February 23
...serving up your daily dish.
We may not (always) print totally speculative unconfirmed rumors, but it's not below us to point to them if they're already circulating on the internet. In this case, go check out the buzz going at the NJ.com Verona forum about a Verona connection to the December murder of Glen Ridge grandmother Joan Galligan in December. It seems that everyone in that town has heard this story.
Law enforcement officials in Glen Ridge and Essex County are staying mum, and one source even laughed at the theory. We'll see.
February 23, 2006 in Seen in Cyberspace | Permalink
I live in Verona and I haven't heard about this connection. But, if it IS true, then I hope the perp is picked up and processed asap.
Posted by: Miss Martta (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 10:08:21 AM
Wow. Whether this guy did it not, this story is going to make one ofo those great 20/20 or 60 minutes stories one day, you know where they take you through the mystery and court case? Or maybe a Lifetime Movie...
Posted by: Resa | Feb 23, 2006 10:25:52 AM
"...but it's not below us to point to them if they're already circulating on the internet."
Impressive standards!
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Feb 23, 2006 10:36:43 AM
Let try not to be rattled. New Jersey and the US is a particularly violent place but we can't get rattled by rumors. I've noticed that people get hurt when they are disconnected from their neighbors. Maybe its time to get the know the people around you.
Posted by: lasermike026 | Feb 23, 2006 10:38:43 AM
Well, I don't know about you but if this rumor IS true, it creeps me out that this guy is walking around town, shopping in the supermarket, or whatnot.
Posted by: Miss Martta (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 10:45:40 AM
Sorry MM but if it is true it creeps me out much less than the thought of a random stranger type killing and that killer still out walking around. Heartless I know but there it is.
Posted by: Max | Feb 23, 2006 10:59:00 AM
Miss Martta, try not to worry so. There are countries where thousands and thousands of unconvicted, known murderers circulate freely. Northern Ireland, for example. Cuba. Bosnia and Serbia. And that part of Israel stuffed with recently installed Hamas members.
Compared to such areas, this is a comparatively "safe" place, street crime statistics notwithstanding. And the reportage on this site remains the vaguest of rumor until arrests occur.
Posted by: cathar (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 11:04:47 AM
I hear ya, Cathar. It's just hard to fathom that one of my neighbors may have blood on his hands and, in true sociopathic manner, is just going about his daily business.
But, I know. All rumors until proven to be true.
Posted by: Miss Martta (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 11:07:33 AM
"All rumors until proven to be true."
Actually, MM,
I'd call it "irresponsible rumor mongering" at the present time, here on this site. Debra tries to keep her hands clean by simply "advertising" the rumor mongering, but I don't think it washes.
Decency hardly exists anymore.
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Feb 23, 2006 11:14:18 AM
Well, then let's be fair, ROC. You would have to say the same about NJ.com-Verona, wouldn't you? That's where the rumors supposedly started.
Posted by: Miss Martta (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 11:16:06 AM
I like to imagine Baristanet has a tinge more legitimacy than the town rumor forums. But in fairness to Barista, she made it clear what the source was...
Posted by: mauigirl52 | Feb 23, 2006 1:19:33 PM
This is the most press Verona has seen EVER. Such a sleepy town. Great cheese shop, though.
Posted by: notteham | Feb 23, 2006 2:28:59 PM
I actually heard a rumor back in January from someone who knows someone in the prosecutors office, that someone in Verona had found the victims cell phone, blackberry and coat which had been thrown on their front lawn the day of the murder. I also heard that the suspect was someone who had been promised a job by the victim, and that this suspect was at that time in Mountainside hospital after slitting his wrists, and they were just waiting for him to confess. If this is all true, I wonder why there have been no arrests yet. And if this and all others are just rumors, how painful this must all be to the victim's family.
Posted by: Mary | Feb 23, 2006 6:06:07 PM
Mary, that's interesting, since the Verona NJ.com forum was saying it was an affair gone wrong. So that's two separate rumors, which makes me think that's all they are. Of course, they may have their eye on a couple of different suspects and just don't have enough evidence yet.
Posted by: mauigirl52 | Feb 23, 2006 7:41:58 PM
At least we know that idle and public speculation won't be painful to the family...
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Feb 23, 2006 7:45:28 PM
It is quite disturbing to think that info on a criminal case is being leaked from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. You need look no further that that office to come up with the reason(s) why no arrests have been made in the case.
Posted by: Anita | Feb 23, 2006 8:45:48 PM
If any of us seriously get our news from the grumbly, not terribly attentive to fact forums found on NJ.com, we're in much more trouble as a society than I'd heretofore realized. I just read that forum. So much "I heard that..." adds up to very little, particularly when hardly anyone was willing to offer up where or from whom they heard something in the first place. Since when did Verona even become such a coop for idly chattering "hens?"
Posted by: cathar (8T) | Feb 23, 2006 9:08:01 PM
"All along .... along ....
There were incidents and accidents,
There were hints and allegations"--P. Simon
People spew gossip in an attempt to feel powerful and in the know--of course there will be leaks- it is human nature-- when someone mentions "that a friend of a friend works there" and passes on info is just one more example of someone who sounds like a pathetic gossip monger looking for some kind of sick brownie points ---but someone who makes judegments on an agency based on that ignorance sounds even more pathetic.
Patience is a virtue bestowed upon a few--don't particpate in this gossip it only hurts the case, as well as, jepordizing the investigation and destroys the victim's family. It is unecessary "talk" and only perpetuates the knowledge that those who do it suffer from self worth issues-
Just be glad it wasn't your famuly member and now move along "children" and stick to tending your own front stoops.
And have a little respect for the daughter who writes here to thank those for thinking of her mother and assisting her family.
Posted by: cstarling | Feb 23, 2006 9:22:51 PM
The most important thing is to please continue to keep my mom, and the people she left behind, in your thoughts and prayers. We miss her very much - she was a good mother, and a wonderful grandmother. I pray for resolution. I feel her strength in me everyday through this journey.
Posted by: Kim Cicala | Feb 23, 2006 9:36:47 PM
