A Mount Olive woman is currently standing trial for allegedly murdering her boyfriend outside her house in 2014.
Virginia Vertetis is a 54-year-old woman who worked at Wharton Elementary School and lived in Mount Olive, New Jersey. According to law enforcement, she fatally shot her boyfriend on March 3, 2014.
The homicide victim was a 51-year-old man from Staten Island NY who served for years with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) before retiring.
After the fatal shooting, Mount Olive NJ police officers went to the scene, investigated the shooting, and arrested the suspect. She was charged with multiple crimes, including first degree murder and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Now the case has finally reached the trial stage in Morris County Superior Court, which is located in Morristown, NJ.
During their opening statements to the jury, Morris County NJ prosecutors argued that Vertetis became enraged when she found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her and that he intended to break up with her. Vertetis, claimed prosecutors, used a .38-caliber revolver to shoot and kill the victim outside her home.
Defense attorneys countered in their opening statements to the jury that Vertetis shot the victim in self-defense. According to Vertetis, the victim assaulted her before the shooting. Moreover, said defense lawyers, Vertetis believed that this was a “kill or be killed” situation.
Vertetis has also alleged that her boyfriend abused her for many years and that was a victim of domestic violence.
For more information about this case, see the DailyRecord.com article, “Lawyer: Mount Olive Woman Thought ‘Kill or Be Killed’ As She Shot Beau.”