A former South Jersey businessman has been convicted of trying to arrange the murders of judges and prosecutors involved in his 2010 conviction for a bowling-alley arson.
Stephen Smink, 62, of Philadelphia “planned to kill public servants for doing their jobs and putting him behind bars for crimes he previously committed,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement Aug. 27. “State Police and prison officials found out about his plan and interceded before anyone was harmed.”
Authorities said Smink conspired from January 2018 to December 2020 to cause the deaths of Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae and First Assistant Prosecrutor Harold Shapiro.
Vineland project: Car dealership planned for former Loyle Lanes site
He also sought the murders of two Superior Court judges and an assistant prosecutor, Platkin’s statement said.
According to authorities, Smink discussed his plans with an undercover officer, allegedly saying, “If everybody was together wipe the whole place out and kill everybody. It just looks like somebody making an assault, a gangs meeting.”
He also allegedly said: “If somebody shot up the place it looks like the gang getting retribution.’”
The potential targets were chosen for their roles in Smink’s imprisonment in connection with a January 2010 arson that destroyed Loyle Lanes along Delsea Drive in Vineland.
The popular bowling alley, which was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary, was the primary competitor for Smink’s business, Pike Lanes Family Fun Center in Deerfield.
Two Philadelphia men admitted to setting the fire at Smink’s direction.
Fire destroys the Loyle Lanes Bowling Center in Vineland on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010.
Smink allegedly hatched his murder-for-hire plan while serving a 15-year sentence for arson and a related conspiracy, according to the statement.
It said he initially recruited a Latin Kings gang member as a hitman, but that man died before he could carry out any attacks.
Smink then hired another man to arrange the murders, unaware that he was a cooperating witness for law enforcement.
The suspect “oversaw the transfer of sports memorabilia to pay for the hits,” the statement said. It alleged that he directed his now-deceased mother, Esther Smink, “to write correspondence in furtherance of the conspiracy on his behalf.”
Smink completed his prison term for the arson charge in April 2023, but has been held since that time in connection with the current case.
Members of a Superior Court jury in Mays Landing convicted Smink on Aug. 15 of five counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiring to commit murder. He also was found guilty of transporting weapons and conspiring to transport weapons.
Smink faces a minimun of 30 years without parole to life imprisonment. Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Levin set sentencing for Sept. 26.
An attorney for Smink could not be reached for comment.
The Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office posted the attorney general’s announcement without comment at its Facebook page.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Stephen Smink convicted of seeking murders of judges, prosecutors