Ex-cop wanted for murder shoots self on NJ Turnpike

In an apparent murder-suicide, a former Providence police officer fatally shot himself in the head on Saturday night after being pursued on the New Jersey Turnpike by troopers, who found the body of the man’s wife in his trunk.

The suspect has been identified as 61-year-old Franklin Osgood, who was reportedly a former police officer in Providence, Rhode Island, according to published reports. He was taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Providence police warned New Jersey State Troopers that Osgood was believed to be on the Turnpike, armed and risky.

According to WJAR-TV, Providence police said Sunday that Osgood joined the department in 1995 and filed to retire in 2005, but didn’t officially retire until two years later.

Mary Jo Osgood’s body was found in the trunk of the auto. Clements said an officer was in contact with Osgood by phone Saturday evening but that Osgood didn’t reveal his location. A semi-automatic handgun was located inside the passenger compartment.

Crime scene investigators were at Osgood’s home on 435 Eaton St.in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Providence Saturday at around 8 p.m. They found enough evidence in the garage to treat it as a crime scene.

Osgood then shot himself, lost control of his 2007 Dodge Charger, struck a metal guardrail and then crashed into a trooper’s patrol auto, according to the media outlet.

The Journal said that Osgood’s daughter called 911 to report her father was missing.