Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond J. Hayducka announced that a South Brunswick man was found guilty by a jury today for killing his parents in their township home on October 8, 2008.
Michael A. Maltese, 29, of South Brunswick was found guilty of passion provocation manslaughter by strangling both of his parents to death at their home on Maple Street in the Monmouth Junction Mobile Home Park.
Following an altercation with his father, Michael J. Maltese, 58, Michael A. Maltese strangled his father and then turned on his mother Kathleen Maltese, 53, strangling her to death as well.
During a trial that began on February 21, 2018, Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Christine D’Elia and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Keith Abrams presented evidence and testimony from South Brunswick detectives showing that Maltese purposely killed his parents and then buried their bodies in a shallow grave in Beech Woods Park, in South Brunswick.
He is facing an aggregate prison term of up to 20 years for the death of his parents when he is sentenced in New Brunswick, on May 25, 2018, by Superior Court Judge Joseph Rea. This term is subject to the No Early Release Act. As such, the defendant will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term before becoming eligible for parole.
Michael Maltese was previously found guilty of strangling his parents in November 2010, but that conviction was overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court in August of 2015. His convictions on charges of hindering prosecution, theft by unlawful taking, fraudulent use of credit card, tampering with evidence, false swearing, and desecration of human remains were upheld by the Supreme Court.
Chief Hayducka said, “The convictions represent almost a decade of hard work and dedication by a team of local, County, State, and federal investigators.” He thanked the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations with helping locate the missing people and convicting their killer.
