Amy Giordano - Missing since June 8, 2007 NJ (BODY FOUND)

[Nut44x4]

Pretty good summary...

AN ARREST IN MISSING WOMAN CASE
Prime suspect in disappearance of Willowbrook native is taken into custody
Friday, March 21, 2008

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE -- It began as an extramarital affair that spanned Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey, and turned into a baffling missing person case that appeared to be heading to no resolution.

But investigators followed every twist and turn, slowly gathering the forensic evidence that may ultimately point to an answer feared all along by friends and family of Willowbrook native Amy Giordano: She was murdered.

Yesterday, almost a year after Ms. Giordano vanished from the Hightstown, N.J., apartment where she lived with their love child and he paid the rent, Rosario DiGirolamo was charged with killing her.

DiGirolamo, 33, who was married and living with his wife at the time of Ms. Giordano's disappearance, was arrested in the basement of his parents' home in Brooklyn, according to prosecutors and his lawyer.

He was charged with murder and tampering with evidence, and faces a term of 30 years to life in prison if convicted at trial, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini said.

As of last night, DiGirolamo was being held in New York on $1 million bail, and no extradition hearing was immediately scheduled.

During a press conference at his office, Bocchini declined to discuss what led to the sudden break in the case.

"We've accumulated a lot of evidence at this point," Bocchini said, but declined to give any specifics.

Neither would the prosecutor comment on whether anyone else was involved, or when and where Ms. Giordano was killed. He said the search for her body continues.

DiGirolamo's lawyer, Jerome Ballarotto, said they are ready to defend the allegations. He said he learned of the charges from the prosecutor's office.

They told me they did not find the body, so we are a little confused as to how they have determined she is dead," Ballarotto said.

Ms. Giordano, 27, was last seen June 7, 2007, spotted by surveillance cameras as she shopped for groceries with DiGirolamo and their son, Michael S. DiGirolamo, in East Windsor, N.J. The two met about five years ago in Brooklyn, where Ms. Giordano lived with her former husband and DiGirolamo worked at his father's pizza parlor nearby. They continued their affair when Ms. Giordano left her husband and moved to Annadale.

Ms. Giordano became pregnant with Michael in early 2006. In April 2006, she moved to an apartment on a commercial strip in Hightstown, about 10 miles from DiGirolamo's home in Millstone Township. DiGirolamo signed the lease and paid the $850-per-month rent.

But on June 9, 2007, a nurse at a Newark, Del., hospital found a crying Michael DiGirolamo abandoned in the parking lot. Inside the baby's diaper was a hand-scribbled note. "Please help my baby John Vincent. I can no longer take care of him. Lost job, lost medical. God have mercy on me," it read.

Around the time the baby was found, DiGirolamo made a call on his cell phone in the vicinity of the hospital, investigators determined. He returned to his job in New Jersey that Monday, June 11.

The next day, he called his father, Antonio DiGirolamo, telling him he felt confused and "needed some time out," according to a Delaware State Police detective.

On June 14, DiGirolamo went to Newark Airport and bought a round-trip ticket to Milan, Italy. The car DiGirolamo drove, a 1998 Lexus sedan registered in his wife's name, was ditched on a Midland Beach street. Police found it there two weeks later after residents complained it had been parked in front of 229 Bade Place for weeks.

He was not aboard the scheduled return flight two weeks later.

Inside Ms. Giordano's apartment, investigators found traces of blood, but few other clues as to her whereabouts.

Two months after he went on the lam, DiGirolamo voluntarily returned from Italy and surrendered to authorities in Delaware, where he was charged with reckless endangerment and child abandonment. He eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months' probation. Then, this January, investigators returned to the missing mom's apartment acting on what they called "recently received information."

They did not disclose if that search, which included pulling up a portion of carpet for traces of blood, yielded the forensic results that eventually led to DiGirolamo's arrest.

The couple's baby has been in foster care since June. In February, the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families moved to terminate Ms. Giordano's parental rights.

http://www.silive.com/siadvance/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1206100747256280.xml&coll=1

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,340813,00.html

Partial Skeleton Found in Search for Missing Mom Sought at Staten Island Pond
Monday , March 24, 2008


NEW YORK —

The search for a New Jersey woman missing since her son was found abandoned in a parking lot last summer led authorities on Sunday to a Staten Island pond, where human bones were discovered in a suitcase.

