The four men, one of whom was apprehended in Palmer Township, were arraigned this morning on murder and related charges.
Four men charged in the fatal carjacking of a young lawyer outside an upscale New Jersey mall pleaded not guilty this morning to murder and other charges.
Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington, and Newark residents Karif Ford, 31, Basim Henry, 32, and Kevin Roberts, 33, are accused in the Dec. 15 carjacking and killing of Dustin Friedland outside The Mall at Short Hills.
Henry was apprehended several days after the shooting at the Comfort Inn near 25th Street in Palmer Township, although authorities have said he has no known ties to the region.
The four men were arraigned this morning on charges of murder, carjacking, conspiracy, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. Their public defenders entered not guilty pleas for them.
A state Superior Court judge in Newark continued their bail at $2 million each. The four have been in custody since their arrests.
Friedland, a 30-year-old lawyer from Hoboken and a 2006 graduate of Bucknell University, was killed while returning to his car in the mall parking garage with his wife after a shopping trip, authorities said. The carjackers confronted the couple and Friedland was shot in the head, authorities said. His wife was unharmed.
The assailants drove off in the couple’s silver Range Rover, which was found the next morning in Newark, about 10 miles from Short Hills. Prosecutors have said the couple was targeted solely because of the make of their vehicle.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said the “sheer senselessness” of the crime outraged residents and led to tips pouring in from across Essex County, whose borders encompass crime-plagued Newark to the east and Short Hills and other affluent suburbs to the west.