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
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