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Mar 21, 2008 8:10 pm US/Eastern
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Second Man Charged In Case Of Missing N.J. Mother
A second man has been charged in the case of a Mercer County
woman who went missing last June and is presumed dead, authorities said Friday.
John A. Russo Jr. of Staten Island, N.Y.,
is accused of tampering with evidence in connection to the death of Amy
Giordano, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said.
Authorities refused to
release details, citing the ongoing investigation. Russo is not in custody.
Authorities said he has been advised of the charge and is expected to be
formally served with the complaint in the next few days.
Russo, 43, faces a
maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted on the fourth-degree crime,
according to prosecutor's office.
A phone listing for
Russo could not be found and it was not immediately clear if he had retained a
lawyer. Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for prosecutor's office, said she was not
aware of one.
The charges against
Russo were announced just one day after Rosario DiGirolamo was charged with
murdering Giordano, 27, of Hightstown. Her body has not been found.
DiGirolamo, 33, who had
lived in Millstone, and was married, was having an affair with Giordano at the
time of her disappearance.
Giordano vanished last
June two days before the couple's 11-month-old son was abandoned in the parking
lot of Christiana Hospital in Newark,
Del., by DiGirolamo. The child
was found with a handwritten note pinned to his diaper calling him "John
Vincent" and saying his caregiver had no job or health insurance. The child has
been in foster care since then.
According to
authorities, DiGirolamo flew to Italy
on June 14, the day that police in Delaware
and New Jersey
connected the baby to him and Giordano. He returned in early August and
surrendered to police in Delaware
on charges of reckless endangerment and child abandonment. He pleaded guilty to
those charges in November.
Authorities declined to
comment Thursday on what led to DiGirolamo's arrest on the murder charge, but
said there is evidence that Giordano is dead. He was taken into custody at his parents'
home in Brooklyn.
DiGirolamo faces 30
years to life in prison if convicted, Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini said.
He is being held in New York on $1 million
bail, and no extradition hearing was immediately scheduled. Courts are closed
on Friday for Good Friday.
DiGirolamo's lawyer,
Jerome Ballarotto, said they are ready to defend against the murder charge.