Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder Trial

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Trial begins in'02 slayings
Essex man accused in Funcoland killings

Tuesday, June 03, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

A prosecutor pointed to Omar Thomas and told a Morris County jury that Thomas murdered two employees of a Roxbury video game store to cover up a robbery he'd orchestrated using his two cousins. The jury will not only hear from the cousins but also from Thomas himself, in his videotaped confession.

But Thomas claims his cousins, who stand to receive drastically reduced sentences for their cooperation, were the culprits and that he knew nothing of their planned crime when the three traveled from Essex County to the Roxbury Mall on Route 10 on Dec. 1, 2002.

"The defense in this case is denial," attorney David Glazer said. "He had no idea what they were up to."

Afte
r three weeks of jury selec tion, a panel of eight women and six men yesterday heard opening arguments in a 6-year-old homicide case that could send the 31-year-old Irvington resident to prison for life. Thomas had been indicted for capital murder, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in December.

Relatives of both the victims, 26-year-old Eric Rewoldt and 21-year-old Jeff Eresman, listened quietly as Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. described how the two Funcoland store employees were killed in the suburban strip mall.

Eresman had rung up three customers, including Thomas, in the 12 minutes after the store opened at 11 a.m., McNamara said. Authorities believe Thomas' then- 14-year-old cousin, Craig Thomas Jr., shot Eresman in the head in a rear storeroom, and Thomas finished him off with a second shot to the back of the head.

Minutes later, Rewoldt, the store's manager, arrived to find the front door locked. Within seconds of stepping inside, Omar Thomas, w
ho knew Rewoldt on a first-name basis from his many visits to Fun coland, shot him.

"That man put a bullet in his head from point-blank range," McNamara said. "He killed him be cause he wanted to get away with a crime. At the core of his crime was simple greed."

Another employee had been scheduled to work that Sunday morning, but called in sick, the prosecutor noted. Just before Re woldt arrived at the store, a customer tried to enter, but the door was locked and one of the three men inside said the store was closed, McNamara said.

Police said the three fled with $10,000 worth of game consoles and games. Eight months went by be fore Thomas surfaced as a suspect, and police arrested him and cousins Craig Thomas, now 20, and Rahman Vaughn, 29, both of Newark, in November 2003.

Omar Thomas initially blamed his cousins, but his story changed over 37 hours of questioning, and by the end, he admitted on videotape that he shot both victims. In that final version, a relaxed Omar Thomas
can be seen using his tur key sandwich, as well as cups, pens, a tape recorder and a chair to help demonstrate how the killings went down. Thomas said they had planned the robbery, but it went awry when the younger cousin acci dentally shot Eresman.

Glazer suggested investigators influenced what Thomas confessed to, and he questioned why only five hours of his time in custody were recorded. Glazer pointed out that the cousins changed their versions of events. Most notably, Craig Thomas claimed Omar Thomas was the sole shooter when the younger cousin took a plea deal in 2004, but months later admitted that he shot Eresman first.

Out of earshot of the jury, McNamara objected to Glazer questioning why prosecutors had given plea deals to the co-defendants if they believed his client's confession was so reliable. While Craig Thomas and Rahman Vaughn both pleaded guilty to murder, which carries a minimum prison term of 30 years, their deals call for Craig Thomas to serve 8 1/2 years and Vaughn to
serve 17 years, according to court papers. Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto said he would rule tomorrow whether he needs to remedy Glazer's comment.

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[Montrose]

Officers tell jury of brutal scene at video game store
Irvington man on trial in Roxbury slayings

Thursday, June 05, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

The image of Eric Rewoldt's lifeless body projected onto a screen yesterday sent his weeping mother and wife out of a Morris County courtroom, where Omar Thomas is on trial for murdering Rewoldt and another worker at a Roxbury video game store in 2002.

Testimony opened with Kevin Howell, who was the first Roxbury police officer on the scene of the Dec. 1, 2002, double killing. He recalled opening the door to Funco land and first seeing the feet of a man lying with a pool of blood around his head. When Howell's backup arrived, the officers moved through the building and found a second body face down, with gunshot wounds to the head, in a rear storeroom
.

Prosecutors say Thomas, 31, of Irvington, recruited two cousins to rob the store, but the crime turned murderous when Thomas' then- 14-year-old cousin accidentally shot 21-year-old Jeffrey Eresman in the head. Authorities claim Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range to finish him off.

When Rewoldt, the 26-year-old store manager, showed up a few minutes later, Thomas shot him in the head from less than 3 feet away, authorities claim. The three then fled with $10,000 in merchan dise, and weren't caught until November 2003.

Thomas contends his cousins plotted the robbery and committed the murders. Defense attorney David Glazer said in opening statements that Thomas never stepped foot in Funcoland that day, al though the prosecution said it has evidence he bought a $21 video game on a credit card minutes be fore Eresman and Rewoldt were killed.

While prosecutors have claimed Thomas fired the shots that killed both men, Morris County Medical Examiner Ron
ald Suarez testified yesterday that Eresman would have died from the first bullet wound, which authorities say the younger cousin fired.

Suarez testified that Eresman's heart continued beating at least a few minutes after the first bullet was fired from more than three feet away, and he said it was not a clean shot. The second bullet fired at Eresman, and the one fired at Re woldt, were from less than three feet away and were clean shots, he said. Rewoldt was killed instantly.