Two men were charged last week in Amy Giordano's disappearance, including the man with whom she was having an affair, according to authorities. Rosario DiGirolamo, of Millstone, N.J., was charged with murder.

A second man, John A. Russo Jr., of Staten Island, was charged with tampering with evidence in Giordano's death, and helped New Jersey authorities in the case, said his attorney, George Vomvolakis.

"Based on his cooperation and their own investigation, they were led to this area on Staten Island," Vomvolakis said.

The Mercer County prosecutor's office in New Jersey said the skeletal remains found at the pond Sunday hadn't been identified and DNA testing was being performed.

Giordano, 27, of Hightstown, N.J., vanished in June. Two days later, her 11-month-old son was found abandoned in a hospital parking lot in Newark, Del.

DiGirolamo pleaded guilty in November to reckless endangerment and child abandonment. The child is now in foster care.

DiGirolamo's attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, said he was ready to defend his client against the murder charge.

DiGirolamo, 33, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. Russo, 43, faces a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted, they said.

Vomvolakis said Russo would surrender to police in the next few days

[Nut44x4]

Grisly find in pond on West Shore
Suitcase containing remains believed to be those of missing woman is found in Charleston park
Monday, March 24, 2008

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In less than 72 hours, police went from arresting a Brooklyn man suspected of killing an Staten Island native to dragging a waterlogged suitcase thought to contain her skeletal remains from a shallow West Shore pond.

Amy Giordano, 27, a native of Willowbrook, has been missing for over nine months, since she vanished from her Hightstown, N.J., apartment in June.

New Jersey and New York police yesterday descended on the Charleston pond, only 10 feet deep at its lowest point and ringed by thorny bushes and oak and maple trees, at about 3 p.m. yesterday, and by 4 had dragged a large suitcase believed to contain Ms. Giordano's skeletal remains ashore.

The remains have not yet been identified pending the results of DNA testing, prosecutors said, but an Island man who is friends with the murder suspect and charged in her disappearance led police to the grisly find.

John A. Russo Jr., 43, of Moffett Street, was charged Friday with tampering with evidence connected to Ms. Giordano's disappearance, and his attorney said yesterday he helped lead investigators to the pond where the remains were found.

"Based upon, not only his cooperation, but their entire investigation ... it led them to this pond," said George Vomvolakis, who represents Russo. The lawyer said his client has been cooperating with investigators since June.

Last Thursday, Ms. Giordano's former boyfriend and alleged killer, Rosario DiGirolamo, 33, was arrested at his parents' Brooklyn home. He's charged with second-degree murder.

Ms. Giordano was DiGirolamo's mistress and the couple had a child together that was 11-months old when Ms. Giordano disappeared on June 7.

DiGirolamo abandoned the child, named Michael S. DiGirolamo, at a Delaware hospital two days later, then fled to Italy for two months.

The Mercer County, N.J., prosecutor's office is handling the case, and officials there declined to elaborate on yesterday's find or the case. Russo's alleged tampering of evidence was not explained, although his attorney said Russo and DiGirolamo have been friends since 1991.

"He had no active part in her disappearance or her murder, or anything that happened after the murder itself," Vomvolakis told a TV station late last night.

DiGirolamo's attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, said just Friday he was puzzled by the murder charge and that "we are a little confused as to how they have determined she is dead," referring to prosecutors.

Yesterday, Ballarotto said he hoped the body was not that of Ms. Giordano, but even if it was, that doesn't implicate his client.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that Rosario was the one who took her life," Ballarotto said. "It's just one piece of the puzzle and it would all have to get sorted out in a court of law."

Ms. Giordano's cousin, Stephen Fishbaum of Marlboro, N.J., said yesterday he's certain the body is hers.

"I'd rather find the body than not," said Fishbaum, who last week said he hoped to give a proper burial to Ms. Giordano, who was estranged from her adoptive parents.

Fishbaum said it's obvious prosecutors have turned Russo into a key witness against DiGirolamo. "He's squealing like a pig right now," he said.

