Franklin Osgood later killed himself on the New Jersey Turnpike.
RIDGEFIELD PARK -- A retired police officer from Rhode Island who allegedly fatally shot his wife traveled to at least three other states before taking his own life Saturday night as police closed in on the New Jersey Turnpike, Providence police confirmed Sunday.
License plate readers showed Franklin Osgood, 61, traveled through Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut with the body of his wife in the trunk. Providence Police Col. Hugh T. Clements, Jr., said police had not determined a motive for the actions of Franklin Osgood, 61, but that he was clearly "deeply troubled."
Osgood shot himself Saturday in his car after leading police on a chase on the New Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey State Police said. Troopers searched his 2007 Dodge Charger and found the body of his 55-year-old wife, MaryJo, in the trunk.
Providence police contacted New Jersey State Police just after 9 p.m. Saturday to let them know Osgood was a murder suspect and considered "armed and dangerous." A trooper spotted Osgood 40 minutes later on the northbound side of the Turnpike near exit 18W.
Osgood refused to stop and crashed his car into a metal guard rail and a State Police patrol car, police said. A trooper suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Osgood, a retired Providence police officer, called his adult children and said he had hurt MaryJo and planned to harm himself, Clements said during the news conference. They contacted Providence police, who issued a "Be on the Lookout" bulletin for Osgood.
Police went to Osgood's home in Providence and determined that Osgood had killed his wife in the garage, WPRI reported. MaryJo's siblings released a statement to WPRI saying they were "sickened by the epidemic of gun and domestic violence in this country." They described the mother of four as spunky, funny and energetic.
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