Prosecutor to Announce Findings of Law Enforcement Review of Seidle Murder on Thursday

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni will announce the results of the Internal Affiars review of the law enforcement response to the brutal slaying of Tamara Seidle by her ex-husband, then Neptune Township Sgt Phillip Seidle, on June 16, 2015 while the couple’s 7 year old daughter, and members of the Asbury Park and Neptune Township Police Departments, looked on, at a press conference in Freehold tomorrow morning.

The 22 year veteran of the Neptune Police Department pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment on March 10. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Joseph W. Oxley in August.

Asbury Park police responded to a report of an unrelated motor vehicle accident near the intersection of Ridge and Sewall Avenues in the city at approximately 11:26 a.m. on June 16, 2015. During that service call, the black 2012 Volkswagen Jetta, driven by Tamara Seidle, turned the corner onto Sewall Avenue before crashing into a parked 2002 Ford Focus. The Jetta was being followed closely by the 2005 Honda Pilot driven by Philip Seidle, who exited the vehicle, pulled out a handgun and approached the driver’s side of the Jetta. Philip Seidle fired multiple shots into the vehicle, striking Tamara Seidle. Philip Seidle then turned the weapon on himself, pointing the weapon at his head, before moving to the front of the Jetta and firing several more shots into the windshield of the vehicle.

After firing the second round of shot-bursts, Philip Seidle returned the weapon to his head prompting a stand-off with on-scene police officers from the Asbury Park and Neptune Township police departments. The stand-off with Seidle ended around 12:17 p.m. when he surrendered and was taken into custody. In addition to officers from the Asbury Park and Neptune Township police departments, investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Service responded to the scene.

Following the incidents, media investigations uncovered a history of domestic abuse in the Seidle marriage that resulted in Phillip being suspended, being unfit for duty, in 2012 and 2014.

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni

Gramiccioni announced on June 24 last year that the Professional Responsibility Bureau of his Office would conduct the review in the incident, “to ensure a thorough review and evaluation is performed that will stand up to the scrutiny from the community.”

Gramiccioni said, “It is imperative that we look at this incident with a critical eye towards doing all that we can to understand what transpired and learning how, moving forward, we can improve from that evaluative process.

“In order to clearly understand every aspect of this response, every sworn law enforcement officer involved in the incident will be part and parcel of this Internal Affairs review and evaluation.

“Our Internal Affairs function will be limited in scope to this singular incident and the actions of those officers at the scene. Any administrative actions based on our findings that may be imposed on anyone involved will be at the discretion of the individual police departments who employ these officers.

“In order for the law enforcement community to maintain the trust of our citizens, and earn the trust of those that may question the sincerity of our efforts, this review process must be transparent. To that end, I will be publicly releasing a report detailing our findings.

“This will be a deliberate and all-encompassing review that will take time to complete, but rest assured this review will be conducted in as expedient manner possible for all involved.”

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