A woman who used to work at an elementary school faces criminal charges in the domestic violence homicide of her boyfriend in Mount Olive, New Jersey.
The homicide occurred around 10:00 p.m. on March 3, 2014. According to Morris County prosecutors, the suspect, a 54-year-old Mount Olive woman, shot and killed the victim during a domestic violence incident at her residence on Apollo Way in Mount Olive, NJ.
The suspect initially claimed that she shot the victim because she did not realize he was her boyfriend. According to the suspect, she mistakenly believed that the person entering her home on the night of the shooting was an intruder who was trying to break in, so she used a handgun to shoot and kill him. The weapon had been given to the suspect by her boyfriend.
Now the suspect has reportedly changed her story, claiming instead that she killed the victim in self-defense. The suspect’s defense attorney said that his client was a victim of domestic violence who had been physically abused by her boyfriend prior to the shooting.
On the night of the homicide, the Mount Olive Police Department dispatched police officers to the residence after receiving a report of a domestic violence incident, as well as gunshots being fired.
When Mount Olive NJ cops arrived at the scene a short time later, they spoke with the suspect and investigated the homicide.
The homicide victim was a retired New York City police officer who lived in Staten Island, NY. He was 51 years old when he died.
The suspect was formerly employed as an elementary school teacher at Marie V. Duffy Elementary School in Wharton, New Jersey. She was terminated from her teaching job sometime after being charged with first degree murder.
The homicide case recently went through pre-trial proceedings, with the suspect appearing in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown NJ for an important pre-trial hearing. The superior court judge is currently deciding whether the prosecution will be allowed to use statements made by the suspect just a few minutes after police officers got to her residence. The key issue is likely to revolve around whether the suspect made the statements voluntarily.
Meanwhile, the suspect’s defense attorney has argued that her statements to police should be ruled inadmissible as evidence at trial because the Mount Olive NJ police officers failed to promptly inform her of her legal rights against self-incrimination.
The judge is expected to rule on the admissibility of the suspect’s statements sometime in July.
In the meantime, the suspect is being held at the Morris County Jail in Morristown NJ on a $500K bail amount.
For further information about this case, access the DailyRecord.com article, “Accused Mount Olive Killer Claims She Thought Boyfriend Was an Intruder.”