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Autopsy directly links defendant to Newark schoolyard slayings, prosecutors say

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NEWARK — When Alexander Alfaro’s murder trial started earlier this month, the assistant prosecutor pointed to a timid-looking young man at the defense table, saying he had savagely attacked Iofemi Hightower with a machete before she and two friends were fatally shot execution-style — and another wounded — at a Newark schoolyard. "We know what he did, ladies and...

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NEWARK — When Alexander Alfaro’s murder trial started earlier this month, the assistant prosecutor pointed to a timid-looking young man at the defense table, saying he had savagely attacked Iofemi Hightower with a machete before she and two friends were fatally shot execution-style — and another wounded — at a Newark schoolyard.

"We know what he did, ladies and gentleman, from his own lips," Essex County assistant prosecutor Thomas McTigue told the Superior Court jury. McTigue said he would play a taped statement Alfaro made to police after the Aug. 4, 2007, triple killing behind Mount Vernon School, in which he admits to wielding the machete.

Alfaro, now 20, was one of six young men charged in the killings.

In the days that followed that opening salvo, Alfaro’s alleged involvement has barely been mentioned.

That changed Tuesday, when prosecutors for the first time sought to directly link him to the crime during testimony by a forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Hightower.

The doctor, Edward Chmara, pointed to an enlarged autopsy photograph of Hightower as he described the two long "chopping" wounds on one side of her head, a large cut to her hand and a deep gash extending past her ear. The force of that blow, Chmara said, nearly severed the ear.

"I knew from the time we saw these that we were looking for a machete," he told McTigue on direct examination. That statement came on a day in which prosecutors showed autopsy photos of all three victims, who doctors said were shot at point-blank range in the base of the skull and died almost instantly.

Hightower and Dashon Harvey, both 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, were lined up against a wall before they were shot. Terrance’s sister, Natasha, who was 19, was shot but survived.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Raymond Morasse sought to cast doubt on Chmara’s machete claim. He pointed to the fact that the doctor never noted the type of weapon on his autopsy report. Chmara said he told detectives in the room that day, but left it off the report because he isn’t an expert in that area of science.

The 23-inch machete, which was discovered in the schoolyard days after the killing, has been brought out several times in court, if only briefly. Blood stains found on the blade were matched to Hightower, though no fingerprints could be lifted from the rusted, cracked weapon. No physical evidence has linked Alfaro to the crime, and prosecutors have yet to play his statement to police.

Another witness who testified Tuesday, Steven Symes, a forensic anthropologist, said he could not be certain the machete blade authorities recovered caused Hightower’s wounds — which included several puncture marks to her back and slashes to her arm — but said the injuries fit a similar classification of weapon.

Prosecutors allege Alfaro was ordered to bring the weapon to the schoolyard by his half-brother, Rodolfo Godinez, who was also charged in the killing. Authorities say the six young men — all with alleged ties to a violent Central American street gang — set upon the college-bound friends who were in the schoolyard listening to music.

Godinez, 27, was convicted at trial last spring. In September, another defendant, Melvin Jovel, 21, admitted he shot all four victims. Both men had made statements to police after their arrests. Both are serving life sentences.


Egg Harbor Township man admits to strangling wife

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EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — A South Jersey man has admitted he strangled his wife while they fought about her seeing another man. John Hilyard pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter Tuesday in the 2009 death of his 45-year-old wife, Chun-Yan. She was a local artist known for her portraits and landscapes. Hilyard said he dumped his wife's body near Fenton...

egg-harbor.jpgA map view of Spruce Avenue in Egg Harbor Township, near where a jogger found the body of Chun-Yan Hilyard.

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — A South Jersey man has admitted he strangled his wife while they fought about her seeing another man.

John Hilyard pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter Tuesday in the 2009 death of his 45-year-old wife, Chun-Yan. She was a local artist known for her portraits and landscapes.

Hilyard said he dumped his wife's body near Fenton Mill's Creek so that their three sons wouldn't see their mother dead when they woke in their Egg Harbor Township home.

Prosecutors said the couple had a history of domestic violence.

The Press of Atlantic City reported the sons are living with their mother's brother in South Africa, with the father's consent.

Hilyard faces at least nine years in prison when he's sentenced on April 13.

Read the full story in The Press of Atlantic City.

Previous coverage:

Atlantic County man pleads not guilty to strangling his artist wife

Husband accused of fatally strangling South Jersey artist

Former Rider University professor is arrested in online sex sting

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PHILADELPHIA — A former Rider University professor is facing federal sex charges after being arrested in what officials say was an online sex sting. Authorities say they arrested Austin Winther on Monday at Philadelphia International Airport as he believed he was meeting a woman and her 13-year-old daughter. Court documents say Winther engaged in explicit online chats with an investigator...

PHILADELPHIA — A former Rider University professor is facing federal sex charges after being arrested in what officials say was an online sex sting.

Authorities say they arrested Austin Winther on Monday at Philadelphia International Airport as he believed he was meeting a woman and her 13-year-old daughter.

Court documents say Winther engaged in explicit online chats with an investigator in Idaho posing as a woman and her daughter. Authorities say Winther set up the meeting so they could have sex in an airport hotel.

Winther taught at Rider's Graduate School of Education from 2005 until going on disability leave in October 2009. A school spokesman says the university will comply with any investigation.