When the younger cousin, Craig Thomas Jr., took a plea deal in January 2004, he claimed he had watched Omar Thomas shoot Eresman and Rewoldt. But six months later, Craig Thomas ad mitted he fired the first shot at Eresman.

For testifying against Omar Thomas, Craig Thomas, now 20, and the other cousin, 29-year-old Rahman Vaughn, would get to withdraw their guilty pleas to murder and get greatly reduced sen tences. Craig Thomas would be allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter and could get out of prison after serv
ing 8 1/2 years. Vaughn would get to plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter and serve 17 years.

Besides the cousins' testimony, Omar Thomas faces his own incriminating words: he gave a videotaped confession in which he ad mits killing both men. Before that confession, he gave other versions, first saying he was just a bystander and later saying he shot Eresman but not Rewoldt.

Thomas, whose mother was in court yesterday, faces life in prison if convicted. He had been indicted for capital murder, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in December. The trial continues today.



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[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Customer recounts day of slayings at store
Says man blocked entrance to Funcoland in Roxbury
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff
Dennis Davenport didn't know an employee lay dead when he opened the door of a Roxbury video game store that December day nearly six years ago.

One of three African-American men standing by the counter inside Funcoland rushed over and blocked Davenport, saying the store was closed because of computer trouble.

Store manager Eric Rewoldt arrived minutes later and found the door locked. "What's going on?" Rewoldt asked Davenport, a regular customer at Funcoland.

"I don't know. They said the computers are down," Davenport said.

Seconds after Rewoldt unlocked the door and stepped inside, police say Omar Thomas shot him in the head at point
-blank range on Dec. 1, 2002.

Testifying yesterday at Thomas' double-murder trial in Superior Court in Morristown, Davenport said, "I heard a thud" as he walked from Funcoland toward his car. Davenport said he assumed somebody had thrown a game cartridge against a wall.

"I thought they were just goofing around," he testified.

Prosecutors say Thomas, 31, of Irvington, recruited two cousins to rob the store, but the crime turned murderous when Thomas' then-14-year-old cousin accidentally shot 21-year-old Jeffrey Eresman in the head in a back storeroom. Authorities claim Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range to finish him off, and then killed Rewoldt, 26, to cover up that crime.

The jury will get to hear Thomas' videotaped confession to shooting Eresman and Rewoldt. He knew them both on a first-name basis because he often stopped by on days he made deliveries to an ice cream parlor in the same Route 10 strip mall, authorities said.

Thomas' defe
nse at trial mirrors the first story he gave police when he was arrested in November 2003: He claimed his cousins planned the heist and killed Rewoldt and Eresman.

Over 37 hours of questioning, Thomas admitted more and more culpability, ultimately confessing to both killings. Months after Thomas' younger cousin, Craig Thomas Jr., pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against him in 2004, Craig Thomas admitted he fired the first shot at Eresman. Craig Thomas and Rahman Vaughn, 29, are star witnesses for the prosecution.

A few minutes after his exchange with Rewoldt, Davenport testified, he saw one of the three men who had been inside Funcoland leave the store and go to his car. He pulled the car in front of the store, and after the other two got in, they drove off. Police say they had $10,000 in stolen merchandise.

David Indiveri was 16 years old and working at the nearby Panera Bread eatery the day of the killings. During a 10:30 a.m. break, he walked to Funcoland to buy a network adap
ter for his PlayStation II game, but the store wasn't open yet.

He noticed a distinctive car with its motor running in the parking lot, a small, blue sedan with one black door, he said. An African-American man was in the driver's seat, he said.

Indiveri, now 21, testified that he crossed paths with another African-American man walking along the strip mall's sidewalk. He also spotted Eresman headed to the store, and a few minutes later noticed the metal gate protecting the store was partially up and the store lights were on.

Indiveri told police the black male he passed on the sidewalk was at least 6 feet 2 inches tall, but a 5-foot-tall witness testified yesterday the man she saw hovering near the Funcoland that Sunday morning was about her height. Thomas is 5 feet 8 inches tall.

Patrice DiMeo, 56, picked Thomas out of a photo array in August 2003 as the man she had seen on Dec. 1, 2002. A dog lover, DiMeo remembers people's faces in terms of dogs, and she told police the m
an she saw at the shopping center that day had the face of a Pekinese, she testified.

Thomas faces life in prison if convicted. He had been indicted for capital murder, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in December. The trial resumes today.



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[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Murder jury sees videotape of defendant
Thomas admitted to Funcoland shootings in 2003
Friday, June 13, 2008
BY AL FRANK
Star-Ledger Staff

It was a robbery Omar Thomas said he did not want to commit in the first place. Because he was a familiar face around the Roxbury mall, where he delivered ice cream, he said he was not even going to go inside the Funcoland game store.

But the 2002 plan he and two cousins hatched went awry and, on his videotaped confession played for the jury in his murder trial yesterday, Thomas admitted pulling the trigger on the gun that killed two of the store's employees.

"I never really killed anybody before," Thomas said during the 75-minute interview in November 2003 with James Gannon, then the deputy chief of detectives for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and Roxb
ury Lt. James Simonetti. "I never shot off a gun before."

The tape shows a cooperative Thomas using paper plates, a soda can and the sandwich investigators bought him for his supper to show the store's layout. He twice waives his right to remain silent, repudi ates previous statements denying his role and apologizes for giving prosecutors the run-around, prais ing Gannon and Simonetti for being "straight up forward" with him.

