FILE 702 / 22 May 2026 / 71 MIN / express

Bloody Pizza Murders

Franklin, New JerseyListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Franklin, New Jersey, also called Franklin Borough, in northwestern New Jersey, in Sussex County about 0:03:24

History, in brief

Town note

Located in northwestern New Jersey, in Sussex County, about an hour and 15 minutes from New York City.

about 0:03:30

Town note

Nicknamed the fluorescent mineral capital of the world.

about 0:04:54

Town note

Sits on a rich ore body containing more than 150 minerals, many of them fluorescent.

about 0:05:09
All 6 history facts

Town note

Located in northwestern New Jersey, in Sussex County, about an hour and 15 minutes from New York City.

about 0:03:30

Town note

Nicknamed the fluorescent mineral capital of the world.

about 0:04:54

Town note

Sits on a rich ore body containing more than 150 minerals, many of them fluorescent.

about 0:05:09

Town note

25 of its minerals are found nowhere else on Earth except northwestern New Jersey.

about 0:05:09

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$207,500
Median household income$76,729
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2026

Population

"4,904"

No direction stated.

As told in 2026 about 0:03:55

Median household income

"$76,729"

Comparison: "slightly above the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:17

Median home cost

"$207,500"

Comparison: "well below the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2026 about 0:04:24

The reviews

3.1 / 5 · average of 4

3.3 stars

“The town has 3.3 stars on Niche.”
about 0:05:42

5 stars

“Crime is mostly low, drug use and sale are prevalent, the police are good at their job and there is a strong sense of safety.”
about 0:05:50

3 stars

“A typical small town, very quiet, with few employment opportunities, a couple of supermarkets and a Walmart, and the Franklin Mineral Museum is worth a visit.”
about 0:07:00

1 star

“The reviewer grew up there, found few employment opportunities and a mediocre school, says the area is not diverse, and that there is less for children to do than 20 years ago.”
about 0:07:22

In New Jersey

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The story

Franklin, also called Franklin Borough, lies in Sussex County in north-west New Jersey, about an hour and a quarter from New York City. Its population was 4,904. It calls itself the fluorescent mineral capital of the world.

A psychologist described a home plagued by infidelity, violence, substance abuse, gambling, criminal behaviour and suicide attempts. His father told him at seven or eight that he loved him the least of his three children and left when Tommy was about ten. His mother left a couple of years later to live with a boyfriend, leaving him with his grandmother, Bertha Lippencott, an addict, alcoholic and compulsive gambler whose house was filthy, chaotic and overcrowded. Tommy was smoking by eight, drinking by twelve or thirteen, and using pills, LSD and Fioricet. He wanted to be a mafia hitman and believed killing someone would get him in.

His father Arthur was violent and abusive, the family moved constantly, and he was bullied at each new school; a bully once pulled him off a school bus and broke his arm while the driver watched. By fourteen he was using drugs, and he attached himself to the older, charismatic Tommy.

No alarm sounded. He took three handguns, a .40, a .22 revolver and a .45, hid them under the bonnet of his blue Chevrolet Cavalier at a laundromat, and the next morning gave Conklin the .40 while keeping the other two.

On 18 April he told a teenage friend, Christine Slater, that he would order a pizza to a remote address and kill the driver to join the mafia. She thought he was joking and did not call the police. Conklin refused any part in it.

Four shops refused to deliver to Scott Road as too far out; a fifth took the order then cancelled. They rang Tony's Pizza and Pasta in Hardyston, asked whether Jeremy Giordano was working, hung up, then called back and ordered two large cheese pizzas to Scott Road, an empty, dark house on a country road, for 10.30 p.m. Jeremy Giordano, 22, delivered for Tony's. The owner, Giorgio 'George' Galera, 25, thought the call strange and rode along. His girlfriend Laura and their four-year-old daughter waited in the car park, with a camping trip planned for the morning. Jeremy drove his 1995 Pontiac Grand Am, George beside him.

Two bullets passed through Jeremy's neck and killed him almost instantly; two more struck his left knee. George was hit five times. The car rolled into a muddy patch. The pair dragged both men out face down, searched their pockets and the car for cash, and left the pizzas on the ground. They ran back to the Cavalier, told each other they loved each other, and drove off. Near eleven they stopped at a Presbyterian church, made the sign of the cross at the door and left.

