Family fighting to keep cop killer behind bars despite possible release: 'Pathetic'
Andy Dwyer, whose police officer brother was killed 35 years ago, joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss his reaction to the killer's possible release and how he wants the world to remember his brother.
The family of a slain New York City police officer is fighting to keep the cop killer behind bars after he successfully appealed the parole board's release denial last year.
Andy Dwyer, whose brother Anthony was killed nearly 35 years ago while serving in the line of duty, joined "Fox & Friends First" to discuss the family's expectations for the next parole hearing and why they are fighting to keep him locked up.
"Our expectation, to be honest, though, with the way things are happening, I'm surprised they haven't let him out yet," Dwyer said. "It's pathetic."
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The killer, Eddie Matos, is currently serving 25 years to life in prison for the 1989 murder. Matos shoved Anthony off a Times Square roof after the pair came face-to-face during an incident in which Matos, alongside three accomplices, rounded up McDonald's employees at gunpoint, according to the New York Post.
Matos reportedly chased Anthony to the roof where he pushed him down a 25-foot air shaft. The then-23-year-old was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Family of Anthony Dwyer, who was killed while serving in the line of duty nearly 35 years ago, is fighting to keep his killer behind bars. ('Fox & Friends First' screengrab)
Dwyer said it will be a "smack in the face" to his family if Matos, who was found guilty of second-degree murder, is set free.
"It'll be a... smack in the face to our family just to say that, again, his life is worth more than our brother's life," Dwyer told Carley Shimkus on Monday.
"Bring my brother back, and by all means, let him out of jail... If they can do that, then by all means, this guy can come out of jail. Obviously, it's not happening, so this mutt deserves to stay in jail for the rest of his life, like the sentence that he was given."
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"Now we have to do this every year and a half. It used to be two years you'd have to go in front of the parole board. Now it's every year and a half, and this year it's actually one year because he was able to... argue that they didn't receive the paperwork on it," he continued.
The New York Post reported there was a "technicality" issue with Matos' parole paperwork last year, giving him another chance to possibly be released, despite his sentence.
He said the family petitioned to keep Matos behind bars, garnering more than 30,000 signatures in support of the move.
"Nobody at the parole board is held accountable," he said. "When he gets out and does whatever he's going to do, which, let's face it, he's not getting out and he's not going to be a pastor or a volunteer or do whatever he says he's going to do when it gets out and does it. Nobody's held accountable. He'll go back to jail, and [they'll say] oh, we messed up… It's okay. It's our fault… He's a good person."
Dwyer said his brother was an "unbelievable person" who loved his community and helped those around him who needed it most.
"I know everybody says that, but he volunteered at the church helping… elderly people going to the doctor appointments. He taught religious instruction. He was a volunteer fireman," he said.
"At one point there was a friend of his from high school that, was in a car accident and was paralyzed in the hospital, and Anthony actually sat by his bedside when the guy was in a coma, and, helped, I say, bring him back out of his coma. He talked to him every day. He was with them all the time, and, he was just an amazing person… Not a bad thing that could ever be said about him."
"Anthony's 23 years of life, he did more... good in his 23 years of life than this mutt could ever do his entire life."
If Matos is released, he will be the 42nd cop killer released in New York since 2017, according to the New York Post. He has reportedly been denied parole seven times in the last 10 years.