The 31-year-old Irvington man also apologizes to the victims' families, saying it was a crime that "shouldn't have happened."

If he had his way, he said, the trio would instead have stolen televisions from a Bayonne warehouse. "Nothing like getting $1,500 for a TV," he said on the videotape.

But cousins Rahman Vaughn, 29, and Craig Thomas Jr., 21, were adamant about stealing video games so, as long as the television thefts came next, Thomas agreed to the Funcoland plan.

The only condition is that he not enter the store until after employees were
restrained and unable to recognize him.

His cover was blown almost from the start. When he saw no signal for him to come in and help pack games, he went into the store and was immediately recognized by clerk Jeff Eresman, 21.

"Damn, damn, damn," he remembers thinking to himself. "To throw him off," Thomas purchased a $21.19 game for his son before finding Vaughn in another store.

By the time they got back to Funcoland, Eresman was on the stockroom floor, where an agitated Craig Thomas was ordering him not to look.

As Omar Thomas and Vaughn threw nine game systems and more than 50 games in garbage bags, they heard Craig Thomas complain Eresman is not following orders "so Rahman is like, yo, let's shoot" him. (And they are Human?)

"Just give me the gun," Thomas recalled saying. "And then when I said that, he shot one off. That's when it exploded."

As stunned relatives in the courtroom watched, the tape shows Simonetti sprawled on the floor of the prosecutor's
conference room so Thomas can demonstrate how far he was from Eresman when he pulled the trigger.

"I got the gun in my hand. I said, 'I don't think he's dead,'" he said. "So I take a shot." The manager, Eric Rewoldt, 26, was shot by Omar Thomas when he used his key to get into the store, according to the tape.

As they flee, they worry about going to jail. By the time they get back to Essex County, however, their only concern is dividing the spoils before heading to their separate homes, Thomas said.

"You know this situation had to happen like this, and it shouldn't have happened," he said. "I should have stuck with the TV thing." (The utter disregard for murdering 2 young men is appalling, I guess their species does not have souls or a concious?)

The trial before Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto in Morristown resumes Monday.


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[Gman]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

The black plague continues unabated!!! All three of these lying, murdering niggers should be hung immediately!!!

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Retired detective grilled on stand
Funcoland suspect gave a confession

Thursday, June 19, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

Police didn't arrest their prime suspect in a Roxbury double-murder when officers approached him on Nov. 17, 2003, on an Irvington street. Instead, an Essex County investigator who knew Omar Thomas "extended an invitation" to him, asking him to speak to police, the head of the investigation testified yesterday.

Over 37 hours of questioning, Thomas first blamed two cousins for the Dec, 2002, slayings of two Funcoland video store workers, but eventually gave a videotaped confession admitting that he shot 21-year-old Jeff Eresman and 26-year-old Eric Rewoldt in the head during a botched robbery.

A Morris County jury last week saw that video, and yesterday, the defense
cross-examined James Gannon, the retired deputy chief of investigations for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office who headed the Funcoland probe. Thomas, 31, of Irvington, gave his confession to Gannon and a Rox bury detective.

Gannon said his plan on Nov. 17, 2003, was not to have Thomas arrested, and claimed he had no plan in place had Thomas turned down the invitation and walked away. Gannon said he didn't want Thomas to tip off anybody else who might be involved; Thomas' cousins, who have since pleaded guilty, were not yet suspects at that time.

Defense attorney David Glazer asked if the Essex County prosecutor's lieutenant who approached Thomas said, "Hey, Omar. I need you to take a ride with me. Some people want to ask you some questions." But Gannon said he didn't tell the lieutenant what to say.

Gannon confirmed that he already had gotten search warrants to get DNA from Thomas and to search his home and car, but that they were not executed until after Thomas volunteered t
o talk to police.

Glazer's cross-examination was testy, and he was obviously frustrated by many of the retired investigator's answers. Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto upheld numerous objections the prosecution raised over Glazer's questions.

The jury learned that the prosecutor's office had installed a global positioning system on Thomas' car in August 2003, about a week after people who recognized Thomas' image on "wanted" fliers contacted authorities.

But the jury did not hear that police had gotten a call just two weeks after the killings from a woman who recognized Thomas in a picture that ran in The Star-Ledger showing a suspect whose image was caught on a fast-food restau rant's security camera.

While the jury was on a lunch break, Glazer argued that he ought to be allowed to question Gannon about how the office failed to follow up on the lead. The detective assigned to do it had died in a car crash the next day.

"It makes it look like they dropped the ball
-- and they did," Glazer said.

But Ahto agreed with Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. that it would be improper cross-examination of Gan non, in part because he took over the investigation in June 2003, six months after that tip came in.

The trial continues Monday in Superior Court in Morristown.


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[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Defendant first denied Funcoland killings
In 2003, Omar Thomas blamed 14-year-old cousin

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

Before he confessed to a 2002 double slaying at a Roxbury video game store, Omar Thomas told police his cousin was the killer and that he feared he would wrongly be blamed.

In his first interview with police in November 2003, Thomas said he had nothing to do with the Dec. 1, 2002 killings of Eric Rewoldt and Jeff Eresman, whom he said had become friends with over the two years he'd been going to the Fun coland store.

"I was in a state of shock," Thomas told Roxbury Police Lt. James Simonetti in a statement recorded on Nov. 17, 2003.

Thomas, 31, of Irvington, is on trial for the killings of Rewoldt, 26, and Eresman, 21, in Superior Court in
Morristown. He became a sus pect in the case in August 2003, after a witness recognized his image on a wanted poster. When police asked that he speak with them, he said he knew they had been tracking him and had anticipated that one day he would be questioned.

Thomas described in detail his actions the day of the killings. He offered his dental regime, which included using Listerine, the precise route he drove to the mall and the breakfast sandwiches he ordered from McDonald's while waiting for the stores to open. He told Simonetti he went to the Roxbury Mall to buy women's shoes at the discount store next to the Funco land, and had taken two cousins along for the ride.

When he returned to his car with the shoes he intended to resell for profit, Craig Thomas Jr., then 14, told him Rahman Vaughn had shot the two Funcoland workers.

"I was praying to myself be cause it was a terrible situation and um, I didn't [want] no parts of that. Because I knew these people," he said, noting they
were friends. They called him "the ice cream man" because he delivered supplies to a local ice cream parlor, he said. Rewoldt sometimes lent him money to buy games and Eres man introduced him "to the sport of paintballing," Thomas said.

Thomas said Vaughn had re cently begun selling marijuana and owned a revolver, but that he didn't know Vaughn was carrying it that day. Vaughn came back to the car wearing a grin and carrying videos, he said.

"He just said 'yo, I did what I had to do,'" Thomas claimed.

Thomas said he knew people would identify him because he was one of the few African-Americans who regularly shopped at the strip mall. Thomas drove his cousins back to Newark, but he said he dropped Vaughn off at an intersec tion. He then went to church and prayed, unable to concentrate on the sermon, he said.

At the end of the 45-minute recorded interview, Thomas said he wanted to put the incident behind him, noting he hoped to become a preacher. "I'm glad that it came out,"
he said.

The next day, after learning that the cousins identified him as the shooter, Thomas changed his story and confessed.

Defense attorney David Glazer wants to argue that police used psychological pressure to get that confession. Glazer was upset to learn that the prosecution doesn't plan to call Craig Thomas, now 20, as a witness. Months after taking a plea deal and agreeing to help in Omar Thomas' prosecution, Craig Thomas admitted that he fired the first of two shots into Eresman's head.

Glazer argued the jury should get to hear police telling Omar Thomas that Craig Thomas pinned the killings on him when he was ar rested, and that Glazer should get to cross-examine him.



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[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Jury sees confession of defendant in killings

Tuesday, July 01, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

The Morris County jury that will decide the fate of a 31-year-old Irvington man charged with murder got to watch a video yesterday of the defendant confessing to the shooting.

On the video, Omar Thomas insisted he had nothing to do with the 2002 double killing at a Roxbury video game store until investigators said his teenage cousin told them Thomas killed Jeff Eresman.

Hours earlier, Thomas had walked detectives through places at the Roxbury Mall where he had been on Dec. 1, 2002, explaining how another cousin had gunned down the two Funcoland employees. Now, the detectives invited him to come clean.

If the gun went off accidentally, "we don't have a problem with that," Morris County P
rosecutor's Detective Mark Smith said. "We'll work with you." Smith made those comments during the interview that was secretly recorded at the Roxbury police station.

Thomas then admitted he accidentally shot Eresman, 21, as he tried to grab a gun out of 14-year-old Craig Thomas Jr.'s hand. Afraid that they would go to jail, he shot Eresman in the head again to be sure he was dead, he said.

But he blamed his other cousin, Rahman Vaughn, now 29, for killing Eric Rewoldt, saying Vaughn shot the 26-year-old store manager as he headed toward the back room and Eresman's body.

"He said, 'I'm not going to jail,' and popped him," Thomas said. "I don't want to be going down for no two bodies," he told Smith and Roxbury Lt. James Simonetti.

The video was taken Nov. 17, 2003, as Thomas toured the crime scene with investigators, and the following day when he confessed to the shooting. The defense played the videos during the cross-examination of Simonetti, who today will take the w
itness stand for a fifth day.

Thomas later gave another confession in which he admitted killing both victims during a botched robbery. Months after Craig Thomas took a plea deal and agreed to help prosecute Omar Thomas, the younger cousin, now 20, admitted that he fired the first shot at Eresman.

Defense attorney David Glazer has suggested through questioning that Omar Thomas was pressured into falsely confessing.

Before getting the confession, Simonetti reminded Thomas that he was trying to help him and wouldn't leave him alone.

"There's two people sticking their necks out for you. One and two," Smith said as he gestured to Simonetti and himself.

The prosecution didn't want the secretly recorded video played and the jury did not get to see the first few minutes in which Thomas and Smith are alone in the 6-by-10-foot room. Thomas asked Smith, "Who do I get when I get to the county? A public defender?" Smith answered "yeah, yeah" just before Simonetti returned.


Thomas claimed he left the store after shooting Eresman and didn't see Rewoldt get shot, but when Simonetti said they had a witness who saw him inside, he admitted he was there.

Thomas' defense at trial is that he didn't go into the Funcoland the day of the killings, but during the mall walk-through, he tells investigators that he ran into Rewoldt in the store. Glazer pointed out that many of the facts Thomas provides during the walk-through is information police had developed from other witnesses and evidence.



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[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Man calls his cousin the Funcoland killer
Witness tells court of game-store slayings

Tuesday, July 08, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

A Newark man who could serve as few as 17 years for his role in a 2002 double slaying told a jury yesterday he watched his cousin put a bullet through the second victim's head while robbing a Roxbury video game store.

Testifying at Omar Thomas' murder trial, Rahman "Rock" Vaughn said he already had seen a dead man in the back storeroom of Funcoland when store manager Eric Rewoldt walked in, greeted Thomas by name and asked where his colleague was. Thomas, a regular customer, indicated Jeff Eresman was in the back. As Rewoldt headed that way, Thomas pulled a gun from his pocket and shot him in the back of the head, Vaughn said.

"I couldn't move. I was
scared. I didn't know what to do. I told myself I had to get out of there," said Vaughn. He said he didn't look at Rewoldt as he left the store with a laundry bag filled with game systems.

But back at home, Vaughn played with his share of the booty, he testified.

Thomas, 31, of Irvington, faces life in prison for the Dec. 1, 2002, slayings of Rewoldt, 26, and Eresman, 21.

When picked up by police in November 2003, Thomas told investigators Vaughn killed Rewoldt and Eresman and he tried to help them find him. Over 37 hours of questioning, Thomas changed his story several times, saying he accidentally shot Eresman but not Rewoldt, and then ultimately confessing to both killings.

Defense attorneys say Vaughn, 29, and another cousin, 20-year-old Craig Thomas Jr., killed them.

David Glazer, one of Thomas' public defenders, hammered away at Vaughn's cooperation agreement that will allow him to withdraw his guilty pleas to murder and instead plead guilty to aggravated man
slaughter. It calls for him to serve no more than 20 years -- the maximum sentence for an armed robbery, Glazer noted. Under the state's No Early Release Act, Vaughn would have to serve 17 years.

Craig Thomas also entered into a cooperation agreement but is not expected to testify. He told police Omar Thomas killed both men, but months later admitted he fired the first shot at Eresman's head. Omar Thomas, he said, finished him off with a second shot.

Glazer highlighted several details Vaughn offered yesterday that differed from prior statements he gave police. For example, Vaughn testified that Omar Thomas hadn't brought a gun along the first time they went to rob Funcoland in November 2002, but he described seeing the pistol when interviewed by police.
Vaughn, an admitted marijuana dealer, said Omar Thomas chose the day to rob Funcoland and drove the cousins to the Roxbury Mall that morning. Thomas told him to wait inside Marty's shoe store, next to Funcoland, for a signal.

"O
mar told me to go into the shoe store and listen for a shot," Vaughn said.

About 20 minutes later, Omar Thomas came into the shoe store and told him to help their cousin, Craig Thomas, then 14. Glazer pointed out that Vaughn never before told police Thomas went into the shoe store.

Vaughn said he saw a body lying face down in a pool of blood when he went to the storeroom to grab a laundry bag filled with game systems. When a customer tried to enter the store, Vaughn said Omar Thomas told him the store was closed.

He testified that he didn't see anybody lock the door after that, but he previously told police Omar Thomas locked it.

Under cross-examination, Vaughn admitted that he got rid of the clothes he wore that day in a Dumpster. Asked why, he said, "I didn't feel right about the crime."

But he admitted using the stolen games and game systems and then selling them. Vaughn said he sold a Gameboy Advance for $20, but only after it broke. He didn't tell the buyer it
was broken, he said.

Soon after the killings he told an aunt about his involvement. "I did something wrong that was real bad," Vaughn told her. In the months that followed, he confided to his sister and his parents.

The prosecution is expected to finish its case on Wednesday, when the trial resumes.

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These are cold hearted, dumb, violent primates. This case/story has alot of Caucasoids thinking twice about Negroidals. Those poor brainwashed Caucasians, thinking those Negroids were their friends.

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Credibility at issue in Funcoland trial
Despite Irvington man's confession, defense maintains he was not killer

Thursday, July 10, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

Prosecutors in the double-murder trial of Omar Thomas yesterday recalled an investigator to the witness stand to try to bolster the credibility of their star witness, co-defendant Rahman Vaughn.

Vaughn, 29, of Newark, testified Monday that he watched his cousin, Omar Thomas, shoot a Roxbury video game store employee in the head while robbing the Funcoland store on Dec. 1, 2002. During cross-examination, defense attorney David Glazer highlighted numerous examples in which Vaughn testified contrary to prior statements he gave police.

Yesterday, Detective Sgt. Dan DeGroot of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that
Vaughn had told him shortly after his arrest some of the key points he made during his testimony.

Prosecutors say Thomas, 31, of Irvington, recruited Vaughn and another cousin to rob the store, but the crime turned murderous when Thomas' then-14-year-old cousin accidentally shot 21-year-old store clerk Jeffrey Eresman in the head. Authorities claim Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range to finish him off.

When 26-year-old store manager Eric Rewoldt showed up a few minutes later, Thomas shot him in the head from less than three feet away, authorities claim. The three then fled with $10,000 in merchandise and weren't apprehended until November 2003.

In 2004, Vaughn pleaded guilty to the murders, but under a cooperation agreement, he can withdraw those pleas and plead guilty to two counts of aggravated manslaughter. He would serve as few as 17 years behind bars and no more than 20.

Although Thomas gave confessions to police, the defense claims Vaughn and
Craig Thomas Jr., now 20, killed Eresman and Rewoldt.

Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. yesterday questioned DeGroot, who interviewed Vaughn when he was arrested Nov. 18, 2003, and at least two times afterward. DeGroot confirmed that Vaughn had told him he was not in the Route 10 store when Eresman was shot, that he saw Omar Thomas shoot Rewoldt and several other details.

But Glazer pointed out some claims Vaughn made to DeGroot that weren't substantiated. Vaughn claimed Omar Thomas had printed a sign that said "Computers are Down" to use in the robbery, but no such document was found on Thomas' home computer, DeGroot said.

DeGroot also confirmed that until he testified Monday, Vaughn had never said Omar Thomas went into the Marty's shoe store next to Funcoland to get Vaughn to help Craig Thomas with the robbery.

Jurors got to see photographs Vaughn reviewed and signed when he was arrested. In one, Vaughn indicated with stick figures where he was standing
when Rewoldt was shot, and he marked an X on a photograph where he claims Omar Thomas was standing when he fired the gun.

Glazer noted Vaughn indicated he was standing in the doorway to the back room, "as far away from Rewoldt as possible."

The defense is expected to begin its case today, after the state rests.


http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/121566451830800.xml&coll=1

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Defense opens its case in Funcoland slay trial

Friday, July 11, 2008
BY MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

Defense attorneys in the double-murder trial of Omar Thomas yesterday began making their case to a Morris County jury, calling several law enforcement officers to the witness stand.

Thomas, 31, of Irvington contends he was not involved in the killings of two Roxbury video store employees on Dec. 1, 2002, al though the jury saw a videotaped interview in which he confessed to shooting 21-year-old Jeff Eresman and 26-year-old Eric Rewoldt.

Thomas claims his cousins, who took plea deals that will get them greatly reduced sentences, killed the two Funcoland employees.

Prosecutors say Thomas recruited the cousins to rob the store, but the crime turned murderous when Thomas' then- 14-year-old c
ousin accidentally shot Eresman in the head. Authorities claim Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range to finish him off.

When Rewoldt showed up a few minutes later, Thomas shot him in the head from less than 3 feet away, authorities claim. The three then fled with $10,000 in merchan dise, and weren't caught until November 2003.

The prosecution did not call the younger cousin, Craig Thomas Jr., to testify. But the defense wants the jury to hear that he told police "I carried the gun into Funcoland" and that in July 2004, six months after he took a plea deal and named Omar Thomas as the shooter in both killings, admitted he fired the first of two shots at Eresman.

"My hands were shaking and I pulled the trigger by accident," Craig Thomas Jr. said.

Craig Thomas could serve as little as eight years behind bars and Rahman Vaughn, 29, could serve as little as 17 under their cooperation agreements. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. noted tho
se deals were made when Omar Thomas faced capital punishment. New Jersey got rid of the death penalty in December. :rollpin:

Defense attorney David Glazer said he and co-counsel Michele Adubato had not decided whether to call Craig Thomas as a witness or have their client testify. The trial will resume a week from Monday.


http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1215750988298080.xml&coll=1

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Morris County court to hear closing arguments in Funcoland killing case

by Margaret McHugh/The Star-Ledger Tuesday July 22, 2008, 5:30 AM

A Morris County jury today will hear closing arguments in the double murder trial of Omar Thomas, who did not take the witness stand Monday.

The defense rested without Thomas, 31, of Irvington, testifying. He claims he was not involved in the Dec. 1, 2002 murders at the Funcoland video game store in Roxbury, although when he was arrested, he gave a videotaped confession.


Thomas contends his cousins killed the two Funcoland employees, 21-year-old Jeff Eresman and 26-year-old Erik Rewoldt. One of the cousins, Rahman Vaughn, 29, of Newark was the state's star witness against Thomas. Both cousins took plea deals that call will give them greatly reduced sentences.

nProsecutors said Thomas recruited the cousins to rob the store, but the crime turned murderous when Thomas' then-14-year-old cousin accidentally shot Eresman in the head. Authorities claim Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range to finish him off.

The prosecution contended that when Rewoldt showed up a few minutes later, Thomas shot him in the head from less than three feet away. The three cousins then fled with $10,000 in merchandise, and weren't caught until November 2003.

The trial was not in session last week. On July 10, the defense called five investigators who testified some mistakes were made in police reports and that police lied to Thomas in August 2003 in order to take his car and install a global positioning system.

The defense opted against calling Thomas and the other cousin, Craig Thomas Jr., now 20.



http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/morris_county_court_to_hear_cl.html

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Roxbury slay case goes to the jury
Two sides describe Funcoland killings

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
BY BILL SWAYZE
Star-Ledger Staff

A jury in Morris County today will be asked to decide whether Omar Thomas is the victim of a police conspiracy or the planner of a botched robbery that left two Rox bury video game shop workers dead in 2002.

Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto will charge the jury this morning after Thomas' defense attorney, David Glazer, and Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. yesterday gave their summations, each lasting about two hours.

Thomas' trial began June 2. The 31-year-old Irvington resident faces life in prison if convicted in the shooting deaths of the two men. Thomas had been indicted on capital murder charges, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in
December. :NotK:

Glazer contended Thomas never set foot in Funcoland the morning of Dec. 1, 2002, but McNa mara said Thomas entered the store with "a greedy eye" and left with "a cruel hand," slaying 21-year-old Jeff Eresman and 26-year-old Erik Rewoldt.

"What you see is not necessarily what you can believe," Glazer told jurors, contending the crime scene was not secured and evidence was compromised after the shootings.

