East Brunswick man faces five to 10 years in prison following conviction Friday in shooting death of Jamesburg resident James Matikonis.Jury mulling murder case
By: Al Wicklund
Theodore Susik, 39, of East Brunswick was found guilty of passion- provoked manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon Friday.
Mr. Susik was charged following the Jan. 25, 2000, shooting death of James Matikonis, 51, of Jamesburg.
Mr. Matikonis’ death was caused by a single gun shot when he and Mr. Susik were alone at the end of the work day Jan. 25, 2000, in the Jamesburg Collision Center, where both men were employed as mechanics. Mr. Matikonis’ frozen body was found in the trunk of his car in the parking lot of St. Peter’s Church in New Brunswick six days after he was last seen alive.
A Superior Court jury, in its third day of deliberation, found Mr. Susik guilty on the two charges in the county courthouse in New Brunswick.
Mr. Susik is scheduled to appear before presiding Superior Court Judge Deborah Venezia for sentencing May 24. He remains in custody.
The jury found Mr. Susik not guilty of a charge of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
The manslaughter charge is a second-degree crime and carries a sentence of between five and 10 years in prison. Aggravated manslaughter is a first-degree crime that carries a sentence of between 10 and 30 years in prison.
Prosecutor Ernest Bergman sought a conviction for murder, while Public Defender Michele Labrada, representing Mr. Susik, had asked the jury for a manslaughter conviction, contending that her client fired his 9 mm handgun in self-defense during a dispute.
Ms. Labrada said her client felt threatened when Mr. Matikonis, 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds, charged him with a knife in his hand.
Mr. Bergman said Mr. Matikonis’ knife was a pocket knife with a blade about two inches long. Mr. Bergman also said Mr. Susik’s actions after the shooting cleaning up of blood at the collision center and disposing of Mr. Matikonis’ body in the truck of a car left in New Brunswick were not consistent with the actions of a man who killed in self-defense, but more like a man attempting to cover up a crime.