Because the body was found in New York, the city's medical examiner's office was in charge of the remains yesterday, although they may be turned over to New Jersey at a later time.

Police covered the dark-colored suitcase with a blue tarp, and the contents were occasionally examined and photographed by officials throughout the afternoon and evening, as the sun set over the still pond and Canadian geese occasionally glided past.

As of late last night, the suitcase lay covered between two split rail fences that border a path next to the pond, guarded by police.

DiGirolamo remains in a Brooklyn jail on $1 million bail. Ballarotto said he does not expect his client to fight extradition to New Jersey, where he faces arraignment.

If convicted of murder, DiGirolamo faces 30 years to life in prison. Russo faces up to 18 months. The two are former co-workers and have known each other for 17 years, Vomvolakis said.

DiGirolamo has pleaded not guilty to the murder.

Prosecutors say they have enough evidence to prove DiGirolamo murdered Ms. Giordano, and blood stains were found at her apartment, for which DiGirolamo paid the $850-a-month rent.

DiGirolamo bought a round-trip plane ticket to Milan, Italy, seven days after Ms. Giordano's disappearance; he missed his scheduled return trip two weeks later and remained in that country for two months. DiGirolamo then returned to Delaware to face charges stemming from the child's abandonment, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months' probation. TAG: Material from the ASSOCIATED PRESS and the Wilmington News Journal (Del.) was used in this report.

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1206360023159470.xml&coll=1&thispage=2

[Bearlyhere]

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/arraignment_friday_for_dad_acc.html



Arraignment Friday for dad accused of killing his mistress, a Staten Island native
by Staten Island Advance
Wednesday March 26, 2008, 4:42 PM

Rosario DiGirolamo, the 33-year-old Brooklyn man accused of killing his Staten Island-native mistress, is scheduled to be arraigned on murder charges at a Trenton, N.J. court Friday morning.

DiGirolamo waived extradition in New York, and was transported from Rikers Island to a Mercer County jail last night.

Earlier in the day, police continued their search of a West Shore pond for the remains of his mistress Amy Giordano, a 27-year-old who grew up in Willowbrook and has been missing since last June.

A skeletal torso was pulled from the murky waters in Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve in Charleston on Easter Sunday, and additional body parts were recovered on Monday. The city Medical Examiner has been conducting DNA and forensic tests to see if they are Ms. Giordano's.

The married DiGirolamo and Ms. Giordano had a four-year affair and a son, Michael DiGirolamo.

In 2006, DiGirolamo began paying for Ms. Giordano and their son to live in a Hightstown, N.J. apartment, while he lived in a Monmouth County home with his wife and other son. On June 9, 2007, Michael was found abandoned in the parking lot of a Delaware Hospital, two days after Ms. Giordano was last seen. DiGirolamo then fled to Italy, but returned two months later to face child endangerment charges.

N.J. authorities have accused 43-year-old Eltingville resident John A. Russo of helping DiGirolamo, a longtime friend, cover up the murder of the Ms. Giordano. It was Russo, a former auxiliary cop in the 123rd Precinct, who led them to search the Staten Island pond.

Russo is expected to surrender to N.J. authorities tomorrow on charged of evidence tampering.

-- Contributed by Peter N. Spencer

[Bearlyhere]

AMW

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=46376

[Bearlyhere]

Pictures of her son were in the suitcase.  This killer is a real psycho.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080328/ap_on_re_us/missing_mom

Man arraigned in NJ lover's slaying

By CHRIS NEWMARKER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 28, 4:36 PM ET
 
TRENTON, N.J. - The married lover of a missing New Jersey woman was ordered held on bail Friday after prosecutors alleged he struck her on the head, stuffed her chopped-up body in a suitcase and dumped it in a pond.

Investigators believe Rosario DiGirolamo killed Amy Giordano with a blunt object in her apartment last June, then sawed her body into pieces, prosecutor Tom Meidt said in court.

"He had to get a hand saw or a hacksaw to complete the job of chopping up the body of Amy Giordano," he said.

DiGirolamo, 33, was ordered to remain in jail in lieu of $1 million bond.

