Assata Shakur accomplice gets parole in trooper’s 1973 death

By DAVID PORTER
Associated Press

A split New Jersey Supreme Court has granted parole to a former militant convicted in the 1973 death of a New Jersey state trooper. Sundiata Acoli is in his mid-80s and has had parole bids rejected previously. His attorneys argued he has been a model prisoner for nearly three decades. The state parole board contended Acoli still is a risk to commit crimes and hasn’t taken full responsibility for Trooper Werner Foerster’s death. Foerster was killed during a gun battle after a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Co-defendant Joanne Chesimard, now known as Assata Shakur, also was convicted but escaped to Cuba and was granted asylum by then-President Fidel Castro.