Police Family pleads with Parole Board for third time in just over a year

Family members of NYPD Police Officer Anthony Dwyer, who fatally plummeted from a Midtown roof in 1989 while struggling with a robbery suspect, were forced to reopen their wounds for a third time in just over a year to keep his killer behind bars.

VIDEO OF PBA PRESS CONFERENCE

The Dwyer family — including his parents and three siblings — appeared at the New York State Parole Board’s Manhattan office today to deliver their victim impact statements opposing the parole of P.O. Dwyer’s killer, Eddie Matos.

Matos was denied parole in April 2023. After that hearing was thrown out on a technicality, he was denied parole again after a hearing last month. And next month, he is scheduled to appear before the board yet again.

NYC PBA President Patrick Hendry said: 

“The Parole Board needs to stop tormenting this hero family. Forcing P.O. Anthony Dwyer’s loved ones to relive the darkest moment of their lives month after month is a cruel form of punishment that makes a total mockery of our hero brother’s sacrifice. During this epidemic of violence against law enforcement, New Yorkers cannot stand by while another cop-killer is put back on our streets. We need everyone to send a message to the Parole Board to oppose parole for every cop-killer.”

 An online petition to oppose cop-killer parole is available on the PBA’s website.

 The New York State Parole Board has already released at least 41 cop-killers since 2017.

Marge Dwyer, mother of slain P.O. Anthony Dwyer, said:

“This Parole Board is on a crusade to let all cop-killers out of prison. Anthony gave his life protecting this city from a murderous career criminal, yet the Parole Board seems to be doing everything it can to erase his sacrifice. The murder of a police officer is an unforgivable, irredeemable crime. This cop-killer must never leave prison alive.”

At approximately 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1989, Matos and three accomplices used a sledgehammer to bash the glass door of a McDonald’s near Times Square. The bandits herded the custodial staff at gunpoint and tried to access the safe.

P.O. Dwyer and his colleagues from the Midtown South Precinct were called to the scene. To evade arrest, Matos climbed to the top floor of the building, Dwyer following in pursuit. A violent struggle ensued on the rooftop, ending with Dwyer plunging down a 25-foot air shaft. Matos and two of his accomplices fled the scene.

Dwyer survived the impact of the collision, his agonizing final moments of life heard through his radio. It took over a half hour before emergency services could remove Dwyer from the air shaft. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and pronounced dead at 4:50 a.m. Dwyer had over two years served with the NYPD at the time of his murder. He was 23.

Matos was convicted of Second-Degree Murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in 1990. He became eligible for parole in 2014.