Winther is in custody pending a detention hearing on Friday.

More Pennsylvania news:

Two N.J. legislators to introduce bill banning 'bath salts' drug

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Mother of man who allegedly killed Rutgers student says her mentally ill son was using 'bath salts'; more info on the new drug

bath-salts.JPGStudio shots of C Original, TranQuility and White Lady, which are all bath salts apparently being used by some to get high. All three were purchased for about $85 in New Brunswick.

TRENTON — Two state Assembly members will introduce legislation aimed at stopping the sale of “bath salts,” legal powders that give users a high not unlike that of methamphetamine.

News of the bill, which Deputy Speaker John McKeon (D-Essex) and Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) plan to introduce soon, comes after the slaying of a Rutgers University senior allegedly killed by her long-time boyfriend – a Cranford man whose mother says her mentally ill son was using “bath salts” in recent months.

Since William Parisio began using the powders, widely available at convenience stores around the country, the bipolar 22-year-old — until this semester a Rutgers student — began descending into a world of paranoia he feared he may never escape, his mother Diane Parisio, told The Star-Ledger on Tuesday. She said she spoke in hopes of warning others, not in defense of her son.

The man is charged with murder in the death of Pamela Schmidt, his long-time girlfriend whose body police found in the basement of the Parisio home on Sunday afternoon.

"The recent tragedy is deadly proof of the devastation that can be caused when dangerous drugs are masqueraded as bath salts and are openly available to the public, especially our youth who are the highest users of such hallucinogenic substances," McKeon said.

The legislation McKeon and Stender say they will introduce would criminalize both possession and sale of any products containing substances that include mephedrone or methylenedioxpyrovalerone, commonly known as MDPV. Those and other chemicals are among the active ingredients used in “bath salts,” which cost $20-$50 and are snorted, smoked or ingested.

The Star-Ledger easily purchased the powders on Tuesday at a shop on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick, near Rutgers University's College Avenue campus. One shop clerk was happy to haggle over price and explained which variety was the strongest. At another store, a clerk said they had sold out of “bath salts.”

The measure soon to be proposed in the Assembly would make it a crime of the third-degree to manufacture, distribute, dispense or possess products containing those two chemicals in New Jersey, the Assembly members said. Those charged would face three to five years in prison, and up to $15,000 in fines, they said.

"Such a (flagrant) deception of the public by using bath salts as a cover compounds the crime of drug peddling,” Stender said. "We are determined to move forward to get these dangerous products off the shelves and out of reach of our youth."

Available in “head shops,” gas stations and other places, the powders are sold under slick monikers like Cloud Nine, White Lightning or Ivory Wave.

Experts are adamant that “bath salts,” despite any lack of clinical evidence, are a massively dangerous substance. It’s been tied to incidents of self-mutilation, at least one suicide and violence against others, the experts said.

"From our brief experience this is a very dangerous drug that is at least, if not more, dangerous than methamphetamines," said Zane Horowitz, medical director at the Oregon Poison Center.

Staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.

Plainfield man, 31, is fatally shot

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PLAINFIELD — A man was shot and killed early today in Plainfield, according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office. Police determined that Curtis Stroud, 31, of Plainfield was shot at the intersection of Berckman Street and South Avenue. A group of men then dropped him off at Muhlenberg Hospital at 1:30 a.m., Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said. He was...

plainfield-homicide-map.jpgMap view of Berckman Street and South Avenue in Plainfield, where a man was shot and killed early today.

PLAINFIELD — A man was shot and killed early today in Plainfield, according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

Police determined that Curtis Stroud, 31, of Plainfield was shot at the intersection of Berckman Street and South Avenue. A group of men then dropped him off at Muhlenberg Hospital at 1:30 a.m., Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said. He was pronounced dead at 1:45 a.m.

The group that dropped Stroud off fled the hospital but were located shortly after and are being questioned, Romankow said.

The Union County Homicide Task Force and Plainfield Police Department are currently investigating the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Michael Triarsi at (908) 966-2301.

More Plainfield news:

N.J. appeals court upholds life sentence for convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire

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WOODBRIDGE — An appeals court panel has upheld the conviction of murder and the sentencing of Melanie McGuire for killing and dismembering her husband in 2004. In an 89-page published opinion released today, the three-judge panel rejected arguments by McGuire's attorneys that extensive media coverage of the trial infected the judicial process and exposed jurors evidence they were not...

nj-suitcase-melanie-mcguire.JPGMelanie McGuire listens during her 2007 trial that later led to her conviction for killing and dismember her husband, William McGuire, 39, in their Woodbridge apartment in 2004. William McGuire's body was found in suitcases dumped in the Chesapeake Bay.

WOODBRIDGE — An appeals court panel has upheld the conviction of murder and the sentencing of Melanie McGuire for killing and dismembering her husband in 2004.

In an 89-page published opinion released today, the three-judge panel rejected arguments by McGuire's attorneys that extensive media coverage of the trial infected the judicial process and exposed jurors evidence they were not supposed to hear.

"There was...no evidence that any juror was personally active on the internet regarding the case while serving as a juror," the decision said. "The judge questioned the jurors thoroughly and determined that the information concerning the internet postings was passed to the jury second-hand. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court's assessment of potential taint by blogger information or public perception of the jurors."

