Prosecutor explains dropped murder charge in Paterson homicide amid family backlash

PATERSON — Superior Court Judge Justine Niccollai did not mince words when "reluctantly" accepting Justin Fisher's plea on Thursday morning, lambasting the state for how it handled the case.

In what was supposed to be a sentencing for Fisher's role in the death of Paterson mother Stephanie DeJesus, the court instead heard the prosecution's reasoning behind dropping the murder charge against Fisher.

Niccollai said she had seen media reports and information on social media about the plea deal that "greatly concerned" her. The judge said she had seen that the family was not advised and consulted about the prosecution's decision to drop the murder charge.

DeJesus, a 38-year-old Paterson resident, was found stuffed into the trunk of her car two years ago at James Street and Ryerson Avenue in the Passaic County city.

Fisher was accused of killing DeJesus and moving her body, with the help of his family, but in February, Fisher agreed to a plea agreement. He instead pleaded guilty to second-degree desecration of human remains and third-degree hindering apprehension.

Fisher could serve a maximum of 15 years: 10 years for the desecration charge and five years for the hindering charge.

As Niccollai handed down her decision, she said the court was "disgusted" with the state even though she found that it complied with the Victims Bill of Rights.

Niccollai outlined several instances of delayed discovery getting to the defense and discovery still being delivered while jury selection was going on.

She said the court "must reluctantly be forced to accept the state's plea agreement."

During the hearing, Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Barrera read a memorandum submitted to the court outlining why the state agreed to the plea deal instead of pursuing the murder charge. He said it is "not customary" to dismiss a murder charge against any defendant, but that there can be circumstances during the trial process that arise and could be detrimental to the state's case.

Barrera said Fisher has always maintained he did not kill DeJesus and someone else did, and that would be his defense throughout the trial. Barrera pointed out that video surveillance showed Fisher entering the house and DeJesus entering but not leaving alive.

Fisher's fiancée, Joelle Martucci, was the prosecution's main witness. She had pleaded guilty to hindering and tampering with evidence in March 2022, agreeing to cooperate with the investigation. During her hearing, she told the court about the effort to dispose of DeJesus' body by Fisher and his family.

However, Barrera said that when Martucci first spoke to police, she denied knowing anything, saying she didn't see anything and that someone else may have been in the home who was not Fisher or his family. Later, Martucci's defense attorney said she wanted to cooperate and provided a second statement.

Barrera also spoke of messages retrieved from Fisher's phone.

He noted the use of the FBI Evidence Recovery Team to collect evidence in the case. Because the home was cleaned by the family before police arrived, the evidence recovery team had to use a substance like luminol to detect the presence of suspected blood, and photos were used to show where the suspected blood tested positive.

The blood evidence was eventually thrown out when the court ruled that the state's witness from the FBI was not qualified to testify to the function of luminol.

Barrera said that throughout the process, the state "began to realize there were serious factual issues with this case that would potentially result in a not guilty verdict in this matter."

He said that although evidence being dismissed and reliance on the jury believing Martucci's statement of blood covering the apartment wouldn't have been fatal to the case, other discovery during trial prep could have "severely called into question the veracity of Martucci's subsequent statement."

Barrera said that at one point when Martucci was being questioned, police overheard her attorney yelling at her, saying she needed to "tell the truth." It was after that exchange that Martucci told the police she wanted to cooperate.

Barrera said it was not intentional that the defense didn't receive pieces of discovery but it could have called the credibility of the investigation into question. He said he did meet with DeJesus' family before the plea in February and that they expressed "their dissatisfaction with the outcome."

DeJesus' family and friends have continually criticized the prosecution's handling of the case. The group that showed up at Thursday's hearing was displeased with how it went, saying the family is not getting justice.

Paulina Vargas, DeJesus' mother, said she wasn't surprised at the ruling, calling Barrera "incompetent."

Israel Vargas, DeJesus' father, called the handling of the case by the Prosecutor's Office an "embarrassment."

"Mr. Barrera is not only a liar, he is a disgrace to his profession," Israel Vargas said.

There is a petition on Change.org to have the U.S. Department of Justice take over the investigation into DeJesus' death. The petition has almost 9,000 signatures.

Paulina Vargas said DeJesus' killing has changed the dynamic of the family. Israel Vargas said his daughter was the backbone for her family and friends and was "one of a kind," lighting up a room when she smiled.

"I just want justice for my daughter, which seems like it's not going to happen," said Paulina Vargas.

Fisher's attorneys, Alissa Hascup and Matthew Troiano, reserved their comments until his sentencing on May 9.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ dropped murder charge explained by prosecutor