William Cary Edwards (July 20, 1944 – October 20, 2010) was a

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

politician who served as the

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confirmed by the New Jersey Senate, and term limited ...

from 1986 to 1989.

Early life

He was born on July 20, 1944, in Paterson, New Jersey or

Ridgewood, New Jersey Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 24,958,Fair Lawn, New Jersey Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and a bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 34,940, which constituted a 7.7% increase from 32, ...

and was raised Catholic by his mother, Virginia, who had converted to Roman Catholicism. His parents separated when he was 11. He and his siblings (a brother, James and a sister, Cheryl) moved with their mother to East Paterson (now

Elmwood Park, New Jersey Elmwood Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, and is a bedroom suburb located from New York City. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 19,403,Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

"W. Cary Edwards, New Jersey Public Servant, Dies at 66"
. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', April 25, 1993. Accessed August 8, 2019. "Oakland, N.J. (AP) — W. Cary Edwards, who served more than 30 years in state government, including as attorney general, died Wednesday at his home here.... Mr. Edwards was born July 20, 1944, in Paterson, N.J., and raised in Fair Lawn. After working his way through high school and Seton Hall University and its law school, he was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1970." He graduated from St. Luke's High School in Ho-Ho-Kus, later studying business administration at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...

, where he graduated in 1967. He received his law degree from

Seton Hall University School of Law Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

in 1970 and was admitted to the New Jersey bar the same year.Official bio
, Office of the

. Accessed March 20, 2008

Career

Edwards married Lynn Cozzolino in 1970. In 1974 they moved to Oakland, and a year later Edwards was elected councilman there. In 1977 he was elected to the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. He would serve three terms in the Assembly and be named assistant minority leader.

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

served as Edwards' mentor in the Assembly, and when Kean became

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

in 1982, he selected Edwards as his chief counsel. Kean then named Edwards Attorney General, and he was sworn in on January 21, 1986, the day of Kean's second inauguration. As Attorney General, Edwards sought to increase the size of the Department of Law and Public Safety; initiated a new anti-drug program; instituted a task force to combat organized crime; planned a virtual overhaul of the Division of Motor Vehicles; and confronted problems such as insurance fraud and state land use planning. The New Jersey Attorney General's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms created a Task Force, named "Operation Iceman", to apprehend murderer

Richard Kuklinski Richard Leonard Kuklinski (; April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006), also known as The Iceman, was an American criminal and convicted murderer. Kuklinski was engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life; he ran a burglary ring and dist ...

. It led to the arrest of Kuklinski who was charged with five murder counts and six weapons violations, as well as attempted murder, robbery, and attempted robbery. Edwards spoke to the media in a press conference about the case describing them as murders for profit. ″He set individuals up for business deals, they would disappear and the money would end up in his hands.″. Edwards ran for

in 1989, losing to

Jim Courter James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...

in the Republican primary. He ran again in 1993, losing out to Christine Todd Whitman, who went on to victory in the general election. In 1995, Edwards opened his own private practice law firm, Edwards & Caldwell, where he worked until 2008. In 1997 Whitman named Edwards to the

New Jersey State Commission of Investigation The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation (SCI) is an independent governmental fact-finding agency in the U.S. State of New Jersey whose mission is to identify and investigate organized crime, corruption and waste, fraud and abuse in govern ...

, and in 2004 Governor Richard Codey appointed him chairman of the commission.

Death

Edwards died at his home in Oakland, New Jersey from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on October 20, 2010, aged 66. He was survived by his wife and their two daughters.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, W. Cary 1944 births 2010 deaths People from Elmwood Park, New Jersey People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey People from Oakland, New Jersey People from Paterson, New Jersey People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey Seton Hall University School of Law alumni New Jersey city council members Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey Attorneys General