On 20 April the Grand Am was still stuck when a 911 call brought a patrolman, who found both men face down in the grass and two pizzas beside them. Six spent .45 shells lay on the road, two more in the front passenger seat, and autopsies found two large-calibre bullets in Jeremy's knee and a .22 bullet in George's head. Tony's confirmed the order the next morning. Christine Slater heard the news and called the police, and a Scott Road resident reported a blue Cavalier with a loud muffler and one headlight passing twice. The search of his room produced both guns, bloodstained khakis, Galera's identification, gun magazines, a price list for crimes, lyrics about killing and five paper strips naming 'spots'.

The Galera family's civil claims against both men and Adventure Sports were settled for about $17 million. New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007.

The case

The Bloody Pizza Murders: Jeremy Giordano and Giorgio Galera

Victims

Jeremy Giordano (22). Pizza delivery driver for Tony's Pizza and Pasta, shot in the neck while in the driver's seat
Giorgio Galera (25). Owner of Tony's Pizza and Pasta, known as George, shot in the passenger seat after riding along on the delivery

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 22 May 2026.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Michael Conklin. 19-year-old friend who helped burgle Adventure Sports, refused to join the murder plot and asked why
Christine Slater. teenage friend told of the plan two days before; she did not believe him and called the police after the murders
Kimberly Prestige. girlfriend, gave the pair change for the payphone
Bertha Lippencott. grandmother, an addict, alcoholic and compulsive gambler who raised him
Loretta Giordano. Jeremy Giordano's mother, read a 15-page victim impact statement and said her family opposed the death penalty
Nicholas Giordano. Jeremy Giordano's cousin, said some of the family have never come to terms with the death
Laura. Giorgio Galera's girlfriend, waiting in the car park with their four-year-old daughter
David La Layosa. author of the book The Pizza Killers, which family called a lie

The timeline

  1. May 6th, 1978 is bornabout 0:12:10
  2. September 5th, 1979 is bornabout 0:23:34
  3. from the age of six begins hearing whispers he calls an evil false prophetabout 0:16:18
  4. when he was seven or eight His father tells him he loves him the least of his three childrenabout 0:13:02
  5. when Tommy was about 10 His father leaves the familyabout 0:15:23
  6. a couple of years later His mother leaves for a boyfriend, leaving him with his grandmother Bertha Lippencott (Grandmother's house)about 0:15:29
  7. April 8th, 1997 proposes burgling Adventure Sports to Michael Conklin (Adventure Sports)about 0:29:49
  8. April 8th, 1997 smashes the shop window and steals three handguns (Adventure Sports)about 0:30:50
  9. April 18th, 1997 tells Christine Slater he will order a pizza and kill the delivery driver to join the mafiaabout 0:34:43
  10. April 19th, 1997, 8 p.m. is at Conklin's house and Conklin's mother notices he seems anxious (Conklin house)about 0:37:10
  11. April 19th, 1997, 9.30 p.m. and dress, arm themselves and take a phone book to Dunkin Donuts (Dunkin Donuts)about 0:37:21
  12. April 19th, 1997, 10 p.m. to 10.06 p.m. They use the Dunkin Donuts payphone to call five pizza shops before Tony's agrees to deliver (Dunkin Donuts)about 0:39:28
  13. April 19th, 1997, 10.30 p.m. They back the Cavalier into the driveway of Scott Road and wait on the curb (Scott Road)about 0:41:39
  14. April 19th, 1997, 10.35 p.m. The pizzas arrive and and shoot both men (Scott Road)about 0:41:56
  15. April 19th, 1997, about 11 p.m. They stop at a Presbyterian church, walk to the door and make the sign of the cross (Presbyterian church)about 0:48:34
  16. April 20th, 1997 A 911 call leads a patrolman to the Grand Am; both men are found face down in the grass (Scott Road)about 0:50:55
  17. 2007 New Jersey abolishes the death penaltyabout 1:10:35
  18. after the convictions The Galera family's civil claims against both men and Adventure Sports are settled for around $17 million (Court)about 1:10:19

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode