47°
Ronald J. Teschner, 53, was sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 7 in connection with the death of 65-year-old Jacqueline C. Terrulli.
Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 12, 2019, firefighters and other first responders rushed to a home on Wickapecko Drive in Ocean Township that was engulfed in flames.
Once the fire was put out, a joint investigation by members of the Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and Forensic Bureau, the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Ocean Township Police Department determined that two residents of the home were unaccounted for: Teschner and Terrulli, the homeowner. Terrulli’s vehicle, a white Jeep Cherokee, was also missing from the property.
The next morning, on Friday, September 13, 2019, members of the Ocean Township Police Department located the Cherokee parked on a residential street in Paterson, a little more than an hour’s drive north. Teschner was located in the driver’s seat, and recovered from the vehicle were two shotguns, a quantity of fentanyl, and jewelry and other items belonging to Terrulli.
A Monmouth County Grand Jury then returned a 16-count indictment in the case in February 2020.
Later that year, on Thursday, June 18, 2020, as demolition and site remediation work was being performed on the Wickapecko Drive property, human remains that would later be identified as belonging to Terrulli were found wrapped in plastic and buried several feet underground.
As a result of the fire, charred rubble had collapsed upon and covered the remains, initially concealing them from detection.
The case against Teschner proceeded to trial late last year, and his prosecution was handled by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Joseph Cummings and Katherine Butler, who presented evidence at trial including witness testimony, cell- phone records, and physical evidence showing that the murder took place while Terrulli’s mother and two siblings were away in Atlantic City.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Terrulli was described as an abundantly generous and kind person who had allowed Teschner to live in her home.
“Yesterday’s sentencing was commensurate with the abhorrent nature of these crimes,” First Assistant Prosecutor Julia Alonso said. “We again extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jacqueline Terrulli, with the hope that the conclusion of the criminal case brings them some degree of satisfaction in knowing that justice has been served on her behalf.”
Click here to follow Daily Voice Middlesex and receive free news updates.
