BRIDGEWATER, April 10 (AP)— A reputed underworld lieutenant, freed from prison on a 26â€hour courtâ€ordered Easter furough, was shot and killed at a motel here early this morning.
John Lardiere, 68 years old, believed to be a oneâ€time lieutenant to Gerardo Catena, once known as New Jersey's top mobster, was found dead of gunshot wounds of the head, neck and abdomen. He was a former business agent for Teamsters Local 945 in Paterson.
Mr. Lardiere, Mr. Catena and five other reputed Cosa Nostra “bosses,†including Angelo Bruno, alleged overlord of Philadelphia and South Jersey rackets, were jailed in 1971 after refusing to testify during a State Commission of Investigation inquiry into organized crime.
The seven received frequent holiday furloughs from prison.
Mr. Lardiere was released from the Clinton Correctional Institution at 7 P.M. yesterday and was to return there by 9 P.M. today under an order issued byJudge George Schoch of Superior Court in Trenton.
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Police Chief Dix R. M. Fetzer said Mr. Lardiere had registered at the Red Bull Inn here about 2 A.M.
As Mr. Lardiere was about to enter his room in the motel's west wing, he', was shot and fell dead next to a friend's 1970 white Chevrolet, Chief Fetzer. said. He declined to identify the friend.
The reputed mobster, whose wife was killed by a massive dose of arsenic in a bottle of soda in 1974, had addresses in Newark and Maplewood.
“As far as we're concerned, his address was Clinton Correctional Institution,â€said Leonard Arnold, the first assistant prosecutor of Somerset County. Mr. Lardiere had identification listing a former home at 17 Courter Avenue, Maplewood.
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The body of Mr. Lardiere, dressed in a business suit, was taken from the motel, whose restaurant and bar are a popular area night spot, to Somerset Hospital, Somerville, to await an autopsy by the State. Medical Examiner, Dr. Edwin H. Albano, or an assistant.
“He was shot three times that we know of,†Chief Fetzer said.
Mr. Arnold, overseeing the investigation, doubted that an autopsy would furnish any substantive information. “You don't have to be a physician to figure out why that man isn't living anymore,†he said.
Mr. Lardiere, Mr. Catena, Mr. Bruno and four other reputed mob chieftains were jailed under powers granted to the State Commission of Investigation to hold witnesses who refused to answer questions.
The others jailed in 1971 for refusing to testify about organized crime are Ralph Napoli of Newark; Nicodemo Scarfo of Atlantic City, an associate of Mr. Bruno; Robert Manna of Secaucus, then reputed Jersey City rackets chief, and Nicholas Russo of Trenton.
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Joseph Zicarelli preceded the seven into jail by a year.
Mr.Lardiere went to prison in August 1971 at Yardville Correctional Center.
His wife, Carolyn, drank soda from a bottle containing 50 to 70 grams of arsenic on July 2, 1972, while at a summer home in Dover Township. She drank about oneâ€fifth of the bottle's contents before she felt the effects of the arsenic.
Mrs. Lardiere died less than two hours later in Community Memorial Hospital, Toms River. Dr. Albano said that a dose of one tenth of a gram would kill an average person.
No clues or motive for her death have been uncovered.