He was arrested last week after skeletal remains believed to be Giordano's were found in a pond in Staten Island, N.Y., with the help of John A. Russo Jr., an alleged accomplice who has been speaking with investigators.

Authorities believe the remains are Giordano's because pictures of her son, whom DiGirolamo fathered, were in the suitcase, Meidt said. DNA tests are pending.

Meidt said that DiGirolamo killed his 27-year-old mistress because he could no longer afford to support two households and that he told Russo beforehand of his intentions.

According to prosecutors, Russo helped DiGirolamo buy drain cleaner, reinforced garbage bags and a saw blade. Meidt told the judge that Russo also waited for DiGirolamo in Staten Island to help dispose of the body on June 9.

Russo is expected to face his own arraignment soon on charges of evidence tampering. His lawyer, George Vomvolakis, said Russo has known DiGirolamo since 1991 but didn't think he would actually kill anyone.

"Even when the guy bought the stuff, at no point did my client take this guy seriously," Vomvolakis said.

The 1-year-old son of DiGirolamo and Giordano is now in foster care. Giordano was last heard from June 8. The next day, the boy was found abandoned in the parking lot of Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del.

DiGirolamo has since admitted he left the child, as he argues through his lawyer that he had nothing to do with Giordano's disappearance. He already had pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and child abandonment.

His lawyer, Jerome Ballarotto, said DiGirolamo planned to fight the charges.

"The state's case is extremely circumstantial," Ballarotto said. "It's based on statements made by individuals whose veracity and credibility have not been tested in any way whatsoever."

DiGirolamo faces a term of 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder and evidence tampering. Ballarotto said Friday that his client had four hours' notice last week that he was going to be arrested.

"Why sit in your parent's house, with your passport in a dresser drawer, with a four-hour head start if you're not an innocent man?" he said.

[Bearlyhere]

This part was news to me.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--missingmom-option0328mar28,0,2958485.story

Prosecutor: Lover killed, sawed up missing N.J. mom
By CHRIS NEWMARKER | Associated Press Writer
March 28, 2008

<snip>

On June 9, little Michael DiGirolamo was discovered by a nurse in the parking lot of Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., with a handwritten note pinned to his diaper. The note called him "John Vincent" and said his caregiver had no job or health insurance. "God have mercy on me," the note read.

The boy was soon identified after a landlord recognized that he belonged to 27-year-old Amy Giordano, who had last been seen June 7.

Police opened a missing persons case but days went by before they sealed her apartment as a possible crime scene.

Suspicion grew after authorities learned that DiGirolamo, who was paying about $800 a month for Giordano's Hightstown apartment, had told her landlord that she was terminating the lease early and that no one should go into the apartment for a few days because she was sick, according to prosecutors.

Giordano's wallet, cash, ID cards, checkbook, apartment keys and a nearly full pack of cigarettes were later found in the apartment by a her landlord and a news reporter for the Times of Trenton.

Suspicion that something sinister happened to Giordano grew.

<snip>

[bleachedblack]

may he get what he deserves......

++++++++++++++

Prosecutor: Lover killed, sawed up missing N.J. mom

 March 28, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. - Rosario DiGirolamo could no longer afford to support his mistress and their young son, prosecutors say, so he decided to dispose of both of them.

Prosecutors say he did that by striking Amy Giordano in the head, sawing up her body, stuffing it in a suitcase and dumping it in a remote Staten Island pond. He then abandoned their 11-month-old son in the parking lot of a Delaware hospital with a note pinned to his diaper asking for help.

Those were among the gruesome allegations that emerged from prosecutors Friday in the case of a missing New Jersey mother that began with the strange discovery of her young son.

On June 9, little Michael DiGirolamo was discovered by a nurse in the parking lot of Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., with a handwritten note pinned to his diaper. The note called him "John Vincent" and said his caregiver had no job or health insurance. "God have mercy on me," the note read.

The boy was soon identified after a landlord recognized that he belonged to 27-year-old Amy Giordano, who had last been seen June 7.

Police opened a missing persons case but days went by before they sealed her apartment as a possible crime scene.

