Former NJ cop gets 30 years for killing ex-wife while kid was in car

FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) -- An off-duty New Jersey police officer who pleaded guilty to chasing and gunning down his ex-wife while their 7-year-old daughter was in his car has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The judge who sentenced Philip Seidle Thursday said the former Neptune Township officer must serve 85 percent of his sentence.

The Asbury Park Press reports the sentencing came after hours of emotional statements from some of Seidle's nine children. They pleaded with the judge to impose the longest sentence possible on him for killing their mother, Tamara Wilson-Seidle. They recounted years of domestic violence.

In June 2015, authorities said Seidle chased after a car driven by his ex-wife, forcing her to crash before he got out of his own vehicle and fired 12 shots at her.

Seidle pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March in a deal with prosecutors.

Information from: Asbury Park (N.J.) Press