Who is Patrick Bannon? 'Barbaric cop-killer' freed as family and police association slam parole board decision
QUEENS, NEW YORK: Patrick Bannon, a 56-year-old cold-blooded killer, who was convicted for the execution-style murder of an off-duty housing police officer, will be released from prison by the end of November.
New York Police Officer Paul Heidelberger was only 28 years old when Bannon, who was serving as a bouncer, shot him in the head outside a Bayside, Queens nightclub in 1992.
Following his surrender, Bannon was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. At that time, he also received a 5-to-15-year sentence for manslaughter in the slaying of 33-year-old John Camarda.
However, the state parole board granted his release in October, stating that he’ll be freed by the end of November, according to the New York Post.
This grant makes Bannon the 38th cop killer to be released in the state of New York since 2017, as per the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York.
Why did Patrick Bannon kill Paul Heidelberger?
Authorities previously revealed that Heidelberger was out with friends on July 18 when a fight erupted inside a club at the intersection of Bell Boulevard and 39th Avenue in the Bayside section of Queens.
The off-duty officer was attempting to break up the fight and was escorting people to their cars when Bannon, a 25-year-old weight-lifter and bouncer from one of the clubs, fired a 9-millimeter handgun at Heidelberger’s group, striking three men.
Bannon then walked up to Heidelberger and shot him in the head. “He came back and picked up my brother by his hair and shot him again in the head while Paul was pleading for his life and saying he’s a cop,” Heidelberger’s older sister Anne Fullam told NY Post.
“And every time I think about that, it’s just, it’s extremely hard for me,” she added.
Bannon, who was identified by witnesses, fled the scene but surrendered at the Queens district attorney’s office six years later.
He was then convicted of one count of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree manslaughter.
How did Heidelberger’s family react to Bannon’s release?
The news of Bannon’s release has left Heidelberger’s family fuming. The devastated family expressed that when Bannon was finally caught and sentenced, they had hoped he would die behind bars.
“I had hoped he would never, ever get out because of the way he killed my brother,” said the cop’s sister, the oldest of seven children who grew up in Queens Village. Bannon, 56, had two prior meetings with the parole board but his release was rejected until now.
“He was doing this that and the other thing in prison, good things supposedly, but what about Paul? What about the good things that he did?” the devastated sister asked.
She also said “When he walks out of the prison gates, will my brother walk in and say, ‘Hey, I’m home?’ No. My brother’s never coming home. This man, supposedly, has a child. Paul never got the chance to be a father.”
Patrick Hendry, the head of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, also criticized the parole board for approving Bannon's release.
“No sane New Yorker supports the release of this barbaric cop-killer,” Hendry said, adding “But the parole board does because they value a murderer’s life more than the life of a hero police officer.”