Girlfriend of man charged with killing jewelry store owner says he told her about shooting - NJ.com
JERSEY CITY -- The former girlfriend of a man now facing life in prison for murdering a Kearny jewelry store owner in 2009 told investigators she learned of the robbery gone wrong when he told her about it later that day.
A video recorded statement that Marissa Fuzio gave to homicide investigators following the fatal shooting of Xavier Egoavil Aug. 18. 2009 was played for jurors today in the trial of John DeRosa, 58, of Bloomfield.
"He got home and told me he had robbed a jewelry store and it want bad," Fuzio says during the videotaped interview. She said that day DeRosa had a bag and "he just pulled out handfuls of jewelry... There was a lot of rings and bracelets..."
She said he threw it all on the bed in the Newark apartment they shared.
"He told me that they had, you know after the fact, he told me they were thinking there was just going to be an old man in the store that day but when they got in there was this big guy, his son I think, and when he came at him he shot at him," Fuzio told investigators. "He wasn't sure if he killed him but he shot him like four times."
Edmir Sokoli, 29, testified that on the morning of the robbery he and DeRosa, entered Rachel Jewelers in Kearny wearing sunglass, fake beards and wigs, while Elvis Feratovic, 30, of Bloomfield, waited in the getaway car.
On the video, Fuzio says that prior to the robbery, she and DeRosa went to a Manhattan store and he picked out two wigs and two beards and dropped them on the counter before walking out. She said she paid for the expensive items in cash and DeRosa told her they were for some investigative work he was going to do for a friend.
Fuzio also said that after the robbery she and DeRosa took the jewelry to Manhattan and he got out of the car for a while and when he came back he didn't have the jewelry anymore.
In the video, Fuzio stated that on the day of the robbery DeRosa "left early in the morning that day, on Tuesday, and then a couple hours later he called me and he was like, he was telling me there was a bag hanging from the front door and to go throw it away but not in the garbage can."
She said the bag contained a trimmed beard and a bottle of glue used to attach the beard. She said she discarded it at a convenience store.
While on the stand, Fuzio said she was a heroin addict at the time and shortly after the robbery she went into rehab. Defense attorney Scott Finkenauer noted that at that time she was wanted in a number of burglaries, later pleaded guilty to those charges and received a sentence of probation. Fuzio said she was in trouble again after suffering a relapse and failing a drug test, triggering a violation of probation.
Fuzio said she knew she had made statements to police but could not remember any of the specifics of the interviews. That triggered Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Rinaldi to ask that the tapes be played rather than elicit the information from Fuzio via testimony. Finkenauer objected, saying he could not cross-examine someone who has no memory of what she had said. In the end, the judge allowed the jury to hear the tapes.
The defense attorney said Fuzio gave different statements on various dates while talking to homicide detectives. He played the video of the first statement made by Fuzio, about a week after the robber, in which she said that on the day of the robbery, she and DeRosa "were at the beach – Long Branch." She also said, "I know it wasn't John because I'm with him all the time."
He played the video of the first stament made by Fuzio, about a week after the robbery, in which she said that on that day she and DeRosa "were at the beach – Long Branch." She also said, "I know it wasn't John Because I'm with him all the time."
The detective asks, "Maybe he said something after the fact, Monday of Tuesday were messed up?"
"No" she replied on the recording, adding "I don't know anything."
Sokoli testified for the state during the trial and Feratovic testified against DeRosa as well.
Testimony will resume tomorrow before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City.
