WEST DEPTFORD – A contract nurse working at Hackensack University Medical Center who set a woman on fire in a hospital break room has been found dead in Camden County.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced that Nicholas Pagano, of 968 Kings Highway, West Deptford, was wanted on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault, and unlawful weapons possession.
On Monday, February 7, 2022, at approximately 5:15 a.m., the Hackensack Police Department received a 9-1-1 call from a Hackensack University Medical Center (“HUMC”) employee on a report of an assault at the hospital. Hackensack Police responded to the hospital, where they learned that a 54-year-old HUMC employee had been attacked and burned by another individual in a break room, and that the attacker had fled the hospital.
The victim suffered third-degree burns over her upper body, face and hands, as well as a laceration to her head that required stitches. She was treated in the emergency room at HUMC and subsequently transported to another medical facility for additional treatment.
An investigation conducted by detectives from the Hackensack Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit revealed that NICHOLAS PAGANO burned the victim and struck the victim with a wrench.
On Monday, January 7, 2022, NICHOLAS PAGANO was charged with first-degree attempted murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1/2C:11-3a(1); second-degree aggravated arson against the person, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1a(1); second-degree aggravated arson against the property, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-1a(2); second-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)1; third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4d; and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5d.