Nov 25, 2008 8:46 pm US/Eastern
N.J. Church Shooting Suspect Appears In Ga. Court
Joseph Pallipurath Arrested Around Midnight Monday Near Atlanta
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A gunman, who police said drove across the country in pursuit of his estranged wife, shot and killed her and another parishioner during an attack at a church service Sunday.
CBS
The search for a man wanted for shooting his wife and two other people inside a Clifton church has come to an end, nearly 800 miles away. The suspect, Joseph Pallipurath, was captured overnight in Monroe, Ga., and faced a judge late Tuesday.
Inside the Georgia courtroom, Pallipurath waived his extradition to New Jersey. The 27-year-old was captured inside a Monroe city motel room by U.S. marshals.
"He said, 'I'm Joseph,' and gave himself up," said Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano.
Aviglian credits his capture to good old fashioned police work after investigators scoured nearby motels when they discovered Pallipurath had relatives in the area.
On Tuesday, at the home of Dennis John Mallosseril, the Good Samaritan Pallipurath is accused of shooting in the church, there was little solace in the arrest.
"It brings a little closure, but it's not going to bring him back, you know. He's dead, he's gone. Capturing him is not going to do anything," said Joseph Mathew, Mallosseril's cousin.
Mallosseril, who worked with computers, would have turned 26 on Tuesday. Police say he was shot in the head after he tried to break up an argument between Pallipurath and his estranged wife, 24-year-old Reshma James, who was also shot and killed.
"He went out to help because he saw someone in trouble," said Mathew. "He was like my little brother. He lived for others."
Pallipurath is also charged with shooting James' cousin, Silvy Perin-Cheril, who she had fled to with after filing a restraining order against her husband, who followed her to New Jersey from California.
"He had rented a room in Paterson two weeks before he committed this act in Clifton," said Avigliano.
Funeral services for Mallosseril will be held on Saturday. There will also be a prayer service Tuesday night at the church for the surviving victim, who remains in critical condition.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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