He also questioned the accuracy and fairness of the process that police used to identify Thomas as a suspect.

Thomas said he was not involved in the killings, but in a videotaped interview shown in court, he confessed to shooting Eresman and Rewoldt. That confession, however, was "manipulated" by what Glazer described as questionable interview tactics.

Thomas said his cousins, who accepted plea deals that will get them greatly reduced sentences, :NotK:killed the two Funcoland employees. He said he knew nothing of their planned crime when the three travele
d from Essex County to the Roxbury Mall on Route 10.

McNamara, however, warned jurors, "Don't give in to the lure of sloppy thinking" and said the evidence against Thomas puts him in the store that day with his cousins to rob it. "There is no evidence to show police ... conspired to frame Omar Thomas."

Jurors were shown segments of the taped confession, with Thomas freely discussing what happened and his actions.

"Where is the coercion?" McNa mara asked.

The robbery plans fell apart when Thomas' then-14-year-old cousin accidentally shot Eresman in the head, authorities said. They said Thomas fired a second shot into Eresman's head at close range. When Rewoldt showed up a few minutes later, Thomas shot him in the head from less than 3 feet away, authorities also said.

The three then fled with $10,000 in merchandise and weren't caught until November 2003.


Great case to hang all three, the callous disregard in killing the two Humans is appalli
ng.

http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1216787802283240.xml&coll=1

 

[Rasp]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Boycott Gamestop/Funcoland

Erik Rewoldt, 26 and Jeff Eresman, 21 were brutally murdered the morning of December 1, 2002 at Funcoland in Roxbury, NJ

The page was created because of the actions of Gamestop Inc. following the deaths of two employees, Jeff Eresman, 21 and Erik Rewoldt, 26 at their store in Roxbury, NJ which have lead me to NEVER shop at a Gamestop owned store again.

As a friend of Jeff, and acquaintance of Erik's I find it hard to believe something like this could happen at all. Gamestop Inc. was neglegent to the requests of their employees for more security. Not only this but numerous r
obberies occured in other Funcoland stores in other parts of the U.S. within the same time period. Many of these crimes occured months if not years before the murders, causing questions as to why Funcoland/Gamestop Inc.'s security was not heightened. While another documented robbery occured just 24 days after Jeff and Erik's murders. For a store that carries hundreds of dollars worth of electronics and merchadise, you think they would have done more to at least protect their employees-- if not simply the merchandise which seemed to have more value.

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Jurors review testimony in Funcoland murder trial

by Bill Swayze/The Star-Ledger Thursday July 24, 2008, 12:13 PM

A jury deliberating in Morris County has asked to review testimony from a key witness in the trial of a man accused of murdering two Roxbury video game store employees.

The witness, Rahman Vaughn, testified that he was serving as a lookout and watched his cousin, Omar Thomas, shoot one of the victims in the head while robbing the Funcoland store in 2002.


In 2004, Vaughn pleaded guilty to the murders, but under a cooperation agreement, he can withdraw those pleas and plead guilty to two counts of aggravated manslaughter. He would serve as few as 17 years behind bars and no more than 20. ("Justice" I don't think so, these primates should be toasted or hung)Thomas, 31, face
s life in prison if convicted in the shooting deaths of the two men: Jeff Eresman, 21, and Erik Rewoldt, 26.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday.


http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/jury_in_funcoland_murder_trial.html

 

[Whitebear]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Omar Shaheer Thomas watches the proceedings in his FuncoLand murder trial i

6 years after FuncoLand killings, jury to get its say

Omar S. Thomas, 31, waves to his mother as he is brought into Morristown Superior Court, before defense and prosecution attorneys gave
closing statements in his murder trial on Tuesday.

Alice Thomas, mother of accused killer Omar S. Thomas,

David Eresman, left, brother of murder victim Jeff Eresman, listens to the prosecution giving closing statements Tuesday, along with Nancy, center, and Scott Patak.

Thomas's own words are the best evidence of his mastermind role in the Dec. 1, 2002, robbery and fatal shootings of FuncoLand manager Erik Rewoldt, 26, and assistant manager Jeffrey Adam Eresman, 21.

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Irvington man found guilty in Funcoland killings

by Bill Swayze and Margaret McHugh/The Star-Ledger Thursday July 24, 2008,

A Morris County jury found Omar Thomas guilty this afternoon in the 2002 killings of two employees at a Roxbury video game store.

Thomas, 31, of Irvington faces life in prison. He had been indicted on capital murder charges, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in December.


Nancy and Scott Patak, mother and stepfather of Funcoland murder victim, Jeff Eresman, hug as the jury foreman declares defendant Omar Thomas guilty.His trial began June 2 before Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto in Morristown. The jury deliberated three hours Wednesday and about six hours today before reaching a verdict.

Thomas was accused of gunning down two employees at the Funcoland video game store
in a Roxbury strip mall on Dec. 1, 2002, in a robbery that went awry. Two cousins who took part in the robbery took plea deals and agreed to testify against Thomas.

Authorities say Craig Thomas Jr., then 14, accidentally shot 21-year-old Jeff Eresman as he lay on the floor of a rear storage room, but Omar Thomas fired a second and fatal shot at close range into Eresman's head.

When store manager Erik Rewoldt, 26, unlocked the door and stepped inside, Omar Thomas also shot him in the head, police say.

The other cousin involved in the robbery was Rahman Vaughn of Newark.