McGuire, a former nurse was sentenced on July 2007 to life in prison and is incarcerated at Edna Mahon Correctional Facility in Clinton.

During her trial, prosecutors argued McGuire, now 36, drugged, shot, then dismembered her husband, William, before stuffing his remains in three suitcases that were dumped into the Chesapeake Bay. Prosecutors said McGuire killed the computer programmer in 2004 so she could be with her lover, Bradley Miller, a doctor who worked with her at a fertility clinic in Morristown.

Previous coverage:

N.J. says 'media frenzy' did not affect case of convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire

July 22, 2009: Appeals court rejects Melanie McGuire's arguments about new evidence in suitcase slaying

July 9, 2009: Convicted suitcase killer Melanie McGuire seeks another trial

July 2, 2009: N.J. Attorney General files to block appeal in McGuire suitcase slaying case

June 8, 2009: Melanie McGuire's attorney files motions signaling appeal for convicted murderer

Gun found in Long Island home is linked to triple fatal Newark schoolyard shooting, prosecutors say

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NEWARK — Two police detectives from Long Island testified today that they recovered a .357 Magnum Colt Trooper revolver while searching the home of a reputed gang member, the same weapon prosecutors say was used to fatally shoot three college-bound friends and wound a fourth at a schoolyard in 2007. The morning testimony came at the trial of Alexander...

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NEWARK — Two police detectives from Long Island testified today that they recovered a .357 Magnum Colt Trooper revolver while searching the home of a reputed gang member, the same weapon prosecutors say was used to fatally shoot three college-bound friends and wound a fourth at a schoolyard in 2007.

The morning testimony came at the trial of Alexander Alfaro, who is one of six young men charged in the Aug. 4, 2007, killing behind Mount Vernon School in Newark, which prosecutors say was gang-related.

Alfaro, 20, is charged with murder. Authorities say he wielded a machete to attack one of the victims, and admitted to that act on tape. Prosecutors intend to play the recording of that statement, but not today.

The black revolver with brown handle was displayed in court today during testimony from Detective Thomas Hess of the Suffolk County Police Department. “This is the firearm that we recovered," Hess told Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Thomas McTigue on the stand this morning.

Hess and another detective who also testified, Kenneth Rainey, discovered the weapon in a drawer of the Bay Shore, N.Y., home of Alvaro “Lobo” Delgadothe, a reputed member of the violent Central American gang known as MS-13.

Essex County assistant prosecutors say the defendants in the schoolyard killings all had ties to MS-13 and that the crime was committed to gain status in the organization.

Federal authorities have also linked the same gun to the May 18, 2007 killing of a Queens, N.Y. man, in which gaining status in MS-13 was also alleged to be the motivating factor, according to news reports.

The Long Island detectives’ March 24, 2008, search of Delgado’s home was unrelated to the massive investigation into the schoolyard shooting, and it wasn’t until three months later that authorities linked the weapon to the crime.

Delgado was a known MS-13 member when Long Island police searched his home that day, Hess said. On cross examination, he told defense attorney Raymond Morasse he had not heard of Alfaro, and didn’t know his alleged connection to MS-13.

At the schoolyard, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey, both 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, were lined up against a wall and shot in the head execution-style. They died. Terrance’s sister, Natasha Aeriel, then 19, was shot in the head but survived.

One of the defendants charged was convicted at trial last year, and the other pleaded guilty to shooting all four victims.

N.J. corrections officer admits trafficking 22 kilos of cocaine from Texas

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TRENTON — A suspended state corrections officer pleaded guilty to trafficking 22 kilograms of cocaine from Texas to New Jersey, the Attorney General's Office announced today. Eugene W. Braswell, 31, of Newark, was arrested in 2008 on charges that he and five accomplices transported drugs from out of state and sold them in northern New Jersey. Authorities said he...

eugene-braswell.jpgEugene W. Braswell, 31

TRENTON — A suspended state corrections officer pleaded guilty to trafficking 22 kilograms of cocaine from Texas to New Jersey, the Attorney General's Office announced today.

Eugene W. Braswell, 31, of Newark, was arrested in 2008 on charges that he and five accomplices transported drugs from out of state and sold them in northern New Jersey. Authorities said he and Delrese Hardy, 37, of East Orange, supervised the four other traffickers. All six defendants have pleaded guilty.

“This senior correction officer was living a corrupt double life, guarding prisoners for the state while moonlighting as a major drug trafficker,” said Attorney General Paula Dow.

Two of Braswell's accomplices, Walter S. Braden, 33, and Shuerod Walton, 39, both of East Orange, were arrested in Warren County as they were returning from Houston on July 12, 2008. Detectives had a warrant to search their van and seized 22 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the vehicle's roof panels. Twelve days later, law enforcement officials searched Braswell's home and found drug packaging materials, a revolver and $17,020 in cash.

The investigation by state authorities was launched after a 2007 shooting outside Braswell's home in which the corrections officer returned fire on Waliford Williams, 34, who died at the scene.

“Braswell’s involvement in a fatal shooting in Newark raised a red flag for detectives of the State Police and Division of Criminal Justice, who subsequently uncovered his narcotics network,” said Stephen Taylor, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “All six defendants in this case now face lengthy prison sentences.”

Braswell, who was suspended without pay from his job as a senior corrections officer at Northern State Prison following his arrest, faces up to 20 years in prison and up to 12 1/2 years without possibility of parole. He will also lose his job and state pension.