Suspicion grew after authorities learned that DiGirolamo, who was paying about $800 a month for Giordano's Hightstown apartment, had told her landlord that she was terminating the lease early and that no one should go into the apartment for a few days because she was sick, according to prosecutors.

Giordano's wallet, cash, ID cards, checkbook, apartment keys and a nearly full pack of cigarettes were later found in the apartment by a her landlord and a news reporter for the Times of Trenton.

>>>>the complete article
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--missingmom-option0328mar28,0,2958485.story

[bleachedblack]

Not Guilty Plea in N.J. Missing Mom Case

April 4, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A man who says his tip helped lead authorities to the skeletal remains of a New Jersey woman missing for nearly a year pleaded not guilty Friday to tampering with evidence.

John A. Russo Jr., a friend of a married man charged with killing his 27-year-old mistress, was released on his own recognizance.

Rosario DiGirolamo is being held on $1 million bail on a murder charge in the death of Amy Giordano, who vanished in June after grocery shopping with DiGirolamo and their toddler. DiGirolamo's attorney said his client denies any involvement in the woman's disappearance.

In court Friday, prosecutors said Russo helped clean up Giordano's apartment after she was beaten to death and dismembered. They also said he met DiGirolamo at the pond in the New York City borough of Staten Island where skeletal remains were found in a suitcase.

Russo's lawyer says information from his client led detectives to the pond.

Authorities are awaiting DNA results to identify the remains. But prosecutors say they are confident the partial skeleton is Giordano's because pictures of baby Michael DiGirolamo were found inside a nearby suitcase in the knee-deep pond.

During his arraignment Friday, Russo, 43, responded to the judge's questions but said nothing more. Afterward, his lawyer, George Vomvolakis, said Russo didn't contact authorities about what he knew because "he was in fear for his own safety and his family's."

Vomvolakis said that no specific threat was made, but that his client became worried about his own vulnerability after DiGirolamo confessed details of the crime to him.

DiGirolamo's lawyer, Jerome Ballarotto, declined to comment Friday.

Prosecutor Thomas Meidt told the judge Russo "helped clean up the mess" after DiGirolamo killed his mistress in the apartment he had rented for her and the child. He said Russo met DiGirolamo at the pond.

But Vomvolakis said that Russo wasn't at the apartment after the killing, and that Russo led DiGirolamo to the pond but left before the body was dumped.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hxASx0RYqqqUejVWxoaAbopcWLdAD8VRBS800

[Nut44x4]

DNA Confirmed..........
The Mercer County prosecutor's office has released DNA analysis showing the remains are those of 27-year-old Amy Giordano from Hightstown, whose married lover has been charged with murder.
DNA shows remains are missing N.J. mom's

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI | Associated Press Writer
April 18, 2008

TRENTON, N.J. - Skeletal remains found in a Staten Island pond are those of a young mother missing since last June, DNA analysis shows.

The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office released the test results Friday, nearly a month after a neck to torso skeleton was found there by police divers. Prosecutors say the remains are those of Amy Giordano, a single mom from Hightstown whose married lover has been charged with her murder.

Authorities were led to the pond on Easter Sunday by a friend of murder suspect Rosario DiGirolamo. DiGirolamo, 33, is in a Mercer County jail on $1 million bail. The friend, John Russo Jr., has been charged with evidence tampering.

Authorities say DiGirolamo hit Giordano over the head and chopped up her body with a hacksaw after killing her. He then drove their 11-month-old to a Delaware hospital, where he abandoned the boy in a parking lot because he could no longer afford to support two households.

He was living with his wife and toddler while carrying on an extended affair with Giordano, 27.

DiGirolamo's lawyer said his client denies any involvement in the disappearance f Giordano.

Giordano disappeared June 7 after shopping for groceries with DiGirolamo and the baby. Her cigarettes, purse and ID were later found inside her apartment, but there was no trace of the woman until authorities were led to the pond.

A suitcase found near the remains contained photographs of the child, authorities have said.

The DNA results come the day a relative of the suspect was given initial approval to adopt the child.

Delaware Adoption chief Frank Perfinski said Annalisa Guidice of New York could have custody of Michael Sean DiGirolamo within a month, pending a study of the suitability of her household.

