PERTH AMBOY — A Perth Amboy man was indicted today on charges he murdered his wife earlier this year and dumped her body in Virginia. A grand jury in Middlesex County charged Franklin Camacho Jr. with the murder of Leonilda Caceras-Camacho in January, disturbing human remains and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Previous coverage: • Perth...
Franklin Camacho Jr., 40, of Perth Amboy, listens to Judge De Vesa while sitting next to Vernon Estreicher, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, during his arraignment for the murder of his wife at Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick on Jan. 1, 2010.
PERTH AMBOY — A Perth Amboy man was indicted today on charges he murdered his wife earlier this year and dumped her body in Virginia.
A grand jury in Middlesex County charged Franklin Camacho Jr. with the murder of Leonilda Caceras-Camacho in January, disturbing human remains and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Authorities said Camacho struck his 45-year-old wife in the head with a hammer sometime between Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 in their apartment on Madison Avenue.During Camacho’s first court appearance in January, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Neil Casey said the defendant was caught on a surveillance video buying a mop, bleach and a garbage can at a nearby store sometime after authorities believe he killed his wife.
Meanwhile, Caceras-Camacho’s family began looking for her on Jan. 20 and questioned her husband who told them she had been arrested by U.S. immigration authorities. They didn’t believe him and filed a missing persons report with police.
Casey said that when police came to the Camacho home to talk to him, he told them the same story he told his wife’s family.
After Camacho spoke to the police, he left the house. When investigators learned Camacho was gone, they obtained his cell phone and followed his route. Caceras-Camacho’s body was found the morning of Jan. 21, 2010, in a trash can in the parking lot of a shopping center in Woodbridge, Va.
Authorities followed Camacho home by pinging his cell phone. He was arrested on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mercer County by state troopers the day his wife’s body was found.
Casey said authorities found a bloody top to a garbage can, woman’s clothing and a bloody bra in Camacho’s car.
Casey said at the January hearing that authorities found what they believe was the murder weapon. It had been revealed at the hearing that Camacho was charged with hitting his wife in the head with a hammer.
Camacho has been in the Middlesex County jail in lieu of $2 million bail since his arrest.