Freedom bid for 1988 cop killers

Four imprisoned fiends convicted in the 1988 assassination of rookie NYPD cop Edward Byrne are set to appear before their parole boards for the first time this fall to seek their freedom, The Post has learned.

The quartet of craven killers Philip Copeland, Scott Cobb, Todd Scott and David McClary shot Byrne, a 103rd Precinct patrol cop, on Feb. 26, 1988, inside his marked patrol car in Jamaica, Queens.

The thugs shot the 22-year-old Byrne five times in the head in exchange for $8,000 in blood money from their drug boss, who had been busted by officers a day earlier and offered the dough to anyone who killed a cop in retaliation.

Edward Byrne

Byrnes death made national headlines as a stark reminder of the surging tide of urban violence often associated with the distribution of crack cocaine and became a defining moment in the citys war on crime.

The crimes brutality led President Ronald Reagan to call the family to express his condolences and Vice President George H.W. Bush to carry the slain officers NYPD badge with him on the campaign trail.

Edward Byrnes merciless assassins should leave prison only in coffins, Patrolmens Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch told The Post recently, referring to the cons bid at freedom.

Carole Weaver, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Parole, said that beginning in November, each of the convicts will undergo separate interviews with parole-board commissioners at the prisons where they are now inmates.

The Byrne family have been told to show up on the morning of Oct. 5 at the West 40th Street offices of the state Division of Parole to provide victim impact statements about the pending parole bids, sources said.

Lawrence Byrne, a lawyer who is the slain officers brother, did not return calls for comment.

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Freedom bid for 1988 cop killers