Guidice filed a petition in February to terminate Giordano's parental rights. Only blood relatives are permitted to file such petitions in Delaware Family Court, but it's not clear how Guidice is related to DiGirolamo.

Perfinski says the state has not received inquiries from blood relatives of Giordano, who was adopted when she was three months old.
http://www.newsday.com

[Nut44x4]

'Missing mom' murder suspect freed on $1M bail   

Nov 28th, 2008 | TRENTON, N.J. -- A married man accused of killing his mistress is out of a New Jersey jail after posting $1 million bail.

A spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office says Rosario DiGirolamo left jail on Wednesday.

The spokeswoman says DiGirolamo must stay in his parents' home and wear an electronic tracking device. Authorities confiscated his passport.

The 33-year-old DiGirolamo is charged with murdering 27-year-old Amy Giordano. She vanished in June after grocery shopping with DiGirolamo and their baby. Authorities found her dismembered body in a pond.

DiGirolamo pleaded guilty to abandoning their 11-month-old son in a Delaware hospital parking lot. He has denied involvement in Giordano's death. DiGirolamo faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/11/28/D94OBQO80_missing_mom/index.html

This makes me sick 

[MuffyBee]

Jan 9, 7:55 PM EST

'Missing mom' suspect charged with murder in NJ


TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A married man accused of killing his mistress and dumping her dismembered body in a Staten Island pond has been charged with first-degree murder.

Rosario DiGirolamo (DEE'-jer-AH'-la-mo) was also charged Friday with fourth-degree tampering with evidence.

If convicted, he could face life in prison.

The indictment alleges the 34-year-old former Millstone, N.J., resident killed 27-year-old Amy Giordano in June 2007. She vanished after grocery shopping with DiGirolamo and their infant son.

DiGirolamo was released from jail in November after posting a $1 million bond.

John A. Russo Jr. of Staten Island was also charged with one count of fourth-degree tampering with evidence. The 44-year-old Russo led authorities to the body.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_MOM?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

[Nut44x4]

'Missing mom' murder suspect indictedJanuary 9, 2009
TRENTON, N.J. - A married man accused of killing his mistress and dumping her dismembered body in a Staten Island pond was indicted Friday on a first-degree murder charge.  
Rosario DiGirolamo also was charged with fourth-degree tampering with evidence in the indictment handed up by a Mercer County grand jury. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

An arraignment date has not been scheduled.

The indictment alleges the 34-year-old former Millstone resident killed 27-year-old Amy Giordano in June 2007. She was last seen shopping for groceries with DiGirolamo and their infant son.

DiGirolamo was released from the Mercer County Jail in late November after posting a $1 million bond.

Also named in the indictment was John A. Russo Jr., 44, of Staten Island, a friend of DiGirolamo who led authorities to the body. He was charged with one count of fourth-degree tampering with evidence and could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege that DiGirolamo hit Giordano over the head and then chopped up her body with a hacksaw after she was dead. They say he then stuffed some of the remains in a suitcase and dropped it in the pond on June 9.

DiGirolamo then drove the couple's 11-month-old son to a Delaware hospital, where he abandoned the boy in a parking lot because he could no longer afford to support two households. When discovered at the hospital by a nurse, the child had a handwritten note pinned to his diaper that called him "John Vincent" and said his caregiver had no job or health insurance.

The boy was soon identified after a tipster recognized him as Giordano's child. However, there was no trace of her until authorities were led to the pond in March 2008 by Russo.

Giordano was living with the couple's son in an apartment in Hightstown when she vanished. Authorities said DiGirolamo was paying the $850 a month rent and was frequently seen at the apartment.

Shortly after Giordano disappeared, DiGirolamo abandoned his family, quit his job and flew to Italy, where he remained for about six weeks before returning to face child abandonment charges. He later pleaded guilty and was fined.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--missingmom0109jan09,0,766009.story

[Nut44x4]

New Jersey man enters not-guilty plea in killing of Staten Island woman
 Monday March 09, 2009, 7:54 PM

The New Jersey man accused of killing and dismembering his lover, then dumping her remains in a West Shore pond, pleaded not guilty today to charges of first-degree murder and evidence tampering.

