Extortion threat fueled New Jersey political murder-for-hire plot, prosecutors say

By MIKE CATALINI
Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey political consultant who hired two career criminals to kill a friend and one-time colleague engineered the 2014 slaying because the victim was seeking to extort money from him. That’s according to prosecutors’ sentencing documents made available Wednesday. Former Democratic campaign consultant Sean Caddle is set to be sentenced Thursday for his role in the murder-for-hire plot that resulted in Michael Galdieri’s death in Jersey City in 2014. Caddle told authorities Galdieri had become erratic from drug use and threatened to go public about “certain things” he’d seen while working on campaigns together — unless Caddle funneled him money.