Hopatcong Killer's Attorney Requests New Trial, Report Says

A month after convicted Hopatcong killer Giuseppe Tedesco was sentenced to 70 years in prison, his attorney has filed an appeal in the case and is requesting a new trial, citing what he claims were errors in the initial trial, according to New Jersey Herald.

Tedesco's attorney, Anthony Iacullo, filed the appeals motion in Trenton Thursday, the Herald reported. He told the newspaper that testimony about Tedesco slashing victim Alyssa Ruggieri's car tires should not have been included in trial, as well as other pieces of information.

Tedesco, a 27-year-old Hopatcong resident, was found guilty in January of first-degree murder, possession of a gun and possession of a gun for unlawful purposes after the shooting death of Ruggieri. He was sentenced in July to 70 years in prison.

Ruggieri, who was 22 at the time of her death inside a Durban Avenue home on March 27, 2010, was shot six times in various places, including in the temple, nose, chin, hand, chest and abdomen. Ruggieri and Tedesco were friends, according to court proceedings.

The trial, which was held in Newton, was, at times, heated, particularly when a fight broke out in the courtroom when Tedesco allegedly cursed at jurors and Ruggieri's brother.