Rosario DiGirolamo, 34, faces life in prison if convicted of the brutal slaying of 27-year-old Willowbrook native Amy Giordano, with whom he had an extramarital affair that produced a son.

At the three-minute arraignment in New Jersey Superior Court in Trenton, N.J., DiGirolamo was silent as attorney Jerome Ballarotto entered the plea.

DiGirolamo -- who was married to another woman at the time of the alleged crime but is now divorced -- is confined to his parents' home in Brooklyn on a $1 million bond.

He must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and was forced to surrender his passport.

He faces life in prison if convicted.

Authorities contend that DiGirolamo killed Ms. Giordano in June 2007 and disposed of Ms. Giordano's remains in Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve in Charleston.

He also ditched their son in the parking lot of a Delaware hospital before fleeing to Italy from Newark Liberty International Airport.

Giordano's 1998 Lexus sedan was eventually found ditched on a Baden Place in Midland Beach.

Giordano's close friend, 44-year-old John Russo of Eltingville, led investigators to the woman's body in March 2008. Her skeletal remains were found stuffed in a ragged suitcase and plastic bags at the bottom of murky waters.

Russo was indicted on one count of fourth-degree tampering with evidence and faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/new_jersey_man_enters_notguilt.html

[Nut44x4]

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/12/05/windsor_hights_herald/news/doc4b1849f09a861180534334.txt

TRENTON: Russo could see charges dropped
N.Y. man accused of helping dispose of Giordano body parts
Thursday, December 3, 2009 6:35 PM EST

TRENTON — The man accused of helping Rosario DiGirolamo dump the dismembered body of Hightstown’s Amy Giordano in a Staten Island, N.Y., pond applied this week for a court program that could allow for the charges against him being dropped.

John Russo Jr., 44, applied to take part in a first offenders’ pretrial intervention program Monday during a status conference in Mercer County Superior Court, according to Assistant Prosecutor Tom Meidt.

”It’s his right to apply. In that regard, it’s a reasonable thing to do,” Mr. Meidt said.

Mr. Russo is charged with tampering with evidence for his alleged role in helping Mr. DiGirolamo, of Millstone, clean Ms. Giordano’s Mercer Street apartment after authorities say he bludgeoned her to death with a tool and dismembered her in 2007.

The charge is a fourth-degree felony, the lowest level of felony charge in the state, and it’s not unusual for first-time offenders charged with such an offense to apply for the program, Mr. Meidt said.
If convicted, Mr. Russo would face up to 18 months in prison, but the pretrial intervention program could help him avoid any sentence, Mr. Meidt said.

The pretrial intervention program is a form of alternative rehabilitation under which a defendant can be assigned community service, ordered to pay restitution or undergo some type of counseling generally for a period of one to three years, according to the state Attorney General’s Office Web site.

If defendants successfully complete all of the judge-imposed conditions of the program, charges against them are dropped, and there is no record of a conviction, the site states.

Mr. Russo, a former auxiliary police officer in New York City, pleaded not guilty to the charge in March 2008 and has denied any involvement in cleaning the apartment.

His former attorney, George Vomvolakis, previously said Mr. Russo was cooperating with the prosecution and had led authorities to the pond in Clay Pit Pond State Park where some of the skeletal remains of Ms. Giordano were found.

Mr. Vomvolakis is not licensed to practice law in New Jersey. Mr. Russo’s current attorney, Rachael Kugel of Newark, did not return calls seeking comment.

The prosecution does have the opportunity to object to the application, but Mr. Meidt would not comment about whether he plans to do so.

”It’s premature to make any determination. We haven’t seen the application,” Mr. Meidt said Tuesday.

He did say he expects Judge Edward Neafsey to rule on the application in February or shortly after.

Mr. Russo remains free on his own recognizance after his $5,000 bail was dropped in March 2008.

Prosecutors say the alleged murder of Ms. Giordano, 27, by Mr. DiGirolamo, then-33, took place in a second-floor apartment on Mercer Street in downtown Hightstown in June 2007.

The then-married Mr. DiGirolamo had been having an affair with Ms. Giordano and fathered a child, Michael, with her, prosecutors said.

