by Tom Mongelli
Inklings that the Obama Administration would seek paths to normalized relations with Cuba spurs a shore State Senator to demand that a stiff condition be imposed.
Senator Sean Kean (R-11) today introduced his resolution calling for the extradition of fugitive Joanne Chesimard from Cuba as a requirement of improved relations.
Chesimard has been on the run since 1979, following her escape from prison where she had been serving 25 to life for the 1973 murder of New Jersey State Trooper Philip Lamonico.
"She's in Cuba, living on a government stipend," Kean fumes, "living in comfortable surroundings." But he says that doesn't mean she's carefree.
"Every time, I'm told, that we turn up the heat here in New Jersey and talk about her, she has to shrink and become less visible."
WOBM first aired information about the issue several weeks before today's introduction, when statements by Raul Castro were interpreted at the White House as a potential olive branch. Kean told us then that police he encountered were livid, and says now that his resolution has received support from law enforcement nationwide.
Kean also notes that the 37 years since the shooting has served to soften Chesimard's image among those too young or not in New Jersey at the time, especially in cyberspace. He's quick to discredit revisionism.
"She had every day in court that any defendant could ever possibly ask for. She lost every appeal," says Kean. "She escaped by using a hostage. This is a dangerous, evil woman who committed the most horrific crime."
Lamonico's widow, and other members of local and state law enforcement, surrounded Kean as he introduced his bill on the Statehouse steps.
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