ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

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POLICE:

COP KILLS
EX-WIFE

WEDNESDAY 06.17.15

Fatal shooting leaves 9 children without mother;

daughter, 7, watched horrifying scene from car

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Neptune police Sgt. Philip Seidle (center) is taken into custody Tuesday in the fatal shooting of his ex-wife Tamara (top photo) on Ridge Avenue in Asbury Park.

Could victim have been

saved from 2nd shots?

STEPH SOLIS, NICQUEL TERRY, ANDREW FORD AND

KEN SERRANO @STEPHMSOLIS, @NTERRYAPP,
@ANDREWFORDNEWS @KENSERRANOAPP
ASBURY PARK In an apparent fit of rage, an offduty Neptune police sergeant upset over child custody issues fired multiple rounds at his ex-wife while
she sat in her car, killing her as his 7-year-old daughter
watched from the front passenger seat of his car, authorities said.
In what witnesses described as a chaotic and violent scene, Sgt. Philip Seidle shot his 51-year-old exwife Tamara with his .40-caliber Glock service handgun in two bursts of gunfire: first through the drivers
side door, and a second time as he walked around to the
front of her car and shot her through the windshield
both times as police were nearby, according to eyewitness accounts and Monmouth County First Assistant
Prosecutor Marc C. LeMieux.
The shooting, which left the couples nine children
without a mother and their father in custody, took
place before noon in front of numerous horrified witnesses.
It looks like he just snapped, said resident Linda
Jones, who said she knew the 51-year-old Philip Seidle.
Im sad for the wife. Im sad for the children, Im sad
for him.
The youngest daughter was in the front seat of Philip Seidles silver Honda Pilot as the violence unfolded.
Philip Seidel first chased Tamara Seidles car through
Asbury Park, and then fired the first round of bullets,

PAUL DAMBROSIO AND ANDREW FORD

@PAUL_DAMBROSIO AND @ANDREWFORDNEWS

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

An unidentified woman is comforted Tuesday at the scene

of the fatal shooting of Tamara Seidle on Ridge Avenue in
Asbury Park. Authorities and witnesses reported Seidle
was shot multiple times by her assailant.

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to see videos from the scene and the
investigation, as well as the latest
updates of this story.

See SHOOTING, Page 4A

After watching murder suspect and Neptune police Sgt. Philip Seidle shoot his ex-wife several times,
officers used no force to stop him from firing a second barrage, eyewitnesses said and authorities confirmed.
Tamara Seidle, the victim and ex-wife of Philip Seidle, suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to
Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Marc
C. LeMieux. The first shots, he said, flew when the officer fired his service weapon, a high-powered .40caliber Glock, several times into the drivers side of
her car. She was shot again when he walked to the
front of her car and fired through the windshield.
Officers on the scene recognized Seidle, LeMieux
said.
When asked by the Asbury Park Press why no police force was used to stop Seidle from firing his
weapon a second time, LeMieux responded by saying
that is under investigation.
Two eyewitnesses interviewed by the Press said
that the first Asbury Park police officer on the scene
did not draw his weapon while the first set of shots
See VICTIM, Page 5A

COULD DONALD TRUMP TRIP UP THE GOP IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE? PAGE 1B

Senators trial will stay in New Jersey

Menendez, co-defendant wanted bribe case sent to Washington, D.C.
KATHLEEN HOPKINS @KHOPKINSAPP
NEWARK The trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez
and the wealthy Florida eye doctor accused of bribing
him will remain in New Jersey, where the states citizens will be better served by the opportunity to attend
and receive news coverage of it, a judge ruled Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge William H. Walls denied a request made by attorneys for Menendez, a New Jersey
Democrat, and Dr. Salomon Melgen to move their trial
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to Washington, D.C.
The defendant owns a very, very important statewide office, Walls said of Menendez, who was not in
court.
It is then fitting that the trial of an elected official
... be held before his peers, the impartial citizens of his
state who will form the jury, the judge said.
See TRIAL, Page 16A
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 144
SINCE 1879