Murder trial looms in case of slain Cresskill woman after suspect rejects plea offer
The man accused of fatally stabbing a Cresskill woman in June 2020 and plotting to dump her body in Overpeck County Park with a 14-year-old girl will be going to trial in the new year.
Lodi resident Nicolas Coirazza's trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on Jan. 9 before state Superior Court Judge Carol Novey Catuogno. He is charged with murder, disturbing human remains, evidence tampering, two counts of hindering apprehension and weapons counts.
The Lodi man is accused of stabbing 51-year-old Divna Rosasco multiple times and dumping her body into Overpeck Creek, weighing it down with the help of the juvenile.
Coirazza, now 21, appeared before Novey Catuogno on Monday for a pretrial conference and a suppression motion. His attorney, Ron Bar-Nadav, sought to suppress some of his client's statements given to the police after his arrest.
Bar-Nadav said Coirazza hadn't slept in two days before his questioning and that when he mentioned that maybe he should get an attorney, police redirected him.
Prosecutors allege Coirazza knew the victim's family and was at the home when the killing occurred.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Coirazza told police he was at the girl’s Cresskill home around 8:30 a.m. when Rosasco arrived, unaware he was there, according to the affidavit. Coirazza reportedly hid in the house while an argument ensued between the girl and Rosasco.
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The defense rejected a plea deal offered by the prosecution, Bar-Nadav said. Coirazza was offered 45 years to plead guilty to murder, desecration and employing a juvenile in a commission of a crime. The 45 years would run concurrently with the 10 years for desecration and employing a juvenile in a commission of a crime respectively.
Coirazza had 30 days to accept or reject the plea deal.
"It wasn't a sufficient enough time to consider all the evidence," Bar-Nadav said. "There is an overwhelming amount of evidence."
Rosasco had been reported missing just before midnight on June 15, 2020, and her car was later found in the county park during a county sheriff's officer's regular check. Authorities said it appeared someone tried to conceal who owned the vehicle, and they brought in a K-9 unit that led police to the woman's body.
Rosasco was found in a bedsheet, with a plastic bag over her head, weighed down with cinder blocks. The affidavit of probable cause said Coirazza dragged the body to the dock while the juvenile brought the cinder blocks.
The pair were arrested not long after in a local hotel parking lot, trying to get an Uber.
At some point during Rosasco's argument with the juvenile, Coirazza intervened, grabbed a pink-colored knife from the girl’s bedroom and pushed Rosasco down the stairs, court documents say.
“He then mounted her and stabbed her numerous times in the neck, head and back with the pink knife,” the affidavit states.
Coirazza is due back in court for a final pretrial conference on Oct. 28.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office did not provide an update on the juvenile's case.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cresskill NJ homicide case headed to trial after rejected plea deal
