Diane Piagentini (Edmund J. Coppa)
Letting a cop-killer out of prison is a betrayal to police officers who are putting their lives on the line now. It is a betrayal to the citizens of the United States to let killers out among us to kill again.
Herman Bell hasn’t changed. None of what he said or did back in the ’70s has left him.
He is an assassin.
The worst thing about it is that it is setting a precedent — New York City police officers and officers all over this country are walking around with a bull’s-eye on their backs.
There’s nothing stopping anyone from walking up to a cop and killing him as he’s pleading for his life.
Bell should have gotten the death penalty back then. Why are they letting him out? How can they let this man out on parole when he has denied what he did to my husband for 40 years? I cannot fathom it.
Herman Bell not only killed Officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones, but he killed a cop out West. That’s three police officers, and he’s getting out of jail.
He made a life in prison. He has a wife, he has children, and now he’s allowed to get out on the street.
What did Joe get? He’s not here.
My daughters grew up not knowing their father. They were 15 months and 3 years of age when their dad was killed.
I have two grandchildren. What do I say to them about this? What do I tell them when they get older and they understand how the system let them down?
It’s not just our lives — they don’t have a grandfather.
My daughters and I have been there every time Bell has been up for parole.
This last time we really stressed what he did to our lives, what he did to my daughters’ lives.
I don’t know whether Gov. Cuomo can reverse this decision, but it all has to do with what’s going on in the state.
They’re becoming very lax. They cannot protect the police officers anymore.
This is a shock for everyone in the state of New York. It is a betrayal.
Diane Piagentini, 74, is the widow of NYPD Officer Joseph Piagentini, who was killed by Herman Bell in 1971.