Joseph Zanella was a police officer for Verona PA for almost two and a half years. On September 17, 1969 officer Zanella was on duty, and he got a bolo(be on the lookout)at the police station on Stanley Hoss a convicted criminal who had just escaped from the Allegheny County Workhouse who was awaiting sentencing for raping a 17 year old girl. Hoss was last seen in a stolen yellow Corvette.
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Officer Joseph P. Zanella |
On September 19,1969 Zanella had just stepped out of the police station to go on routine patrol when he saw Stanley Hoss in the stolen yellow Corvette. So Zanella got in his police car and notified authorities that he was following Stanley Hoss and that he was going to pull him over. Zanella turned his lights on and pulled Hoss over in Oakmont PA at Allegheny River Boulevard and Plum Street. As Zanella was walking up to the driver's seat window Hoss fired two .25 caliber shots at Zanella. The first shot missed Zanella and hit a concrete wall behind him, and as soon as you know it Hoss fired a second shot striking Zanella in the chest and piercing his heart.
Zanella immediately fell to the ground and crawled to his patrol car to contact athorities. While crawling to his patrol car, Zanella died.
Hoss drove off and turned onto 6th street almost striking a female walking home. Hoss drove to a garbage dump on Barkers Run Rd in Plum PA just outside of Oakmont PA and dumped off the car and hitchhiked with a few employees at the garbage dumped who were just getting off work. They dropped Hoss off at a parking lot where he stole a car and drove to The State of Maryland were he kidnapped a mom and her 2 year old girl on September 21, 1969. He told the mom to drive him to Canada. While on the way to Canada he murdered the 2 year old and her mother the next day September 22, 1969.
Almost 3 weeks after the 3 murders Hoss was captured in Iowa in a phone booth by help of his old girlfriend and doing phone taps on him.
A 12 year old that was at his dad's car shop witnessed the shooting death of Police officer Joseph Zanella and later testified at the trial. The bodies of the mother and the 2 year old were never found till this very day but Hoss told the police that he took their bodies and left them in Ohio and Kansas.
4 years after the murders, Hoss would strike again on December 10, 1973 killing a western penitentiary Captain Walter L. Peterson with a chair. Three other individuals were also charged with killing Peterson. Captain Peterson was promoted as Captain just three hours before the incident.
On December 6, 1978 Hoss was found dead hanging from a rope in his own cell. Still to this day no one knows if Hoss committed suicide or a couple correction officers killed him.
Police Officer Joseph Zanella served a tour of duty in the Vietnam War. Zanella served with the (PENNSYLVANIA SPA4 479 ARTILLERY. Zanella was survived by a son and his wife, and he was 25 years old at the time of his death in 1969. He made the ultimate sacrifice.
Officer's Name: Police Officer Joseph Zanella
Officer's Dept.: Verona Police Department
City: Verona PA
End of Watch: September 19,1969
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