Recent N.J. Department of Corrections news:


Newark man is charged with killing 20-month-old daughter

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NEWARK — A Newark man was arrested on murder charges in connection with the death of his 20-month-daughter early Tuesday morning, authorities announced this afternoon. Travis Hartsfield, 24, was taken into custody Tuesday night after an autopsy determined Asiyah Hartsfield died of blunt force trauma, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said. The girl was being taken care of by...

hartsfield.jpgTravis Hartsfield

NEWARK — A Newark man was arrested on murder charges in connection with the death of his 20-month-daughter early Tuesday morning, authorities announced this afternoon.

Travis Hartsfield, 24, was taken into custody Tuesday night after an autopsy determined Asiyah Hartsfield died of blunt force trauma, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.

The girl was being taken care of by her father in their Newark home when a 911 call came in about 12:45 a.m. requesting medical attention, the prosecutor’s office said. Asiyah was rushed to University Hospital in the city. Doctors there pronounced her dead at 2 a.m.

Travis Hartsfield is being held at the county Correctional Facility in Newark in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Detectives from the city police and the prosecutor’s office are investigating.

More Newark news:

Gov. Christie calls for elimination of early-release program for N.J. prisoners

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The push comes less than two weeks after an inmate released early allegedly killed a Jersey City man

chris-christie-early-release-program.JPGGov. Chris Christie during a press conference at the Statehouse this afternoon.

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today called for the elimination of an early release program for prison inmates, less than two weeks after an inmate released early allegedly killed a man in Jersey City.

Authorities said the former inmate, Rondell Jones, shot and killed a Newark man during a dispute six weeks after his release from state prison.

"Eric Thomas, 21 years old, is dead," Christie said. "He's dead because of the early release program."

Because his administration cannot unilaterally halt the early releases, the governor said he will push legislation to cancel it. He harshly criticized Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), who sponsored what Christie called a "rotten idea" to release inmates early.

"It is tragic that because of Assemblywoman Watson Coleman's philosophy on crime, that we now have one person who has lost his life," he said. "Given the statistics on how many people are going to be released, we can only hope that there won't be anybody else who loses their lives."

Christie said 222 people have been released so far. The early release program, which allows certain inmates to be released on parole six months before their sentence ends, is part of a bill signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine mandating more job training and educational programs in prisons.

Coleman said the actions of one individual do not mean early releases should be scuttled.



"This is a tragedy that anybody killed anybody," she said. "But does that one act negate the validity of a whole system of reform?"

Coleman said Christie was simply trying to smear her with his criticism.

"I don't hold the governor personally responsible for people who have died at the hands of violence because we don't have enough police in our communities," she said. "The governor is simply trying to deflect and blame. He does that better than fix things."

Hudson County Prosecutor Ed DeFazio said the shooting involving Jones occurred near the corner of Bergen and Communipaw avenues in Jersey City on March 5. The incident began with an argument, and Jones intervened, DeFazio said.

When Thomas turned to leave, Jones allegedly shot him in the back multiple times with a semiautomatic pistol.

DeFazio said shell casings and the pistol were recovered nearby, and that witnesses had identified Jones as the shooter.

He was tracked down and arrested by U.S. Marshals within days.

U.S. authorities consider challenging dismissal of some charges against non-officials in N.J. corruption probe

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HUDSON COUNTY — Federal authorities are considering a challenge to a crippling appeals court ruling that dismissed the most serious charges against five defendants arrested in the biggest federal corruption sting in New Jersey history. The five — including some who already pleaded guilty — were hoping to have the cases thrown out entirely, but the threat of a...

manzo.jpgLouis Manzo, left, and his brother, Ronald Manzo, center, leave the federal courthouse in Newark with Ronald Manzo's attorney, Sam DeLuca in an October 2009 file photo.

HUDSON COUNTY — Federal authorities are considering a challenge to a crippling appeals court ruling that dismissed the most serious charges against five defendants arrested in the biggest federal corruption sting in New Jersey history.

The five — including some who already pleaded guilty — were hoping to have the cases thrown out entirely, but the threat of a new appeal by the U.S. Attorney’s Office places the matter in limbo while the government mulls over its next step.

At issue is a recent decision by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that those individuals who were candidates for public office when they were arrested could not be charged with official corruption because they were not public officials when they took bribes from a government informant.

Some also have other charges pending against them, but defense attorneys had hoped U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in Newark would drop all charges against their clients.

The legal arguments were at the heart of a court challenge mounted by brothers Ron and Lou Manzo, whose attorneys argued that they could not be charged with a law making it illegal for public officials to accept cash for their influence because neither were public officials when they allegedly took cash from disgraced developer Solomon Dwek.

Lou Manzo, a former state assemblyman, was a Jersey City mayoral candidate at the time and his brother was the manager of the failed campaign.

Linares and a three-judge panel of the court of appeals agreed, although the ruling in February did not end the case against the Manzos. But it dealt a blow to the government’s prosecution of them and threw into question charges against three other Jersey City council candidates who also did not hold public office at the time.

Attorneys for those three also want Linares to drop the extortion charges against them. Further complicating matters, two of them have already pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced but has not reported to prison pending the outcome of the appeals.

