Tag: dismemberment

Report: Accused killer of Randolph teen had mental defect:

Instead of going for an insanity defense, the attorney for accused killer Jonathan Zarate is now going for a diminished capacity defense. Here’s the difference…

A defendant deemed to be insane at the time of a crime in New Jersey cannot be held criminally responsible. A person found guilty of committing a murder, but found to have diminished capacity, or a mental defect or impairment, is merely convicted of a lesser offense than murder.

For those of you new to the site, then 18-year-old Jonathan Zarate killed his 16-year-old neighbor Jennifer Parks, dismembered her body, then hid her body for 24 hours, and then tried to dump her body into the Passaic River.

Basically, this kind of defense admits guilt but tries to get a reduced sentence other than a murder sentence.

The prosecution, however, subscribes to the common-sense theory…

Office Executive Assistant Prosecutor Robert Lane said the report will be reviewed over the next week to see if the office wants to hire its own expert. But Lane told Judge Salem Vincent Ahto that Jonathan Zarate’s mind appeared clear when he scrubbed up the crime scene, cut off the girl’s legs to cram her body into a steamer trunk and tried to toss the trunk over a bridge into the Passaic River.

The only mental defect Zarate has is that he’s a raving psychopath.

The judge wants the trial to start on April 17th, but Zarate’s attorney, Anthony Fusco, said he won’t be ready. How much more time does he need? It’s been almost 3 years since Jennifer Parks’ death. Get on with it already. Doesn’t the victim’s family have the right to a speedy trial too?

Nod to Keb.

Prosecutor: No plea bargain for murder suspect Zarate:

The Morris County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office has restated their refusal to offer a plea to accused killer Jonathan Zarate. For those of you just joining us, Zarate killed 16-year-old Jennifer Parks, dismembered her body and tried to dump the body in the Passaic River.

At a brief hearing in Morristown, Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto wanted to know where the 27-month-old case stood. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Amirata said the only way Zarate would avoid trial is to plead guilty to the July 2005 murder.

Zarate has already been spared the death penalty.

Zarate’s attorney is pursuing an insanity defense and expects a psychiatric report in a few weeks.

Zarate isn’t crazy, he’s inherently evil in my opinion.

Parents of murdered Randolph teen sue:

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about the murder of Jennifer Parks, so I’ll do a brief recap for those of you who are new.

Jennifer Parks was a 16-year-old girl from Randolph, New Jersey. She was killed by her neighbor, Jonathan Zarate. Zarate dismembered her body and stuffed her into a steamer trunk. He then hid her body in his parents’ Jeep for 24 hours while he attended a child’s birthday party. Zarate, his brother James, and a third teen were caught trying to dump Jennifer’s body into the Passaic River.

That was 2 years ago. In true New Jersey fashion, the trial has yet to commence.

Now the parents of Jennifer Parks are suing the parents of Jonathan Zarate for negligence.

An attorney for David and Laurie Parks filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Morristown, claiming Jonathan and James Zarate were negligent in not stopping the other from committing the brutal murder in their father’s home.

The lawsuit claims the boys’ parents, John Zarate and Flora Mari, failed to adequately supervise them, knowing they both had bullied 16-year-old Jennifer prior to the July 30, 2005 murder.

Like I always say, in these kinds of lawsuits, whatever the Parks get it won’t even be close to what they’ve lost with the death of their daughter.

Zarate to pursue insanity defense:

I’m surprised it took this long. Anyway, Anthony Fusco, the attorney for accused killer Jonathan Zarate, will be pursuing an insanity defense for his client.

Jonathan Zarate’s lawyer, Anthony Fusco, told Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown that he plans an insanity defense and is in the process of hiring a forensic psychiatrist to examine the high school dropout. Fusco, a privately-paid lawyer, also plans to make a petition to the state Office of the Public Defender to help finance the cost of the evaluation.

Your tax dollars at work.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the insanity defense basically boil down to knowing the difference between right and wrong? If that’s the case, Zarate’s actions of dismembering Jennifer Parks’ body after killing her, hiding it in a trunk for 24 hours and then trying to dump the trunk in the Passaic River leads me to believe that he what he did was wrong.