On Thursday, September 20, 1984, Investigator, Richard B. Snyder, 37, of the Wurtsboro Barracks, Troop F, a 10-year veteran of the New York State Police, was conducting a followup investigation at the home of the wife of a suspect in Mamakating. At about 2000-2030 hrs, Edward Michael Eposito shot Investigator Snyder in the head with a .22 cal rifle. After killing Snyder, Esposito placed the body in the Investigator’s unmarked police car and drove into New York City, where he disposed of both Investigator Snyder’s body and the vehicle in the East River off Ward’s Island.
Espositio was the subject of a massive manhunt, and he committed suicide at a farm in New Jersey. After a 12-day intensive search, Investigator Snyder’s body was recovered, approximately 40 feet from another car containing the body of an organized crime victim who had disappeared in 1979.
Investigator Snyder left behind a wife, Glenda, and two daughters, Dawn,14, and Debra, 9.