W. Cary Edwards

He was born on July 20, 1944, in Paterson, New Jersey or Ridgewood, New Jersey.Romano, Jay. [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/25/nyregion/on-the-road-with-cary-edwards.html "On the Road With Cary Edwards"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212205057/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/25/nyregion/on-the-road-with-cary-edwards.html |date=2019-12-12 }}, The New York Times, April 25, 1993. Accessed August 8, 2019. "W. Cary Edwards, 48, was born in Ridgewood and grew up in Bergen County. When he was 11 years old, his parents separated, and he moved with his mother, Virginia, and a brother and a sister to East Paterson." Edwards grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey 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).via Associated Press. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/nyregion/21cedwards.html "W. Cary Edwards, New Jersey Public Servant, Dies at 66"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406011318/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/nyregion/21cedwards.html |date=2019-04-06 }}. The New York Times, 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, where he graduated in 1967. He received his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1970 and was admitted to the New Jersey bar the same year.[http://nj.gov/oag/oag/ag_1986-1989_edwards_bio.htm Official bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020211513/https://www.nj.gov/oag/oag/ag_1986-1989_edwards_bio.htm |date=2020-10-20 }}, Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey. Accessed March 20, 2008

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. He would serve three terms in the Assembly and be named assistant minority leader. Thomas Kean served as Edwards' mentor in the Assembly, and when Kean became Governor of New Jersey 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.{{cite news|last=|first=|date=26 May 2020|title='The Iceman': An Undercover Agent Reflects on Taking Down Notorious Hitman Richard Kuklinski|work=AETV|url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-iceman-richard-kuklinski-hitman|url-status=live|access-date=20 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620052447/https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/the-iceman-richard-kuklinski-hitman|archive-date=June 20, 2020}} 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.″.{{Cite news|last=Dolan|first=Julia|date=December 18, 1986|title=Man Charged With Killing Associates, Accomplices|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/acd3ad231058a7ca24e7f307c5e51670|url-status=live|access-date=|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126213334/https://apnews.com/article/acd3ad231058a7ca24e7f307c5e51670}}

Edwards ran for Governor of New Jersey in 1989, losing to Jim Courter 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 a law firm, Edwards & Caldwell, where he worked until 2008.

In 1997, Whitman named Edwards to the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation. In 2004, Governor Richard Codey appointed him chairman of the commission.[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/nyregion/30codey.html "Codey Creates a Watchdog Agency on Waste and Fraud"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528065630/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/nyregion/30codey.html |date=2015-05-28 }}. The New York Times, November 30, 2004; accessed March 20, 2008

Edwards died at his home in Oakland, New Jersey from cancer on October 20, 2010, aged 66. He was survived by his wife and their two daughters.{{Cite web |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/business/20101020_Ex-N_J__AG_Cary_Edwards__probed_E-ZPass.html |title="Ex-N.J. AG Cary Edwards, probed EZ-Pass" |access-date=2010-10-20 |archive-date=2010-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101024215231/http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/business/20101020_Ex-N_J__AG_Cary_Edwards__probed_E-ZPass.html |url-status=live }}

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Category:1944 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:People from Elmwood Park, New Jersey

Category:People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Category:People from Oakland, New Jersey

Category:Politicians from Paterson, New Jersey

Category:People from Ridgewood, New Jersey

Category:Deaths from cancer in New Jersey

Category:Politicians from Bergen County, New Jersey

Category:Seton Hall University School of Law alumni

Category:New Jersey city council members

Category:Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly

Category:New Jersey attorneys general

Category:20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature