Killers named in Caddle murder-for-hire case

According to Politico NJ’s Matt Friedman, the two hitmen hired by political aide Sean Caddle to murder Michael Galdieri were Bomani Africa and George Bratsenis; Africa pleaded guilty to a federal charge of interstate conspiracy to commit murder today.

Africa and Bratsenis were previously co-defendants in a separate car arson and bank robbery case in 2014, the same year they killed Galdieri.

Yesterday evening, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced that Caddle, who once worked for State Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) and was involved in Jersey City politics as recently as 2020, pleaded guilty to hiring two men to kill Galdieri, a former associate and Jersey City Council candidate. The two men, who were not named in yesterday’s release, stabbed Galdieri to death and set fire to his apartment in May 2014.

Shortly after the murder was completed, Caddle met Africa in the parking lot of an Elizabeth diner and paid him thousands of dollars (the exact amount has not yet been disclosed).

“This was a callous and violent crime, and this defendant is as responsible as the two men who wielded the knife,” Sellinger said in the statement. “There is no more serious crime than the taking of another person’s life. The defendant has admitted arranging and paying for a murder by two other people. His admission of guilt means he will now pay for his crime.”