Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: James J. Koedatich - New Jersey

  1. #1
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014

    James J. Koedatich - New Jersey


    Daily Record front page of Nov. 26, 1982, a day after the body of murder victim Amie Hoffman of Parsippany was found.


    James Koedatich in court in 1983.


    James Koedatich


    Man convicted of 2 murders in 1982 seeks DNA test in bid for new trial

    By Rob Jennings
    NJ Advance Media

    MORRISTOWN -- The convicted murderer of two Morris County women in 1982 is seeking a DNA test that he argues may help clear him in one of the killings.

    James Koedatich is serving two life sentences at New Jersey State Prison for sexually assaulting and fatally stabbing his victims, who were 25 and 18 years old, just 12 days apart.

    He is awaiting a Superior Court hearing on his motion, submitted in April, seeking DNA testing on evidence recovered from the body of Amie Hoffman.

    "This analysis could once and for all positively prove that this applicant did not comment these offenses," Koedatich, acting as his own attorney, wrote in his motion.

    Hoffman was a Parsippany Hills High School student and the younger of his two victims. She was abducted from the parking lot of a shopping mall.

    A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 13 before Judge Paul Armstrong.

    Richard Pompelio, a victims' rights attorney, said he aided the Morris County prosecutor's office in reaching out to Hoffman's relatives in preparation for the court hearing.

    Of the possibility of a DNA test, Pompelio said, "The judge is probably going to allow it, if the evidence exists," adding, "I don't think it does."

    Pompelio said he does not believe that DNA testing would change the outcome.

    "This is some idea that somebody gave this guy in prison. All it is going to do is stress out the family," Pompelio said.

    At issue is a 2013 state law allowing inmates to seek DNA testing using technology that did not exist at the time of conviction.

    Approval by a judge, though, is not automatic. Koedatich would have to demonstrate, among other factors, that a favorable test result would justify holding a new trial.

    In his motion, Koedatich claimed there was inconsistency between the county and state examiners in the initial analysis.

    He also sought waivers from any court filing fees and related costs, asserting that he receives less than $61 per month performing an unspecified job in prison, and requested the assignment of a lawyer on his behalf.

    His motion does not address his murder conviction for killing Deirdre O'Brien. She was 25 and lived in Mendham Township.

    Just months before the killings, Koedatich had been released from a Florida prison, where he served an 11-year sentence for strangling his roommate. He killed another man while behind bars, also by strangulation, but was not charged after claiming self-defense.

    At the time of the murders, New Jersey had capital punishment, and Koedatich was initially sentenced to death for Hoffman's murder.

    He was brought back to court in 1990 after the state Supreme Court overturned his sentence, and spared after two jurors declined to vote for the death penalty.

    In 2011, State Department of Corrections Commissioner Gary Lanigan rejected Koedatich's request for a transfer to a prison in Illinois, in order for him to be closer to his family.

    He is not eligible for parole until 2038, when he would be 90 years old.

    http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2..._dna_test.html

  2. #2
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    DNA from Parsippany murder found at convicted killer's request

    By Peggy Wright
    northjersey.com

    MORRISTOWN — DNA evidence from the 1982 murder of a Parsippany teen has been found and will be examined at the request of her convicted killer, who maintains he didn't do it.

    James J. Koedatich, convicted of murder twice and serving two life sentences, requested DNA recovered from the 18-year-old victim be tested to "prove" he did not rape and murder her, according to his lawyer.

    Koedatich filed a motion for DNA testing in November. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office has since located five microscopic slides containing sperm cells recovered from the body of Amie Hoffman, the murdered Parsippany Hills High School senior, according to court records.

    The slides were in the possession of the Morris County Medical Examiner's Office since the autopsy, according to the Prosecutor's Office. According to state Attorney General guidelines and the Prosecutor's Office policy, evidence in homicides and sexual assault cases is retained until the convicted defendant's sentence is finished. Koedatich is serving two consecutive life sentences.

    The finding of the slides is only the first step in the process of answering Koedatich's motion for DNA testing.

    Superior Court Judge Donald Collester, sitting in Morristown, on Tuesday signed an order calling for the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences Serology Unit to examine the five slides for the presence of intact sperm cells. The State Police unit cannot take any other steps, other than examination, without a further court order, Collester's order states.

    Authorities said the examination is expected to reveal whether the samples have degraded or retained biological integrity so that further testing can be done. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn and court-appointed defense lawyer Edward Bilinkas signed off on the judge's order.

    A court hearing on how Koedatich's request for testing will proceed could occur in March.

    Koedatich, now 69, was brought to a Morris County courtroom from Trenton State Prison in December for a hearing on how his DNA could be compared to semen samples taken from Hoffman's body.

    "My client wants to make it perfectly clear," Bilinkas said as Koedatich sat beside him in December, "his position as it's been since day one is he did not kill Amie Hoffman."

    Koedatich was also convicted in the murder of Deirdre O'Brien, 25, of Mendham Township two weeks after Hoffman was killed. He is not looking to have the O'Brien murder case re-opened.

    Koedatich has the right to request DNA testing under a 2013 law that permits incarcerated, convicted killers to file motions for such testing. In 1982 DNA testing was not an established science that could be used in the courtroom. DNA was deemed scientifically reliable as evidence in New Jersey courtrooms in 1996.

