On the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of Tamara Seidle, investigators still have not released the findings of an administrative review of the killing. Watch video
FREEHOLD -- A year after a Neptune Township police sergeant chased down his ex-wife and opened fire on her in broad daylight on an Asbury Park street, authorities have yet to release a report on how cops responded to the deadly shooting and the history of the couple's tumultuous relationship.
In announcing that the findings into the fatal shooting of Tamara Wilson-Seidle by her ex-husband Philip Seidle will be released in the coming weeks, acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni defended the length of the investigation as necessary for a thorough report that addresses all the components of a complex case.
Declining to discuss the findings into police response to the June 16, 2015, killing, Gramiccioni said the investigation involved interviews with "hundreds of witnesses" and reviews of "thousands of pages of documents."
"The review and evaluation of the law enforcement response to the Seidle shooting remains under investigation," Gramiccioni said. "A review of this magnitude requires diligence and thoughtful rigor, not perfunctory release at the expense of thoroughness. As soon as the review and its findings and recommendations are finalized, they'll be shared with the public."
After the shooting, the prosecutor's office launched a criminal investigation into Tamara Seidle's death and simultaneously started a separate administrative review of the law enforcement response to the shooting, he said.
The report is expected to include findings on several questions raised about how police responded to the attack. They include whether police should have used deadly force against Seidle, whether he received preferential treatment from other police officers at the scene because he was a cop and whether Seidle's weapon, which he used to kill his ex-wife, should have been taken away given the number of domestic calls police received from the couple during and after their 23-year marriage.
Suspended from the force, Seidle, 52, pleaded guilty in March to aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment. When he is sentenced on Aug. 18, Seidle, a 22-year veteran of the department, faces 30 years in prison.
A $10 million notice of claim filed against Seidle and multiple law enforcement agencies on behalf of the Seidle children is still pending. It charges wrongful death, emotional distress, violation of civil rights, pain and suffering, lost wages and loss of companionship, guidance and support for the children.
Shelley Stangler, a Springfield attorney representing the Seidle children in the civil matter, said she will file the lawsuit once Philip Seidle's criminal case is finished.
"We will be seeking all evidence from prosecutors and also be doing our own separate investigation," Stangler said.
Angered over what he has said was his ex-wife's interference with his visitation with their nine children, Seidle chased her through the streets of Asbury Park and crashed into her Volkswagen Jetta, forcing her to slam into a parked car on Sewall Avenue.
Within seconds, Seidle jumped out of his car and started the first of two attacks on Tamara Seidle, who authorities said had no time to get out of the car.
Seidle first pumped eight rounds into her through the driver's side window then headed to the front of the car where he fired off another four rounds through the windshield, striking her. The couple's then 7-year-old daughter, who was in the front seat of her father's Honda Pilot, witnessed the first round of shootings.
After the shooting, Seidle held his gun to his head, holding police at bay for about a half hour before he finally surrendered.
Dozens of people who live in the neighborhood or were near the crime scene watched in horror and disbelief as the ambush unfolded.
Later, many of them questioned why police didn't shoot Seidle before he unloaded the second round of shots or while he threatened suicide.
The shooting rattled a community that later came to the aid of the Seidle children, who now range in age from 8 to 25.
The youngest children are in the care of the oldest child, Kristen, living in the same Neptune Township home they grew up in.
At Mother of Mercy Parish in Asbury Park, where Tamara Seidle, 51, led the religious education program, the family was well known.
Tamara Seidle. (File photo)Jessica Carroll, a friend of Tamara Seidle's from Mother of Mercy, has coordinated donations and provided updates on the children through the Facebook page Tami's Legacies.
Carroll said the outpouring of support in the past year has been overwhelming at times.
"Any time there was a need or want or anything like that, I put it out there and people that I had no idea who they were would reach out and donate," she said.
The next event to raise money for the Seidle children will be held on Saturday at Neptune High School. The family will gather privately on the anniversary of Tamara Seidle's death, Carroll said.
The administrative review has another angle: whether the Seidles had a history of domestic incidents that would have required the prosecutor's office and Neptune police to step in.
Beginning soon into their marriage and extending through their separation, the Seidles called Neptune police 21 times for domestic issues, according to records obtained by NJ Advance Media.
Though not all of them involved violence, Tamara Seidle claimed in her 2013 divorce complaint that on one occasion, Philip Seidle pointed a gun at her head and on another occasion, he kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant. On her birthday, he punched her in the face and the force of the blow gave her a black eye, the complaint said.
It was not clear whether those incidents were reported to police. But Seidle 's rocky home life affected his job. He had been temporarily suspended twice - once in 2012 that started a four-month leave of absence related to his marital problems and again in 2014 for six weeks after police were notified about the couple's child custody dispute.
He also was once declared unfit for duty and had his service weapon taken away in 2012.
Eventually, his service weapon was returned to him.
"We are reviewing this incident through a critical lens to determine what lessons could be learned and improvements could be made to Monmouth County law enforcement operations," Gramiccioni said.
Some of the witnesses interviewed, he said, hired lawyers, slowing down the interview process.
Investigators reviewed "probably thousands of pages" of documents and viewed video footage taken by police, bystanders and media, Gramiccioni said.
"This stuff rightfully takes time and I can assure...the public (that) nobody's dragging their feet on this," he said.
NJ Advance Media reporter Alex Napoliello contributed to this report.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.