They included former Hudson County Undersheriff James "Jimmy" King, who once served as executive director of the city’s parking authority and as chairman of its incinerator authority, pleaded guilty in September 2009 to bribery.

Housing advocate LaVern Webb-Washington pleaded guilty to bribery the following month and was sentenced to one year in prison, a term Linares agreed to suspend until the appeal issue is resolved.

Charges are still pending against former city housing authority commissioner Lori Serrano, who was a council candidate.

At what was supposed to be status conferences to discuss timelines in their cases this morning, Linares instead told defense attorneys that federal prosecutors are considering asking the entire 3rd Circuit to hear the issue initially decided by a three-judge panel.

Linares gave the government until April 4 to make its decision. A request for the entire court to hear the issue would also have to be filed by that date. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman must first get approval from the U.S. solicitor general before filing the request.

Authorities charge Pennsylvania man with killing former Flemington woman

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DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia man is charged with killing his estranged girlfriend, who disappeared late last year and hasn't been found. Diane Corado, 57, hasn't been seen since Dec. 19, when authorities say Kenneth Patterson forced his way into her Fairless Hills, Bucks County apartment and kidnapped her and another woman in Corado's SUV. The other woman...

Patterson Kenneth 2010.jpgKenneth Patterson

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A suburban Philadelphia man is charged with killing his estranged girlfriend, who disappeared late last year and hasn't been found.

Diane Corado, 57, hasn't been seen since Dec. 19, when authorities say Kenneth Patterson forced his way into her Fairless Hills, Bucks County apartment and kidnapped her and another woman in Corado's SUV.

The other woman was soon released and Patterson was later arrested at a Maple Shade motel. Corado's blood-spattered vehicle was found in nearby Camden.

Investigators have said the 48-year-old Patterson has refused to cooperate. Numerous searches have failed to locate Corado's body.

Patterson was arraigned today on a first-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail. It was not clear if he had an attorney.

Previous coverage:

Man charged in Pa. kidnapping was convicted of similar charges in Mercer County

Pa. prosecutor seeks death penalty for suspect accused of abducting ex-Flemington woman

Former Flemington woman, kidnapped in Bucks County, Pa., remains missing

Former Flemington woman, kidnapped, is feared dead

Judge grants bail for ex-employee of N.J. firm charged with giving China sensitive military data

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CHICAGO — A former employee of a New Jersey-based division of a technology company, accused of taking restricted military data to China, was granted bail today pending an appeal from federal prosecutors. Sixing Liu, a former Flanders resident who lives in Chicago, faces one count of exporting defense-related data without a license. Authorities say Liu, who is also known as...

CHICAGO — A former employee of a New Jersey-based division of a technology company, accused of taking restricted military data to China, was granted bail today pending an appeal from federal prosecutors.

Sixing Liu, a former Flanders resident who lives in Chicago, faces one count of exporting defense-related data without a license. Authorities say Liu, who is also known as Steve, took documents from his work on military navigation systems to China, where he spoke at a technology conference.

He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Liu was stopped last November after flying to the United States from Shanghai. Authorities later found restricted data and images on his personal laptop.

Today, United States Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan set Liu's bond at $200,000, with $100,000 due before his release. Finnegan gave prosecutors in New Jersey 24 hours to appeal the ruling before Liu can be released.

Liu's attorney, James Tunick, said there was no evidence that his client gave the files to anyone else.

"There was no malice," Tunick said today. "There was no intent to subvert the laws of the United States."

According to court records, Liu's laptop included files with information for a Department of Defense navigation system. Liu was not allowed to take the files out of the company's New Jersey headquarters.

Agents also found a VIP access card for a technology conference held days before that was "organized and sponsored by various entities of the government of the People's Republic of China," according to an FBI special agent's report. Liu allegedly told customs agents he was visiting China to see family.

But Liu's laptop had photos of him speaking to the conference, as well as a 14-page Chinese language resume, the report says.

Arguing against bail, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew DeVooght said Liu "has these viable connections, strong ties to China that he is fostering."

Tunick replied that Liu and his wife, Hong Tang, had lived in the United States for almost two decades and had three children attending local schools. The conference Liu attended had "a broad spectrum of individuals throughout the world," Tunick said.

Finnegan indicated Tuesday that she would grant bail, but waited a day to find out how much money Liu and Tang had in their retirement accounts to use for bail. Tunick had asked for the bail amount to be reduced, but Finnegan refused.

Liu will likely appear in federal court in New Jersey next week, Tunick said.

Anti-violence clergyman in Newark loses vehicle to carjackers at church parking lot

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NEWARK — A prominent Newark pastor, recognized for his efforts to combat violence in the city, had his truck stolen as he opened the church parking lot for Bible study this evening. “That is the last thing I would have expected, especially with all the folks I’ve helped in this community,” said the Rev. Jethro James, pastor of the...

jethrojamescarjackingnewark.jpgThe Rev. Jethro James of Paradise Baptist Church in Newark, here pictured speaking with youth about public safety careers, was carjacked Wednesday afternoon.

NEWARK — A prominent Newark pastor, recognized for his efforts to combat violence in the city, had his truck stolen as he opened the church parking lot for Bible study this evening.

“That is the last thing I would have expected, especially with all the folks I’ve helped in this community,” said the Rev. Jethro James, pastor of the Paradise Baptist Church.

