Tag: Jonathan Zarate

Man charged in teen neighbor’s killing sues jail:

This is just great, another frivolous lawsuit clogging the courts…

The Randolph man charged with stabbing and dismembering a teenage neighbor will be moved out of the Morris County jail after having filed a suit against the facility following two fights with correction officers there.

Authorities had not yet determined where Jonathan Zarate will be sent but said it will most likely be the Essex County Jail.

For those of you who may have forgotten, 18-year-old Zarate, is accused of having ambushed 16-year-old Jennifer Parks in Zarate’s home and stabbing her, bludgeoning her, and dismembering her body, then trying to dump her body into the Passaic River in New Jersey.

Let me give you a quote from prison officials when he originally attacked a guard…

Jonathan Zarate, 18, of Randolph, allegedly punched a 26-year-old corrections officer three times in the face and head as he was being escorted back to his cell after a shower Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Warden Frank Corrente said.

“This was unprovoked. He has issues with authority and has been a management issue since his arrival,” Corrente said of Zarate. “He shows violent behavior.”

It would be a travesty if this lawsuit ever saw the light of day. Then again, this is New Jersey we’re talking about. He’ll probably be awarded a settlement.

Teen’s accused killer returns to Morris jail:

This is an update on the story of Jonathan Zarate, the 18-year-old from New Jersey arrested for stabbing, bludgeoning, and dismembering 16-year-old Jennifer Parks.

Yesterday, he was transferred back to the Morris County jail after spending two months at Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton for psychiatric observation. He was sent there after punching a few corrections officers and frequently urinating and defecating on his cell floor. If you’re going for an insanity defense, this is not the way to go about it, Sunshine.

Morris County prosecutors still haven’t decided whether or not to pursue the death penalty. What’s to decide? Then again, this is New Jersey, and they haven’t executed anyone in 40 years.

Pal’s statement: Zarate brothers plotted to slay Randolph teen:

More information on the case of Jonathan Zarate and his younger brother, who killed and dismembered Jennifer Parks…

Two brothers plotted to lure teenager Jennifer Parks to their father’s house in Randolph, where they beat, stabbed and shared the grisly task of cutting off her legs, according to a statement given to police by a friend who tried to help the siblings dump the body.

Recktenwald said that V.B. told her and another detective that the brothers confided on July 31 that Jonathan Zarate was communicating with the 16-year-old girl next door over the Internet and invited her over.

“They were planning to kill her,” Recktenwald quoted V.B. as saying.

V.B. said the brothers told him they killed Parks because she had gotten the younger brother in trouble so that he had to pay some fines. Recktenwald said the Clifton teen gave the following account, based on what the brothers told him:

Jonathan Zarate talked a few minutes with Parks after her arrival at his home around 2 a.m. on July 30. Zarate started choking the girl. His younger brother, who was hiding in a basement closet, jumped out, started punching Parks all over her body, and then grabbed a knife and started stabbing her. The elder Zarate put a bandanna over her face to stifle her screams. Both brothers then shared the job of cutting off Parks’ legs so they could fit her body into a trunk that normally held camping equipment.

“They cut her legs off and put her in, like, a box,” V.B. related, Recktenwald said.

Authorities have said the Zarate brothers — who allegedly used to bully Parks over her weight and appearance –recruited the help of the Clifton friend to help them try to toss a trunk containing the girl’s body over a bridge in Rutherford into the Passaic River.

The trio was caught by passing police officers around 3 a.m. on July 31 before the trunk could be heaved. Jonathan Zarate confessed, saying that he alone invited Parks over to watch television around 2 a.m. on July 30, after which he flew into a rage, beat her with a pole, stuffed a bandanna down her throat, stabbed her and cut off her legs. The younger Zarate –whose full name has not been publicly released because he is a juvenile — told police he learned of the murder after the fact. The Clifton teen originally gave two statements: in one, he denied any knowledge of the killing; in the second, he claimed Jonathan Zarate did the murder. His story changed on Sept. 20.

Authorities said that the younger Zarate got in trouble several years ago when he damaged Laurie Parks’ car by throwing rocks at it. School officials also rearranged his classes in Randolph so that he and Jennifer Parks did not run into each other. The 15-year-old wound up leaving Randolph a few years ago to live with his biological mother in Garfield but was visiting his father on Old Brookside Road the weekend Parks was slain.

Jonathan Zarate was transferred last week out of the Morris County jail to a psychiatric facility after two episodes of punching corrections officers and relieving himself multiple times on the floor of his cell. His lawyer said Jonathan Zarate admits the killing and a psychiatric defense is being pursued.

Try the younger brother as an adult and send them both to the needle.

Teen accomplice pleads guilty in body dump case:

One of the teen accomplices of Jonathan Zarate pleaded guilty to improperly disposing of human remains and hindering apprehension.

