Jonathan Roman gets 18 to life for murder of NHP man

Noah Manskar

A Coram man will serve at least 18 years in prison for murdering his uncle at his New Hyde Park home.

Jonathan Roman, 44, was sentenced Feb. 29 to 18 years to life behind bars for the February 2014 killing of 71-year-old John Frankowski of New Hyde Park.

Roman pleaded guilty in December to a second-degree murder charge.

“John Frankowski’s life was tragically cut short by his nephew’s heinous act and our thoughts and prayers are with his family,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement.

Roman went to Frankowski’s New Hyde Park home on Feb. 27, 2014 and they got into an argument, Singas said in the statement.

Roman beat and strangled Frankowski there, took the body to his home in Coram and buried it in a wooded area behind the house, the DA’s office said.

Frankowski’s relatives reported him missing March 1, and Nassau County police found his body March 7 with the help of the Suffolk County Police Department’s K9 unit, the DA’s statement said.

Alan Schwartz, Roman’s Garden City-based attorney, said in an email Roman went to see Frankowski following the death of his grandmother, Frankowski’s mother.

Roman had tried for three weeks to reach Frankowski by phone, Schwartz said.

Their argument about the condition of Roman’s grandmother’s house, where Frankowski was living, was “fueled by (Roman’s) ongoing struggle with drugs and alcohol,” Schwartz said.

“Jonathan is extremely remorseful for the devastating outcome of his actions, and is prepared to take responsibility, having entered a negotiated plea, and is prepared to serve the negotiated sentence imposed by the court,” he said in an email.

Frankowski’s 2014 obituary published in Newsday said he was a U.S. Army veteran survived by two children and two grandchildren.

A neighbor of Frankowski’s told the Herald Courier in 2014 he did not interact much with his neighbors on Second Street. She also said he was a parishoner at St. Hedwig’s Roman Catholic Church in Floral Park.

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