”I’m a little nervous. It’s not a great feeling,” he said.

Newark police said the report of a carjacking came about 5:30 p.m. at the church on the corner of 15th Avenue and Hunterdon Street, said spokesman Detective Hubert Henderson. The incident will be investigated by a carjacking task force, he said.

James is a longtime presence in Newark’s Central Ward. In December, he helped organize a summit of law enforcement officials, politicians and citizens to discuss a recent increase of gun violence and carjackings.

Newark had 46 carjackings in December 2010, according to police, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the city’s total last year.

At that time, one of James’ concerns was parishioners, especially those from outside the city, would be fearful of attending church services. Some churchgoers said they thought about arming themselves with handguns, he said.

In January, the task force to target the wave of carjackings was announced and officials have credited it with a number of arrests and a marked reduction in carjackings. James attributes the drop in carjackings to bad winter weather.

James recounted the incident as follows:

He arrived to the locked gates of the church parking lot from his accountant’s office.

When he got out of the vehicle to unlock the gate to the lot, he was pushed to the ground.

He turned around to see two men, between the ages of 16-and 25-years-old, get into his truck, back up and take off with smoking tires.

“I couldn’t figure out what had happened,” he said.

James said he was not injured, but was stunned and disoriented.

He said will now cancel some evening activities and is concerned about what may happen when more people are around.

“If they are going to carjack me at a church, what will happen next,” James said. “God forbid something will happen on a Sunday morning.”

Among other things inside his 2008 Lincoln Mark V was his family’s tax refund check, a box of tools and house keys, he said.

Police ask that anyone with information about this or any other crimes call the Department's 24-hour "Crime Stoppers" anonymous tip line at 877 NWK-TIPS (877 695-8477) or NWK-GUNS (877 695-4867).

Christie cites recent slaying in push to end early-release program for N.J. prisoners

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Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman defends the program, instead saying that fault lies in parole supervision — Rondell Jones had dodged officers since his release

christie-watson.jpgFile photos of Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (AP Photo/Mel Evans) and Gov. Chris Christie (Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — Rondell Jones was not scheduled to be out of prison for another four months when he allegedly shot and killed a Newark man in Jersey City less than two weeks ago.

But he was on the street that day because of a new program that allows some inmates to be released months early — even though he was caught with a cell phone behind bars, no small offense to prison officials.

Now the shooting, which claimed the life of 21-year-old Eric Thomas, is the flashpoint for a political firestorm.

Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday called for the elimination of the early release program and harshly criticized Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) for sponsoring the measure.

"It is tragic that because of Assemblywoman Watson Coleman’s philosophy on crime, that we now have one person who has lost his life," he said at a news conference.

He added, "We can only hope that there won’t be anybody else who loses their lives."

Coleman rejected the governor’s criticism of the program, and said it was parole supervision that might need to be improved since Jones, 21, had dodged officers since his release.

"This is a tragedy that anybody killed anybody," she said. "But does that one act negate the validity of a whole system of reform?"

The early release program was part of a bill signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine on his last day in office that was intended to lower the number of former inmates returning to prison by increasing training and educational programs. The law allows nonviolent inmates to be released under parole supervision six months before their sentences end.

The Christie administration has battled Coleman on this issue. Jeffrey Chiesa, Christie’s chief counsel, has accused Coleman of reneging on her promises to repeal the early release provision in the law. "The safety of our fellow citizens has been greatly endangered due to your failure to fix the problems with your legislation," Chiesa wrote to Coleman in July.

Coleman said no such promise was made, and that her only commitment was to ensure the law did not allow the release of inmates before they were eligible for parole. She accused Christie of trying to deflect attention from concerns about school construction, which she had criticized the administration about on Tuesday.

Martin Horn, a lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who at one time ran New York City’s prison system, said the state should halt early releases while the program is re-examined to see if the right inmates are being released with adequate supervision.

"It’s a complicated issue that all states are confronting," Horn said. "It has to be done very carefully, and the first priority always has to be public safety."

Christie wants to abolish the program completely, and announced legislation Wednesday to do just that. He said 222 inmates have been released early since the program went into effect on Jan. 3, and that about 25 more are scheduled to be freed each week in the future.

Asked if allowing inmates out earlier increased the chance of violent crime, Christie said: "They’re out there earlier. It increases the likelihood."

Jones had been convicted of drug and weapons offenses, specifically possession of a BB gun. He was sentenced to a minimum of one year in prison on Jan. 22, 2010. Problems continued during his incarceration — he was caught with the cell phone. Although such an offense can push back an inmate’s release, Jones was still able to get out early under the law pushed by Coleman.

He was released on Jan. 24. His prison sentence was slated to run until July 13.

The executive director of the Parole Board, David Thomas, said inmates released early can be placed in residential programs or supervised in the community, depending on how much of a risk authorities think they pose. Jones, who had not been convicted of a violent crime, was placed in the latter category. He was assigned a parole officer but never showed up.

"There were numerous phone calls and attempts to locate him," Thomas said.

A warrant was issued for Jones on March 3. Two days later he intervened during an argument outside a house party in Jersey City, near the corner of Bergen and Communipaw avenues.

Eric Thomas turned to leave the fight, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. Then Jones allegedly opened fire, shooting him four times in the back. DeFazio said shell casings and the pistol were recovered nearby, and that witnesses identified Jones as the shooter. He was tracked down and arrested by U.S. Marshals on March 8.

"Will there be an apology to Eric Thomas’ family?" Christie asked at the news conference. "It won’t bring him back, of course. He’s dead."


Truck driver convicted of killing six prostitutes in Ohio to face charges in slaying of N.J. woman 24 years ago

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ATLANTIC CITY — A trucker serving a life sentence in Ohio for killing six women has waived extradition to face charges of killing a woman in New Jersey in 1987. Dellmus Colvin used to live in Atlantic City. The 51-year-old was initially charged with hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence after Donna White's death was first ruled acute cocaine intoxication....

ATLANTIC CITY — A trucker serving a life sentence in Ohio for killing six women has waived extradition to face charges of killing a woman in New Jersey in 1987.

Dellmus Colvin used to live in Atlantic City. The 51-year-old was initially charged with hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence after Donna White's death was first ruled acute cocaine intoxication. The 27-year-old was found dead in a vacant lot in 1987.

The Press of Atlantic City reports New Jersey authorities found Colvin was being investigated for killings in Toledo, Ohio after they began reviewing old cases last year.

Colvin admitted in Ohio that he strangled six women who were prostitutes.

More Atlantic City news:

Bloods gang member is charged with trying to plan killing of federal judge from Monmouth County jail

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FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Authorities say a member of the Bloods street gang plotted behind bars in the Monmouth County jail to arrange the slaying of a federal judge in New Jersey. According to an indictment, Derrick "Murder" Menter and an unidentified gang member wanted the judge dead because of stiff prison sentences imposed on other gang members. The indictment...

jail.jpgA street view of the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township, where a Bloods gang member allegedly tried to plot the killing of a federal judge

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Authorities say a member of the Bloods street gang plotted behind bars in the Monmouth County jail to arrange the slaying of a federal judge in New Jersey.

According to an indictment, Derrick "Murder" Menter and an unidentified gang member wanted the judge dead because of stiff prison sentences imposed on other gang members.

The indictment says they sought $100,000 from a man who was waiting to be sentenced. The judge is believed to be Chief U.S. District Court Judge Garrett Brown.

The indictment says the man who was to pay for the murder secretly cooperated with law enforcement.

The Asbury Park Press reports court records show Menter was being held in jail for failing to register as a sex offender.

Related coverage:

Reputed Bloods member accused of fatally shooting 4 people, setting fire to Irvington house to hide crime

N.J. appellate panel upholds conviction of Bloods gang member who fatally beat cellmate

Member of Bloods gang to spend 20 years in prison for role in 2008 shooting death in Winslow Township

U.S. prosecutors consider appealing the dismissal of public corruption charges for non-officials

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They left the federal courthouse in Newark on Wednesday the same way they had arrived: hoping a judge would dismiss corruption charges against them. A month after the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a crippling blow to federal prosecutors, five defendants in New Jersey’s largest federal corruption sting remained no closer to learning whether charges against them...

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They left the federal courthouse in Newark on Wednesday the same way they had arrived: hoping a judge would dismiss corruption charges against them.

A month after the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a crippling blow to federal prosecutors, five defendants in New Jersey’s largest federal corruption sting remained no closer to learning whether charges against them would be dropped or their cases thrown out entirely.

Government attorneys said they are considering asking the full court of appeals to decide whether the five can be charged with public corruption even if they did not hold public office when they allegedly accepted bribes from disgraced developer Solomon Dwek.

U.S. District Judge Jose Linares gave the government until April 4 to make a decision and file the necessary paperwork. Even then, it is unclear whether the issue will be decided. If U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman decides to ask for an appeal, it could take months for the 3rd Circuit to decide whether it wants to hear the case.

The delay disappointed some of the defense attorneys.

"My hope was that we were going to come here and they were just going to accept the decision," Raymond Hamlin, attorney for former Jersey City housing authority commissioner Lori Serrano, said after court. "Hopefully it will be like we said — at the end of the day Lori Serrano has done nothing wrong."

Serrano, who lost a bid for Jersey City council in 2009, is accused of accepting $10,000 in bribes for her campaign from Dwek in exchange for her help in expediting permits for a supposed development project in the city. But Dwek, posing as developer David Esenbach, was secretly working with the FBI and recording meetings and telephone conversations.

Some of the attorneys had hoped Linares would at least drop the extortion charges for their clients in light of his decision last year and the 3rd Circuit’s ruling last month.

In those decisions, Linares and a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit said brothers Ron and Lou Manzo could not be charged under a law making it illegal for public officials to accept cash for their influence. The courts said the law does not apply because they were not public officials when they allegedly took cash from Dwek.

Lou Manzo, a former assemblyman, was a Jersey City mayoral candidate at the time of the alleged bribes and his brother was the manager of the failed campaign.

The rulings did not immediately end the case against the Manzos and Serrano because they still face bribery and mail fraud charges. However two others have already pleaded guilty and their attorneys said they plan to ask Linares to set aside those convictions.

Former Hudson County Undersheriff James "Jimmy" King, who once served as executive director of the city’s parking authority and as chairman of its incinerator authority, pleaded guilty in September 2009 to bribery.

Housing advocate LaVern Webb-Washington pleaded guilty to bribery the following month and was sentenced to one year in prison, a term Linares agreed to suspend until the appeal issue is resolved.