This is the 16-year-old accomplice known as “V.B.” the friend of Jonathan Zarate’s brother who is only identified as “J.Z.”.

“V.B.” faces up to four years in juvenile detention. “V.B.” and “J.Z.” allegedly tried to help Jonathan Zarate dispose of Jennifer Parks’ body in the Passaic River.

‘Trunk killer’ teen erupts, blackens jail guard’s eye:

This is a story that I’ve been following here for a while.

Unfortunately, I haven’t reposted any of the previous entries since the Great Site Meltdown of 2005. Let me bring you up to speed.

18-year-old Jonathan Zarate invited his 16-year-old neighbor Jennifer Parks over to watch TV. He killed her by bludgeoning her and repeatedly stabbing her. He then dismembered her body, stuffed her in a trunk, hid the trunk in his parents’ Jeep for 24 hours, then solicited his teenage brother and a friend to help him dump the body into the Passaic River.

At the time of the original postings, I got a lot of comments saying that either he couldn’t have possibly killed her or comments that attacked the victim. Well, Zarate’s latest escapade is that he attacked a prison guard unprovoked…

Jonathan Zarate, 18, of Randolph, allegedly punched a 26-year-old corrections officer three times in the face and head as he was being escorted back to his cell after a shower Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Warden Frank Corrente said.

“This was unprovoked. He has issues with authority and has been a management issue since his arrival,” Corrente said of Zarate. “He shows violent behavior.”

Yeah, someone with this kind of rational behavior couldn’t have possibly killed someone. Yeah, right.

Slain Randolph girl’s mom pushes for death penalty:

The mother of Jennifer Parks, Laurie Parks, is calling on prosecutors to push for the death penalty in the murder of her daughter…

“I feel if you take a life, you give a life,” she said. She said her grief has been overwhelming some days, for herself and Jennifer’s father, David, and that she hopes to start counseling soon. She hasn’t been ready so far for therapy, she said.

“I’m not doing good right now. It’s very hard,” she said.

Can you blame her? Considering, her daughter was killed and dismembered by Jonathan Zarate.

Prosecutors have not yet stated whether or not they will pursue the death penalty. While New Jersey does have the death penalty, it’s rarely used.

We also have news out of the Zarate camp…

Slay case leaves kin wondering:

The relatives of Jonathan Zarate are saying they knew that he had problems. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to have been sent to his aunt in California, who is a psychiatrist. He was supposed to go on August 2nd, but he killed Jennifer Parks on July 30th. Still, no motive was given, but the article uses this as a turning point in Zarate’s life…

He changed from a happy youngster to an angry kid during the breakup of his parents, according to his mother, Flora Mari, who spoke through Fusco. The couple split when he was 8 and divorced when he was 11, according to court records.

Even years later, Zarate spoke about the divorce all the time, according to Moises Mari, a stepbrother who lives in Newport News, Va.

So he was down about his parents’ divorce. Boo-freakin’ hoo. I don’t care if his parents beat him with barbed wire, it’s still no excuse to choke, bludgeon, stab, and dismember a 16-year-old girl.

If this is what the defense will be basing their insanity defense on, then they have their work cut out for them. Then again, this is New Jersey. So we’ll just have to wait and see.

Randolph students to honor slain classmate:

Classmates of Jennifer Parks from Randolph High School in New Jersey are honoring her by creating two scholarships in her name. If you haven’t been following, 16-year-old Jennifer Parks was “allegedly” bludgeoned, stabbed and dismembered by her next-door neighbor Jonathan Zarate.

Students hope to raise enough money to provide two $500 scholarships in Ms. Parks’ name, but the idea of buying books for the school library would be a special tribute to their classmate.

I’ve been keeping in contact with Jen’s mom. She really liked the idea of buying new books because Jen liked to read a lot. We would put her name in the front of each book as a memorial.

Does this sound like someone who some people think deserved what she got?

If you’re in or near the Randolph, NJ area, why not throw a couple of bucks their way.

DNA taken from teens in girl’s death:

This is an update on the case of Jonathan Zarate. He’s the scumbag who allegedly bludgeoned, stabbed, killed, and dismembered 16-year-old Jennifer Parks.

The last time we heard, his lawyer was planning an insanity defense. At that time, a few people left comments stating that Zarate’s younger brother did it and that Zarate was covering for him.

Well, Zarate’s brother, only identified as “J.Z.”, and the other teenage accomplice, identified as “V.B.”, have claimed that they had nothing to do with the killing.

Meanwhile, Morris County investigators have obtained DNA samples from the two. If their DNA is found on Jennifer Parks’ body, then the charges could be upgraded. Right now, they’re only charged with illegally disposing of human remains.