillac.
Rather than surrender, his cousin Zarinsky fired on the officer, Charles Bernoskie, Schiffer told the jury, during a civil trial taking place in Elizabeth.
A shootout ensued. Schiffer and Zarinsky got shot and hurried to an aunt's house on Bower Street in Linden, then along the same street to Zarinsky's house, Schiffer said.
Schiffer, 65, said Zarinsky's mother, Veronica, pulled out the bullets that lodged in his chest and Zarinsky's hip. They found out from news reports the next day that the officer died, Schiffer said.
Authorities charged Zarinsky and Schiffer with murder in 1999 after Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, told authorities her brother and cousin admitted to the shooting in 1958. Zarinsky was acquitted of the murder in a 2001 trial.
The officer's widow, Elizabeth Bernoskie, filed the wrongful death suit against Zarinsky, hoping jurors determine that Zarinsky was responsible for her husband's death.
Zarinsky, who is representing himself in the civil case, tried to use Schiffer's own words to prove his cousin lied to escape a long prison term.
Zarinsky pointed to Schiffer's statement in January 2000 to illustrate discrepancies in his testimony yesterday. In that statement, Schiffer said Zarinsky's mother treated Zarinsky's wound first, then moved on to him.
On the stand yesterday, Schiffer said he was treated first.
In his statement to police, Schiffer said Zarinsky threw away the murder weapon in a creek at Rahway Park before seeking aid for his wounds.
On the stand yesterday, Schiffer said they went straight from the car dealership and the shootout to Zarinsky's house.
Schiffer was adamant about Zarinsky's participation.
Zarinsky tried repeatedly to get Schiffer to admit that he, Schiffer, and two other men committed the burglary and shot Bernoskie. But Schiffer was adamant that no other people were involved.
Schiffer moved close to a microphone, raised his voice and in a measured manner said to Zarinsky: "There was only you and I. There was nobody else involved in this."
Sworn to secrecy by Zarinsky's mother, Schiffer said he told no one and even tried to lie to police when confronted at his home in Pennsylvania in 1999.
"I kind of didn't want to do it," Schiffer said about the plan to break into the car dealership. "He said we would be in and out."
Zarinsky brought a gun, a revolver, "for insurance," Schiffer said. "But he said nothing was going to happen. That's why I went in. But I did wrong."
Authorities had no clues about who committed the murder until 1999, when Sapsa told police.
Sapsa's disclosure came after she faced theft charges for stealing from Zarinsky's inheritance. Schiffer pleaded guilty, testified against Zarinsky and served three years in prison.
Judith Lucas covers the Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.
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Killer turns witness in civil trial
In bizarre direct examination of himself, he denies the 1958 slaying of officer
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
Robert Zarinsky called his star witness to the stand yesterday -- himself.
Zarinsky is serving as his own attorney in a civil trial that seeks to hold him responsible for the murder of Rahway Police officer Charles Bernoskie, who was shot and killed during a robbery at a car dealership in 1958.
"I call Robert Zarinsky to the stand," he announced to the courtroom.
Then, flanked by two Union County sheriff's officers, Zarinsky approached the witness stand in Superior Court in Elizabeth.
He swore on the Bible to tell the truth, turned to the eight jurors and said, "I am the defendant in this case."
Then referring to himself in the third person, the 63-year-old Zarinsky, wearing a khaki prison uniform, began a direct examination -- of himself.
"Mr. Zarinsky, did you murder officer (Charles) Bernoskie?" he asked.
"Absolutely not. I had nothing to do with it. I had no role in that crime. I had no connection with that crime whatsoever," he answered.
"Are you involved in the Nov. 28, 1958, murder of officer Bernoskie?"
"No. I am not. I was not involved in that."
And so it went.
Zarinsky, a former Linden resident, was acquitted in 2001 of Bernoskie's murder after a criminal trial. But the slain officer's widow, Elizabeth Bernoskie, is convinced he is responsible and filed a wrongful death suit in civil court, where the standard of proof is lower. Jurors decide responsibility based on the weight or preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt as in criminal court.
Zarinsky spent seven hours on the stand yesterday, either answering his own memorized questions or refusing to answer others posed by attorney Kenneth Javerbaum, who is representing Elizabeth Bernoskie.
Bernoskie contends Zarinsky and a cousin, Theodore Schiffer, killed her husband after they were caught looting the Miller Pontiac-Cadillac car dealership on St. Georges Avenue in Rahway.
Authorities had no clues about the murder until 1999, when Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, herself facing theft charges for stealing part of her brother's inheritance money, told police he admitted the crime shortly after it occurred.
Sapsa said she kept the story to herself for more than 40 years because her mother, Veronica, after removing bullets from Schiffer's chest and Zarinsky's hip, swore the family to secrecy. The two men were injured during a shootout with Bernoskie, she said.
Schiffer corroborated Sapsa's story, confessed to police and testified against Zarinsky in the criminal case.
Zarinsky has argued there is nothing other than the words of his sister and cousin to link him to the murder.
Sapsa, he said, lied to police to avoid prosecution on the theft charges and Schiffer lied to avoid a long prison sentence for murder. Schiffer, who served less than three years as part of a deal with prosecutors, has maintained it was Zarinsky who shot Bernoskie as they fled the dealership that rainy November night.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is an extremely, extremely bizarre case," Zarinsky told jurors from the witness stand yesterday.
During his testimony, he admitted he has been in prison since April 1975, but left out the fact that it is for murdering 17-year-old Rosemary Calandriello of Atlantic Highlands. And he did not tell the jury he is serving a life sentence.
Instead, Zarinsky cast himself as a model prisoner who trained as a paralegal and helps poor and illiterate inmates with their legal troubles. He spoke of his love for birds and cats and how he once kept squirrels as pets.
But under cross-examination, Zarinsky appeared stunned when Javerbaum questioned him about his 1999 attempt to bargain his way out of prison. He reluctantly admitted telling authorities he could help them solve five to 10 murders, that he knew how the crimes were committed and where bodies were buried.
But first they had to agree to release him from prison, Zarinsky testified.
"I wasn't involved in any of this," Zarinsky said of the murders he claimed he could solve. "They were not committed by me. I had information from other individuals."
Zarinsky said he tried to strike the bargain so he could get out of New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
"Trenton is a terrible place," he said.
Then, in another lengthy exchange with himself, he attempted to tell jurors that his past behavior should not have a bearing on Bernoskie's murder.
"Had you led an unsatisfactory lifestyle that would be frowned upon?"
"Yes."
"In the 1960s, did you know dangerous people, extremely dangerous people?"
"Yes, I did."
"Do you think this should be held against you in the death of officer Bernoskie?"
"No."
Closing arguments are scheduled for today, after which the case is expected to go to the jury.
Judith Lucas covers the Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011
____________________
Jury: Zarinsky must pay $9.5 million
Victim's widow says verdict brings a peace worth more than any sum
Thursday, August 21, 2003
BY JUDITH LUCAS
Star-Ledger Staff
Elizabeth Bernoskie believes justice has finally prevailed.
A jury in Union County awarded her $9.5 million plus interest yesterday after determining that Robert Zarinsky shot and killed her husband, Rahway police officer Charles Bernoskie, in November 1958.
For Elizabeth Bernoskie, 72, the issue was never about the money. It was about getting a court, any court, to say Zarinsky killed her husband. Two years ago, she was devastated when a jury in a criminal case acquitted Zarinsky of murder.
"It's such a different feeling from the last time," Bernoskie said after the decision was announced in Superior Court in Elizabeth. "I waited so long. I tried so many avenues."
Zarinsky, who defended himself in the weeklong trial, sat stunned and silent after the verdict was read. He promised to appeal.
The jury deliberated 90 minutes before reaching a unanimous verdict.
Juror Joseph Balogun of Elizabeth said Zarinsky had no credibility. "We didn't believe him," he said.
Serving a life sentence for killing an Atlantic Highlands teenager in 1969, Zarinsky is believed to have between $400,000 and $500,000 in inheritance money from his mother, Veronica. Bernoskie's attorney, Kenneth Javerbaum, concedes it is unlikely the family will ever get anything close to the full jury award.
After the verdict, one by one, Elizabeth Bernoskie wrapped her arms around her six children, tears in her eyes, as she hung on to them.
"This takes that heavy weight away," said Cathy Bernoskie, 51, the second-oldest of the children.
"We waited a long time for this," said the youngest, Robert Bernoskie, whose mother was pregnant with him when his father died. "We knew he is guilty. And this jury agreed."
Elizabeth Bernoskie wanted the 63-year-old Zarinsky to be held responsible for shooting her husband when he interrupted a burglary at the former Miller Pontiac-Cadillac dealership on St. Georges Avenue the night of Nov. 28., 1958.
No one was arrested for the murder until 1999, when Zarinsky's sister, Judith Sapsa, herself facing criminal charges for stealing more than $100,000 from his inheritance, told police her brother confessed to the family in 1958.
Sapsa told police that Zarinsky and a cousin, Theodore Schiffer, stumbled into the family home in Linden. Bloodied and weak, they begged for aid, Sapsa said.
Zarinsky confessed to his mother, who swore the family to secrecy after digging out bullets, one from Schiffer's chest, another from Zarinsky's hip, Sapsa said.
Zarinsky has denied any involvement in the murder. But Schiffer confessed to the crime and testified against Zarinsky in the criminal and civil trials.
Unlike the criminal trial, in which Zarinsky hired a lawyer, the former produce delivery driver represented himself and repeatedly received admonishments from Superior Court Judge Thomas Lyons for speaking out of turn, introducing extraneous details and volunteering erroneous information.
More than a dozen times during the trial -- in statements, oral arguments and testimony -- jurors heard Zarinsky proclaim his innocence. Zarinsky said he was nowhere near the car dealership but was at a movie house in Elizabeth with a girlfriend when Bernoskie was shot.
Zarinsky attacked the credibility of his sister and cousin, calling them liars and accusing them of concocting the story of his involvement in the crimes to save themselves. Schiffer served less than three years in prison in return for his testimony against Zarinsky. Sapsa got probation.
But Javerbaum argued that the story was so incredible that Sapsa and Schiffer had to be telling the truth despite some contradictory details, such as whom Veronica Zarinsky treated first.
Jurors needed only to decide responsibility based on the weight or preponderance of the evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt as in criminal court.
Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow hailed the verdict.
"Now there's vindication," said Romankow, alluding to the outcome of the criminal trial. "I am pleased a jury has finally determined he is responsible for the death of officer Bernoskie."
"We got some satisfaction now," said Rahway Detective William White, the investigator who traced a fingerprint left on an antifreeze can in 1958 to Schiffer. "It's a great feeling for us and the family."
Elizabeth Bernoskie, who still lives in Rahway, was left a widow, with five young children and a sixth on the way.
Her husband was 31 years old.
For years, the family wrestled with the mystery, said the oldest daughter, Elizabeth Taylor, 54.
"We accomplished what we wanted most," said Taylor, who kept meticulous notes in a spiral notebook throughout the trial. "Now we have room to breathe."
Judith Lucas covers Union County Courthouse. She can be reached at
jlucas@starledger.com or (908) 527-4011.