Federal prosecutors argued the extortion charge for all five defendants is appropriate because the alleged bribes would have paved the way for development permits if the candidates were elected.

If the 3rd Circuit takes up the case and gives a ruling not favorable to prosecutors, the government could go to the U.S. Supreme Court, adding more months to cases that already have been pending nearly two years.

Samuel DeLuca, the attorney representing Ron Manzo, said federal prosecutors should be wary of going to the Supreme Court.

"I’m not sure they’re going to want to go to the Supreme Court," he said. "If the Supreme Court affirms the 3rd Circuit, that’s the law of the land. That’ll affect many cases."

Serrano said she wanted the case to end Wednesday.

"We all do, at this point," she said. "It’s been a long time now."

Cab driver is shot after picking up passengers in Orange

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ORANGE — A cab driver was shot after picking up a passenger in Orange this morning, according to a report on News 12 New Jersey. The cab driver was shot shortly after picking up two passengers near Langdon Street and Tremont Avenue shortly before 2:30 a.m. The passengers fled and the driver drove himself to East Orange General Hospital,...

orange.jpgA map view of Tremont Avenue and Langdon Street in Orange, where a cab driver was shot this morning.

ORANGE — A cab driver was shot after picking up a passenger in Orange this morning, according to a report on News 12 New Jersey.

The cab driver was shot shortly after picking up two passengers near Langdon Street and Tremont Avenue shortly before 2:30 a.m. The passengers fled and the driver drove himself to East Orange General Hospital, the report said.

The extent of his injuries is not known.

More Orange news:

Authorities link gun used in Newark schoolyard triple killing to N.Y.C. case

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NEWARK — The .357 revolver allegedly used to shoot four college-bound friends in a Newark schoolyard in August 2007 is now believed to be the same one used in a killing in New York City weeks earlier, with both crimes linked to the violent Central American street gang known as MS-13. The defendants in the two separate cases allegedly...

revolver.JPGIn this May 2010 file photo, Newark police Detective Frank Faretra holds a .357 Colt revolver, which through ballistics testing was linked to the schoolyard murders of Aug. 4, 2007.

NEWARK — The .357 revolver allegedly used to shoot four college-bound friends in a Newark schoolyard in August 2007 is now believed to be the same one used in a killing in New York City weeks earlier, with both crimes linked to the violent Central American street gang known as MS-13.

The defendants in the two separate cases allegedly committed the killings for the same reason: to gain status in the gang, authorities have said.

On Wednesday, the revolver, a black Colt Trooper, was displayed in a Newark courtroom in the ongoing murder trial of Alexander Alfaro, 20. He is one of six young men charged in the schoolyard shootings that left three people dead and one wounded.

New York authorities believe the same weapon was used in both homicide cases.

In Newark, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey, both 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18, died when shot execution-style in the head after being lined up against a wall on Aug. 4, 2007. Terrance’s sister, Natasha, then 19, survived after also being shot in the head.

The revolver’s history has been well-documented since Suffolk County police discovered it in March 2008, but until recently, it was not known to be connected to the Queens killing.

The gun was seized as part of an unrelated investigation, discovered in the Suffolk County home of Alvaro "Lobo" DelGado, an MS-13 member who had reportedly bragged that the weapon had "10 bodies on it." So far, the weapon has been officially linked to the four killings.

On Monday, a jury in Brooklyn federal court convicted two high-ranking Long Island MS-13 members in the May 18, 2007 killing of Maurice Parker in Queens, N.Y., in which, investigators say, the same Colt Trooper was used.

Parker, 21, an innocent bystander, was shot six times, including three times to the head while standing with a friend who was wearing red, the color of the rival Bloods gang, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Suffolk County Detective Thomas Hess, who testified Wednesday in Superior Court in Newark, said he found the .357 Colt Trooper, with a scratched-out serial number, in DelGado’s home.

Hess had also testified in the federal trial in Brooklyn, where he provided identical information, according to a published report in Newsday.

Also testifying Wednesday were two firearms and ballistics experts who said the three bullets they tested, which were taken from Hightower, Harvey and Terrance Aeriel, were an exact match for the .357 Colt Trooper recovered from the home in Suffolk County.

The revolver’s connection to the Newark case was never mentioned in the Brooklyn trial, but Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, confirmed investigators believe it is the same weapon.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office would not comment on the gun’s link to the Queens killing, and until Wednesday, there has been no mention of MS-13 at Alfaro’s trial.

On the witness stand Wednesday, Hess and a fellow Suffolk County detective, Kenneth Rainey, both mentioned MS-13 in their testimony, saying DelGado was a known gang member.
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But on cross-examination, Hess and Rainey told defense attorney Raymond Morasse they didn’t know Alfaro, and their investigation into DelGado did not involve the defendant in Newark. Alfaro is also accused of using a machete to attack Hightower.

Prosecutors will undoubtedly raise the gang component in the schoolyard killings, because Alfaro referred to MS-13 in his recorded statement to police — and to the machete attack — which will be played at trial next week.

Last spring, a separate jury convicted his half-brother, Rodolfo Godinez, in the killings, after a trial in which testimony from the same officers linked the Colt to the shootings.

Another defendant, Melvin Jovel, admitted he alone shot the four victims, but never specified the type of weapon. Both Godinez and Jovel are serving life sentences.

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