    Hoffman was abducted on Nov. 23, 1982 after leaving her job at the Surprise Store at the Morris County Mall in Hanover Township. Her body, bearing multiple stab wounds, was found two days later in a water holding tank in Randolph Township.

    Koedatich was also convicted of kidnapping and murdering O'Brien on Dec. 5, 1982.

    Prominent victim's rights advocate Richard Pompelio is in touch with Hoffman's sister and was in court in December for the first hearing.

    "He's got nothing else to do in prison. One of the many jailhouse lawyers put this idea in his head," Pompelio said of the motion in December.

    Koedatich's appeals of the two convictions have long been exhausted and he is serving consecutive life sentences at New Jersey State Prison.

    The Hoffman and O'Brien murders were capital punishment cases, but the O'Brien jury was not unanimous in voting for death so his sentence was life. The Hoffman jury handed down a death penalty, but the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new death penalty phase in 1988. The new jury did not vote for the death penalty.

    Koedatich also served 11 years in prison prior to the 1982 murders after he was convicted of killing his roommate in Florida in the 1970s. According to news accounts, while serving that sentence he killed an inmate, which was ruled self-defense. He was released from the Florida prison in 1982 and returned to his hometown of Morristown, a few months before the murders, according to news accounts.

    https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...est/315305002/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    FRANCE
    Posts
    3,073
    Judge approves convicted killer's request to test DNA 36 years after murders

    By Jai Agnish and Peggy Wright
    NorthJersey.com

    MORRISTOWN — Convicted killer James Koedatich, in plain beige prison garb and handcuffed with chains that wrapped around his waist, slowly walked into a court room Monday morning.

    An officer pointed him to a chair in the front row of the juror area where he sat for a moment.

    Serving two life sentences for kidnapping and fatally stabbing two Morris County women in 1982, Koedatich was in court following up on a motion he filed requesting DNA recovered from the 18-year-old victim be tested to prove he did not rape and murder her, according to his lawyer.

    Bald with a groomed grey beard, the inmate received a handshake from Edward Bilinkas, his court-appointed defense lawyer. Police then led him around the outer edge of the gallery to his seat. As a single camera shutter clicked, Koedatich gazed at the handful of spectators in courtroom. Victim's rights advocate Richard Pompelio, seated in the front row, gazed squarely back.

    Among the murdered was 18-year-old Parsippany Hills High School senior Amie Hoffman, according to court documents. A cheerleader at the time, she was abducted in 1982 after she left her job at the Surprise Store at the Morris County Mall in Hanover Township. Her body, bearing multiple stab wounds, was found two days later in a water holding tank in Randolph Township.

    "It’s real déjà vu for me," said Pompelio, adding that it was around this time 28 years ago when Koedatich was put on trial for Hoffman's death before the same judge, Superior Court Judge Donald Collester.

    Leading up to Monday's court proceedings Koedatich had filed a motion requesting DNA recovered from the 18-year-old victim be tested to "prove" he did not rape and murder her, according to his lawyer.

    Before any such testing could occur, the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences DNA Laboratory needed to determine whether any of five microscopic slide samples taken from Hoffman's body during an autopsy contained intact sperm cells.

    The laboratory determined that two of the five samples were vaginal slides.

    Collester, on Monday, ordered one slide be tested for potential DNA evidence after hearing testimony from Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn, Koedatich, and Bilinkas.

    In agreeing Koedatich acknowledged the testing of the slide would consume the entire sample. He also said: "I understand you count five but it started out with 12. I'm wondering what happened to the rest of them."

    Bilinkas said the other vaginal slide sample will remain untouched and "based on that we have no problem with the procedure set forth by the prosecutor."

    If a DNA profile is recovered from the slide Koedatich has agreed to be swabbed for a comparison. Schellhorn said the Morris County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation unit will most likely conduct Koedatich's DNA swab, and that he anticipates results from the state DNA laboratory within six weeks.

    A status conference has been scheduled for Sept. 10 and the judge ordered Koedatich again be brought up from Trenton State Prison at that time.

    Koedatich has the right to request DNA testing under a 2013 law that permits incarcerated, convicted killers to file motions for such testing. In 1982 DNA testing was not an established science that could be used in the courtroom. DNA was deemed scientifically reliable as evidence in New Jersey courtrooms in 1996.

    Koedatich was also convicted in the murder of Deirdre O'Brien, 25, of Mendham Township two weeks after Hoffman was killed. He is not looking to have the O'Brien murder case re-opened. He was convicted of kidnapping and murdering O'Brien on Dec. 5, 1982.

    Koedatich's appeals of the two convictions have long been exhausted and he is serving consecutive life sentences at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

    The Hoffman and O'Brien murders were capital punishment cases, but the O'Brien jury was not unanimous in voting for death so his sentence was life. The Hoffman jury handed down a death penalty, but the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new death penalty phase in 1988. The new jury did not vote for the death penalty.

    Koedatich also served 11 years in prison prior to the 1982 murders after he was convicted of killing his roommate in Florida in the 1970s. According to news accounts, while serving that sentence he killed an inmate, which was ruled self-defense. He was released from the Florida prison in 1982 and returned to his hometown of Morristown, a few months before the murders, according to news accounts.

    https://eu.northjersey.com/story/new...ers/789085002/
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •