Sunday, July 31, 2016 04:45PM
NEWARK, New Jersey -- Authorities say a former police officer killed himself after a chase with police that led state troopers to finding the body of the ex-cop's wife in his trunk.
New Jersey State police were notified Saturday night by police in Providence, Rhode Island, that Franklin Osgood was believed to be traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike.
They located Osgood's car, but he refused to pull over and eventually ran off the road.
Troopers found the 61-year-old Osgood with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when they approached the car. The body of 55-year-old Mary Jo Osgood was in the trunk.
Franklin Osgood was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Providence police said at a news conference Sunday that Osgood's daughter had called them Saturday to say her father was missing and distraught.
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Providence PD release details of murder suicide by former police officer
by Mario Hilario; NBC10
Providence police Sunday released new details about a murder suicide involving a former officer with the department.
Colonel Hugh Clements said Franklin Osgood, a former patrolman, shot and killed his wife Mary Jo Osgood in the garage of their Eaton Street home in Providence then left Rhode Island with her body in the trunk of his car.
Exactly when the crime took place was still unclear, though Col. Clements said likely sometime on Friday.
Police say family members became concerned Saturday afternoon when Osgood had phone conversations with first an adult daughter, then a son, saying he had done something bad to their mother.
"He really expressed sorrow and sympathy for what he had done and expressed he wanted to harm himself," said Col. Clements.
Obviously concerned, Osgood's children contacted police, who then began searching for the couple, while eventually getting search warrant for their home.
Detectives began pouring over the Eaton Street property, while still trying to locate Osgood. At one point a female Providence officer, who knew Osgood, was able to contact him after getting his cell phone number from his children.
"That female officer, I give her a lot of credit for being on the phone with him throughout the night," said Col. Clements.
Clements said they were able to track Osgood driving as far south as Maryland, with that officer having sporadic conversations with him in between his turning on and off his phone.
"At one point he was headed south on I-95, and on back streets through communities, and she turned him around, and he was headed back from Maryland, Pennsylvania, through New Jersey," said Clements.
It was around 9:30pm Saturday, New Jersey State Police recognized Osgood’s vehicle on the Jersey Turnpike from a BOLO and attempted a traffic stop. Police say Osgood fled, crashed into a barrier, and soon after, took his own life, with the same gun, they believe he used to kill his wife at their home back in Providence.
"Very unfortunate, very, very, disturbing, a sad story; again our sympathy goes out to the family," said Clements who added that the Osgoods’ four children are all adults believed to be in their twenties.
Clements said Osgood had been a member of the fifty-fifth Providence Police Academy, joining the force in 1995.
He officially retired in 2007, after a five year legal battle to get an ordinary disability pension, which he first applied for in 2002.
Clements did not immediately know the exact nature of Osgood’s disability and said he did not personally know Osgood well but added, “From people close to him (on the force), they spoke highly of him on the job. Even on the scene last night a few of his academy mates said there no indication when he was on the job of that type of behavior.”