The three then fled with $10,000 in merchandise and weren't caught until November 2003.

Thomas said he was not involved in the killings, but in a videotaped interview shown in court, he confessed to shooting Eresman and Rewoldt. His attorney said the confession was "manipulated" by questionable interview tactics.

Thomas said his cousins, who accepted plea deals that will get them greatly reduced
sentences, killed the two Funcoland employees. He said he knew nothing of their planned crime when the three traveled from Essex County to the Roxbury Mall on Route 10.

Jurors were shown segments of the taped confession, with Thomas freely discussing what happened and his actions.

The case was tried by Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara Jr. Thomas' defense attorney was David Glazer.


http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/irvington_man_found_guilty_in.html

 

[Montrose]

Re: Gruesome Negroid murder of 2 NJ Caucasian store employees "The Funcoland Murder T

Guilty verdict in Funcoland killings
Irvington man convicted of murdering 2 employees during robbery

Friday, July 25, 2008
BY BILL SWAYZE
Star-Ledger Staff

For more than five years, the families of Jeff Eresman and Erik Rewoldt waited for justice, together.

From the day in December 2002 when the two men were shot to death inside a Roxbury video game store, through the yearlong search for the killers and as the case finally came to trial, the two families became one. They hung out with each other at the courthouse, kept up on the phone, focused on the final verdict.

The wait ended yesterday, when a Morris County jury convicted 31-year-old Omar Thomas of gunning down Eresman and Rewoldt during a botched robbery of Funcoland in the Roxbury Mall.

When the jury foreman read the verdict, more t
han a dozen members of the two families hugged each other, held hands and cried with relief.

"I'm just glad this is over," Marty Rewoldt Sr., Erik Rewoldt's father, said. "I was never in any doubt at all about the outcome."

Nancy Patak, Jeff Eresman's mother, stood outside the courtroom, her body shaking, eyes watering, voice quivering.

"I'm happy, relieved," she said. "Jeff and Eric, I'm sure they're happy, too."

Eresman, a 21-year-old Funcoland clerk, and Rewoldt, the 26-year-old manager, were both shot in the head inside the store on Dec. 1, 2002, while Thomas and two of his cousins loaded a laundry bag with video game systems. When they were caught a year later, all three robbers tried to pass blame for the killings.

Thomas' cousins, Craig Thomas Jr. and Rahman Vaughn, eventually fingered him as the coordinator of the robbery and as the shooter. But Omar Thomas' defense lawyer argued at the seven-week trial that the other two cousins killed Eresman and Rewol
dt, who left behind a young son, now 8, and a pregnant wife who gave birth to a daughter, now 5. .

In the end, Omar Thomas, who is from Irvington, was done in by his own confessions, which his lawyer said were "manipulated" by investigators. He was convicted of murder, felony murder, robbery, illegal weapons possession and the use of a juvenile -- Craig Thomas Jr., who was 14 at the time -- to commit a robbery.

The jury found Omar Thomas innocent of a final charge, possession of hollow-point bullets.

He faces life in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 12. He had been indicted on capital murder charges, but New Jersey abolished the death penalty in December. :NotK::rollpin:

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi praised the investigators and lawyers who assembled the case, which was handled by Morris County Assistant Prosecutors John McNamara Jr. and Peter Foy. "They all brought justice to the victims' families and the community at large," Bianchi said.

Jim Gannon, the p
rosecutor's lead investigator in the case, said: "At least now the families understand that their loved ones' death is not a mystery. Hopefully this verdict provides them with well-deserved comfort."

Prosecutors say Omar Thomas, a Funcoland regular, recruited his younger cousins to help him with the robbery. When the heist began, only Eresman was in the store. Craig Thomas Jr. said he accidentally shot Eresman first, then Omar Thomas shot him a second time to finish him off.

A little while later, Rewoldt entered the store and was shot from behind by Omar Thomas.

The three robbers fled with $10,000 in merchandise. They weren't caught until November 2003. Vaughn and Craig Thomas Jr. face reduced prison terms for their cooperation against Omar Thomas. :NotK::rollpin:

After yesterday's verdict, the two victims' families gathered in a bar near the Morris County courthouse in Morristown.

"We haven't done much of anything except focus on the trial," Marty Rewoldt Sr. said
. "We became one family. We all went through this together, and hopefully we will be together for a lifetime of friendship."

Jurors leaving the courthouse declined comment.

http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-11/121696060263810.xml&coll=1

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

Erik Joseph Rewoldt (1976-2002) - Find a Grave...

Erik was the son of Marty and Christine/Chrissy (nee Farren) Rewoldt. Brother To Maryann, Marty, and Scotty. Husband to Tara, and father to Dakota and Cheyanne. He is loved and missed by all. Grandparents: William-J-Farren. Mary-Anne-Farren.

www.findagrave.com

Erik Joseph Rewoldt​

Death 1 Dec 2002 (aged 26)
New Jersey, USA

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

Jeffrey Adam “Jeff” Eresman (1980-2002) - Find a...

A memorial service for Jeffrey Adam Jeff Eresman, 21, of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, will be at 3 p.m. Saturday in the United Methodist Church of Lake Hopatcong, 520 Howard Blvd., Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey. with arrangements by the Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph. He was a victim of murder that...

www.findagrave.com

Jeffrey Adam “Jeff” Eresman​

Death 1 Dec 2002 (aged 21)
Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey, USA