Man Accused in Hopatcong Grad's Murder Rejects Plea Deal, Again

A Sept. 12 trial date has been tentatively set for Hopatcong resident Giuseppe Tedesco, accused of murdering Alyssa Ruggieri March 27 in her Hopatcong home on Durban Drive.

Tedesco arrived in shackles and handcuffs for an appearance Sussex County Superior Court in Newton Monday while  his attorney, Nutley-based Anthony J. Iacullo, reiterated his rejection of a plea deal. He also reinterated his insistence that Tedesco was acting in self defense.

Before the September trial, Tedesco and his attorney plan to file a motion to dismiss an Aug. 19 grand jury indictment charging Tedesco with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon for failing to obtain a permit to carry the gun. They have until June 6 to accept a plea bargain that would allow Tedesco to plead guilty to the murder charge and in exchange face 30 years in prison instead of a possible life sentence.

Iacullo must file the motion to dismiss on or before April 18 and the prosecution has until May 9 to refute the motion for a dismissal.

Tedesco has been in custody since Ruggieri was found in the home belonging to her parents, dead from six bullets. The police responded to a 911 call placed around 9:30 pm on March 27 indicating that Tedesco had a hand wound. When the officers arrived at the Rapalyea Road home, they were told Tedesco was en route to St. Clare’s Hospital. The caller who identified herself as Tedesco’s mother said her son, Joseph, had gone to Ruggieri’s home.

When police arrived at the Ruggieri home, they armed themselves for a potential confrontation and instead found the 22-year-old graduate of The College of New Jersey dead with a spent .25-caliber casing nearby, police have said. No one else was home. A search of Tedesco’s red Dodge Durango produced the gun used to kill Ruggieri, Beretta .25 caliber, along with Tedesco's and Ruggieri’s blood, according to the prosecution.   

“He drove there with a gun and shot her six times,” assistant prosecutor Seana Pappas outside the courtroom said. “The facts alone support the state’s case.”

At Monday's court hearing, Pappas told Judge Peter N. Conforti that all DNA tests had been completed and her office was waiting for one more ballistics test. Iacullo said the defense had taken many photographs at the scene.

Tedesco, now 25, and Ruggieri knew each other socially. She was a 2005 graduate of Hopatcong High School and 2009 TCNJ graduate. She had been working at a software solutions job. Tedesco was employed by PSE&G as a site worker and was also a Hopatcong High School grad, Iacullo said.

Iacullo said if the trial is postponed from September, then Tedesco's family will seek to reduce the $1 million bail, a sum he said the family cannot afford and still pay for representation.

“Our main focus was to establish a trial date and that was set today by the court. I can’t say anything about the circumstances except to say we were concerned with setting a trial date so that the truth would come out in the court room," Iacullo said.