Mr. DiGirolamo, who briefly fled to Italy before being charged, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, but entered a guilty plea in a Delaware court to child abandonment.

That was for leaving Michael, then nearly 1 year old, outside a Newark, Del. hospital during the same week as the alleged murder.

He was sentenced to probation for the child abandonment charge and was in custody in New Jersey for eight months before being freed on $1 million bail for the murder charge.
However, he must wear an electronic ankle bracelet and is restricted to his parents’ home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

He faces up to life in prison. No trial date has been set.

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CENTRAL JERSEY: No trial date in sight for DiGirolamo
Time elapsed not unusual, say lawyer, prosecutor's office
Thursday, December 3, 2009 6:35 PM EST

Rosario DiGirolamo — the man charged with killing and dismembering his mistress, Amy Giordano, in her Hightstown apartment in June 2007 – apparently spent his second Thanksgiving at home with his family last week, with no trial date in his immediate future.

   ”I can’t say that it is out of the ordinary,” said Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the Mercer County prosecutor’s office, when asked last week about the time that has elapsed in the case.

   ”We have a trial starting next week in Superior Court for a homicide that occurred on October 24, 2006.”

   Jerome Ballarotto — the attorney representing the Millstone man who was released in November 2008 after posting $1 million bail — also said there’s nothing unusual when it comes to the pace of the case.

   ”He’s on house arrest. He’s considered out on bail,” he said last week. “Many sit in jail for a year. This is not any more important than other cases for those in jail.”

Mr. Ballarotto added, “There’s a lot more going on in this case than meets the eye. ... DNA evidence takes a long time.”

   Mr. DiGirolamo was charged in March 2008 with the murder of Ms. Giordano, a 27-year-old who was estranged from her parents in New York. Law enforcement officials said the then-33-year-old man hit her on the head with a tool in her Mercer Street apartment and dismembered her.

   Some of her skeletal remains – minus her head, according to published reports — were found in a suitcase in a Staten Island, N.Y., pond along with a photo of the couple’s young child, Michael DiGirolamo. That discovery came after a friend of Mr. DiGirolamo’s, John A. Russo Jr., of Staten Island, helped lead law enforcement officials there.

   Mr. DiGirolamo flew to Italy for several weeks before returning to the states to plead guilty to the abandonment of Michael outside a Delaware hospital during the same week as the alleged murder. He was handed probation for that offense.

   The boy was later adopted by Mr. DiGirolamo’s sister, according to a published report.

   Mr. DiGirolamo has pleaded not guilty in the murder case. The release of the former employee of Conair, in East Windsor, on Nov. 26, 2008 was the result of family members coming up with the $1 million bail. As a condition of that bail, he is restricted to his parents’ Brooklyn, N.Y., home.

   ”There are certain conditions of his bail that allow him come to my office or go to a doctor,” Mr. Ballarotto said last week, while adding that he sees his client two or three times a month.

   ”He’s OK,” he said when asked about Mr. DiGirolamo’s condition. “There’s always a lot of pressure but he’s fine.”

   Mr. DiGirolamo faces life in prison. His next court date, for a status conference, is Feb. 11.

   ”There will be no plea in this case; it is going to go to trial,” Mr. Ballarotto said last week.
http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/12/05/windsor_hights_herald/news/doc4b184a7f81df8491985976.txt

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1.3.11

NJ man pleads guilty to killing mistress in '07
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to killing his mistress, whose dismembered body was found in a Staten Island pond.

Rosario DiGirolamo (dee-gee-roh-LAHM'-oh) faces a 25-year prison term after his admission in state Superior Court in Trenton on Monday. Jury selection in his trial was to begin Tuesday.

DiGirolamo pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old Amy Giordano in June 2007. Prosecutors say DiGirolamo killed Giordano, disposed of her body, then left the couple's 11-month-old son in the parking lot of a Delaware hospital.

DiGirolamo was married to another woman at the time.

At his plea hearing, DiGirolamo said he and Giordano had fought on the day of her death and he struck her with a hammer as she lunged at him.   


http://online.wsj.com/article/AP15205a8bd7324f9fbb933a50d0f6d833.html