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Passaic County prosecutors dropped murder and conspiracy charges against Joelle Martucci, 24, as part of deal that will keep her out of prison.
In return, Martucci agreed to testify against her fiancé, Justin Fisher, who is now the lone defendant charged with murder in last month’s death and dumping of 38-year-old single mom Stephanie DeJesus of Paterson.
Although how and why DeJesus was killed still haven’t been addressed, Martucci outlined what came next as part of a plea deal approved by a Superior Court judge in Paterson.
Martucci told the judge during a March 18 teleconferenced hearing that she found DeJesus’s body and “a lot of blood” on the floor of the Gordon Avenue apartment she shares with Fisher after arriving there on Feb. 23.
Fisher didn’t explain what happened to DeJesus, Martucci said. Instead, she said, he told her she had no choice but to cooperate if she ever wanted to see their 1-year-old son again.
Fisher then directed relatives to help him remove the body and clean up the apartment, Martucci said.
The crew included Fisher’s parents -- Ali Gibson, 51, and Clo Fisher, 50, both of Totowa – and his brother, 33-year-old Ali Fisher of Little Falls, she testified.
Martucci told the judge she’d gone outside to get some air when Clo Fisher gave her a piece of tape to place over the landlord’s Ring doorbell camera.
Fisher and Ali Gibson then put the bloody corpse in the trunk of DeJesus’s Lincoln MKZ, she testified. Story continues below....
Martucci said she followed in her Lexus SUV as Gibson drove DeJesus's car to the corner of James Street and Ryerson Avenue. He then locked the sedan and left it there, prosecutors said.
Martucci testified that she picked up Gibson in the parking lot of the nearby Chicken Supreme on Union Avenue.
Roughly 36 hours later, a caller told Paterson police that there was blood dripping from the trunk of the vehicle. They then found the body.
DeJesus, who had a son herself, was born and raised in Paterson, lived in the city all of her life and worked as a cardiovascular technician for St. Michael's Hospital in Newark.
She’d been been shot once and beaten, with the latter causing her death, a medical examiner ruled.
Detectives arrested Martucci three days later -- Feb. 28 -- during warranted searches of the Gordon Avenue apartment, her previous address on Coolidge Street and her SUV.
Following an interrogation, they obtained warrants for the arrests of Justin Fisher -- who also has a son with another woman -- and Gibson. Both surrendered to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office on March 2.
Martucci’s assistance helped produce the additional arrests of Clo and Ali Fisher, as well.
Prosecutors also turned around and dropped murder and conspiracy charges against Gibson, who was released to home detention with an electronic monitoring bracelet. He’s now charged with desecration of human remains, obstruction, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution – the same charges filed against Clo and Ali Fisher.
All three Fishers remained held in the Passaic County Jail.
Martucci is also still jailed pending what was initially scheduled as a May 26 sentencing in Superior Court in Paterson. Prosecutors said they will recommend probation in exchange for her cooperation.
The sentencing date could be pushed back, however, depending on how far along the cases against Justin Fisher and his relatives are.
Questions remain not only about the murder motive. Local authorities also have said the US Secret Service and the FBI participated in the case but didn’t say why or how. Who is caring for Martucci and Fisher’s young son also hasn't been disclosed.
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