Nicholas L. Bissell, Jr.

Nicholas Louis "Nick" Bissell Jr. (January 14, 1947 – November 27, 1996) was the county prosecutor of Somerset County, New Jersey. After being charged with embezzlement, tax fraud and abuse of power, he fled to Laughlin, Nevada, and killed himself after a standoff with US Marshals.

Biography Born in 1947 to Nicholas L. Bissell Sr. (1919–2002) and his wife, Louise, Nick Bissell grew up in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, and later moved to Somerville, New Jersey. He entered private practice, then worked as a part-time judge. He then became an assistant prosecutor in Somerset County, and was appointed county prosecutor in 1982 by Governor Tom Kean. He held that position for 13 years.

In 1990, a forfeiture case proved to be Bissell's downfall. On May 10, 1990, James Giuffre was arrested on charges of selling $700 worth of cocaine. Bissell said he would drop the charges if Giuffre forfeited two plots of land to the prosecutor's office, valued at $174,000. They were sold at auction below their appraised value to a friend of Bissell's chief of detectives. Giuffre filed a civil suit against Bissell (which the Somerset County Freeholders later settled for $435,000) and also then contacted the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. Forensic accountants with the IRS discovered that Bissell skimmed cash from a gas station of which he was part owner. The FBI discovered that Bissell had destroyed a suspect's written request for a lawyer and threatened to frame his gasoline wholesaler for cocaine possession.