Anthony
Bottom, now known as Jalil Abdul Muntaquim, was one of three murderers
who pumped 21 bullets into the backs of 28-year-old Police Officer Joseph
Piagentini and 33-year-old Police Officer Waverly Jones as they responded
to a call for help at the Colonial Park Houses on 159th Street in Harlem.
Bottom was scheduled for a parole hearing in July 2002, so the PBA mobilized with family members of both officers and a group of very active retirees to oppose his release.
Pat Lynch, PBA board members and legal staff joined widow Diane Piagentini and daughters Debra and Diane, a deputy U.S. marshal on Long Island, in court as they testified emotionally against the cop killer’s release. The PBA arranged a news conference outside the 32 Pct. where Pat Lynch spoke to reporters in front of two trees that had been planted in the slain officers’ memory.
“The families of Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones were denied husbands and fathers because of Bottom’s unthinkably savage and cowardly crime,” Lynch said as television cameras recorded on a hot June day just days before the parole hearing. “We are calling upon the State of New York to send a strong and undeniable message that you cannot kill a police officer in New York State and expect to walk away a free man one day. Anthony Bottom should be shown the same mercy that he and his fellow murderers showed their victims — none. He should never be released from prison.”
The New York Post and columnist Steve Dunleavy ran an especially supportive campaign opposing parole for Bottom. The Post published the following letter from Robert Piagentini:
“I am the brother of Joseph Piagentini, the New York City police officer who was gunned down by Anthony Bottom, Herman Bell and Albert Washington, three members of the Black Liberation Army.
"I was also the one who identified my brother’s body, which was riddled with 21 bullets. That is something I will never forget. My children will never know the wonderful person he was. I will never have my brother around to do all the things that brothers do together. His two daughters have grown up without their father. Although it has been 31 years since this horrific event took place, we must never forget that two of New York’s Finest gave their lives for the people of this city. The voices of the innocent victims must be heard. We must ensure that a convicted killer of police officers will never have the chance of being released. These murderers must be held accountable for their actions.”
The PBA held another news conference calling for the continued incarceration of this cop-killer outside the Manhattan offices of the State Division of Parole on the day the families were permitted to speak against the parole.
“Ultimately, the division of parole denied Bottom’s application for early release,” Lynch said. “There was tremendous support for the families from our own ranks, from retiree groups organized by the remarkably energetic Jack Coughlin and even support from the Nassau and Suffolk police departments, for which the PBA and the Piagentini and Jones families are very grateful.”
Because of additional convictions, Herman Bell, also convicted in the Piagentini and Jones execution, will not be eligible for parole until 2004. Albert Washington, the third man convicted in the killings, died in prison.
At any rate, when Washington is up for parole next year and Bottom is up for parole again in later years, you can bet that the PBA will be standing shoulder to shoulder with the murdered officers’ families to continue the fight for justice for two fallen brother officers.