The disappearance of Timothy Wiltsey
Sayreville, Middlesex County, New Jersey · May 25, 1991
New Jersey's highest court decided that a jury could find a mother had some involvement in her five-year-old son's death, yet that the State never proved murder, so it vacated her conviction and entered an acquittal that bars any retrial.
Overview
On the evening of May 25, 1991, Michelle Lodzinski told people at a carnival in Sayreville, New Jersey, that her five-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey, had disappeared while she bought a soda. Searches found nothing, and her accounts of what happened shifted over the following weeks. In October 1991 a man walking in an office park in Edison found one of Timothy's sneakers, and in April 1992 searchers found his remains and a large blue blanket nearby. A medical examiner could not determine how he died, and the county prosecutor's office declined to charge anyone. The investigation was reopened in 2011. In 2014 Lodzinski was indicted and arrested in Florida, and in 2016 a jury convicted her of murder; she was sentenced to 30 years without parole. On December 28, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court, voting 4-3, reversed the conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal, holding that no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that she purposely or knowingly caused his death. Her lawyer said she cannot be tried again. The sources reviewed report no other person charged.
Where it stands
No prosecution is pending. On December 28, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court voted 4-3 to reverse the Appellate Division, vacate Michelle Lodzinski's 2016 murder conviction and enter a judgment of acquittal. Writing for the majority, Justice Barry Albin held that, viewing the entire record in the light most favorable to the State, no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski purposely or knowingly caused her son's death. The court said a rational jury could conclude that she did not take Timothy to the carnival and had some involvement in his disappearance, death and burial, but that murder requires a purposeful or knowing killing and no evidence distinguished a negligent, reckless or purposeful act. It wrote that "We may never know the truth about what happened in this case." The three dissenting justices wrote that the majority substituted its own reading of the evidence for the jury's. Because the court entered an acquittal rather than ordering a new trial, her lawyer said she cannot be tried again, and a judge ordered her release the same day. The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment. New Jersey Monthly reported in 2023 that police say the decision effectively closed off further investigation of Lodzinski, whom it called the only serious suspect. The evidence problem is old: Timothy's incomplete remains were found in April 1992, the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death, and an FBI laboratory found nothing tying Lodzinski to the items recovered. The sources reviewed do not say whether the case remains formally open, and they report no other person charged.
Persons of interest
The theories below are reported strictly as attributed to the cited sources. Naming a person here is not an accusation. Individuals are named only where they are deceased, were formally charged, were officially named by authorities, or have been publicly cleared.
- Michelle LodzinskiTried & acquitted
Prosecutors argued at the 2016 trial that Lodzinski, Timothy's mother, killed him, pointing to the blue blanket found near his remains, her shifting accounts of his disappearance and her failure to mention that she once worked near where the remains were found. A jury convicted her of murder. On December 28, 2021, the New Jersey Supreme Court, voting 4-3, vacated the conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal, holding that no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that she purposely or knowingly caused his death. The court said a rational jury could conclude she had some involvement in his disappearance, death and burial, but that no evidence distinguished a negligent, reckless or purposeful act. Her lawyer said she cannot be retried.[1]
Sources
- State v. Michelle Lodzinski (A-50-19), opinion and syllabus, decided December 28, 2021
“By that standard the conviction cannot be sustained. We therefore reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division and grant Lodzinski's motion for a judgment of acquittal.”
- Michelle Lodzinski's conviction in son's 1991 killing overturned by N.J. Supreme Court
“no reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski purposefully or knowingly caused Timothy's death.”
- N.J. Supreme Court tosses out a Florida woman's conviction for the 1991 killing of her 5-year-old son
“no murder conviction has ever been upheld on such a dearth of evidence.”
- In stunning move, court overturns Michelle Lodzinski's murder conviction, setting stage for her release
“We don't know if he was abducted, or if he was even there at all.”
- NJ Mother's Conviction Overturned in Son's Infamous 1991 Killing
“found near the boy's body 11 months after he disappeared”
- New Jersey high court overturns Florida woman's 2016 murder conviction in 1991 death of son, 5
“failed to produce enough evidence to prove Lodzinski had intentionally caused the death.”
- Local woman's conviction in '91 killing of 5-year-old son tossed
“does the opposite of what our law requires.”
- NJ Mom's Notorious Murder Conviction For 5-Year-Old Son's 1991 Death Thrown Out
“No conviction can be founded on speculation or conjecture.”
- Mom arrested for New Jersey son's death in 1991
“We didn't have sufficient evidence at the time to pull the trigger.”
- Mom's trial for '91 killing highlights cold case challenges
“no forensic evidence ties Lodzinski or her son to the blanket.”
- Murder Case of 5-Year-Old Timothy Wiltsey Roils NJ 30 Years Later
“Police say the court’s decision has effectively closed off further investigation into Lodzinski, the only serious suspect”