Hopewell Township resident, now accused of murder, claims wife started the struggle that ended with her death by lunging at him with a knife.
By John Tredrea
The prosecution says Michelle Nyce, 34, was returning to her Hopewell Township home from a hotel-room rendezvous with her lover of one year, the night she was killed in the garage by her husband. The husband, now accused of murder, claims she started the struggle that ended with her death by lunging at him with a knife.
Ms. Nyce continued to "flail" at her husband during that struggle the night of Jan. 15, said Jonathan Nyce’s attorney, Lee Engelman of Pennington, during a hearing in state Superior Court in Trenton on Wednesday. Mr. Engelman said Mr. Nyce will plead not guilty if indicted.
The authorities do not believe Mr. Nyce, 53, killed his wife in self-defense. Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini said Ms. Nyce’s head was repeatedly "slammed face-down onto the floor of the garage. So the ‘flailing with the knife story’ just doesn’t fly."
During the hearing, at which Judge Charles DelehyDelehey reduced Mr. Nyce’s bail from $2 million cash to $1 million cash, Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Meidt said "it is significant that no knife has been found" during the investigation by Hopewell Township police, state police and the prosecutor’s office.
Mr. Nyce was not in the courtroom. He remained in the Mercer County Correction Center, a guard standing behind him, and was connected to the courtroom by a video-conferencing hook-up that showed him on a large television screen near Judge Delehy’sDelehey’s bench.
Ignoring the advice of both his attorney and Judge Delehey, who said anything Mr. Nyce said could be used against him in court, Mr. Nyce insisted on making a statement.
"I have no history of physical violence," said Mr. Nyce, adding that he never bore any "ill will" toward his late wife. He termed her death the result of a "pure accident."
A gruesome trail of blood dominated Mr. Meidt’s description of the evidence that led to the charge of murder against Mr. Nyce. Mr. Meidt told the judge the investigation found "blood spatters and smears in the garage, bloody paper towels and a blood-soaked white sock in the trash."
There also was a trail of blood from stairs in the rear of the Keithwood Court home to a second-floor bathroom, Mr. Meidt said. Authorities say this trail probably was left by Mr. Nyce after he returned from Jacobs Creek in a failed attempt to make his wife’s death look like an automobile accident. He left her sitting in the driver’s seat in her Toyota Land Cruiser, with the motor still running and the Cruiser 10 inches deep in water at the edge of the creek, police say. She was found by PSE&G workers on Friday morning. The workers called police at 8:45 a.m.
Found in trash in the basement of the Nyce home, Mr. Meidt said, were the chopped-up soles of a pair of shoes. "The tread pattern on the bottom of those soles matched the pattern of footprints" near the point in Jacobs Creek where the Land Cruiser was found, Mr. Meidt said. Also found in the Nyce home were several empty bottles of peroxide, which probably were used to clean up blood, Mr. Meidt said.
Adding to the suspicions of the authorities was Mr. Nyce’s failure to report his wife missing. She was last seen alive at about 8:45 p.m. Jan. 15, at Macy’s in Quaker Bridge Mall, where she worked as a beauty consultant.
Mr. Meidt said Mr. Nyce "denied involvement" with his wife’s death the first time he was interviewed by police. That interview took place Friday. During that interview, Mr. Nyce said his wife "was having an affair," Mr. Meidt said, adding that Mr. Nyce speculated that her paramour may have been involved in her death.
"Mr. Nyce admitted killing her in the second interview" held at township police headquarters Sunday, Mr. Meidt said. "He said she lunged at him with a knife when he accosted her in the garage" while the couple’s three young children lay sleeping upstairs.
Mr. Meidt said that, in his second interview with police, Mr. Nyce told them how he moved his wife’s body from the garage to Jacobs Creek.
"After he killed her, her put her in the driver’s seat of the Land Cruiser," Mr. Meidt said. "He used an ice scraper to control the pedals and drove the car with his other hand."
The upscale development in which the Nyce home is located is off Jacobs Creek Road, in western Hopewell Township. At the foot of a steep embankment, Jacobs Creek runs along the road that bears its name.
Mr. Meidt added that Ms. Nyce had been having an affair "for a year" with the lover she saw the night she died. The prosecutor added that Mr. Nyce found out who her wife’s lover was in July, when they "had an argument about it."
Mr. Bocchini said his office has questioned Ms. Nyce’s paramour. "He confirmed they were having an affair," said Mr. Bocchini, who added that the authorities do not believe Mr. Nyce had an accomplice in killing his wife.
Mr. Meidt asked Judge DelehyDelehey not to reduce the bail from the $2 million cash. Mr. Nyce is a "flight risk," Mr. Meidt said.
Mr. Engelman disagreed. "Mr. Nyce is entitled to reasonable bail. He is not a flight risk." The defense attorney added: "This is not a death penalty case. The facts suggest self-defense."
Mr. Engelman added that Mr. Nyce has no criminal record and "that his children need him now more than ever. He will be the primary caregiver. In fact, he was before as well."
It is possible the county will seek the death penalty for Mr. Nyce if he is indicted, Mr. Bocchini said. He said that decision would be made by a death penalty committee including himself and senior staff at the prosecutor’s office.
While agreeing to cut the bail in half, Judge DelehyDelehey denied Mr. Engelman’s request that Mr. Nyce be allowed to post bond rather than pay cash to get out of the correction center on bail.
"It will still be cash bail," said the judge, adding that Mr. Nyce would have to give up his passport if he does make bail.
After the hearing, Mr. Engelman left the courthouse hurriedly. "I won’t discuss the facts of the case now," he said.
Township Patrolmen Michael Sherman and Louis Vastola were dispatched to Jacobs Creek after the PSE&G workers called police headquarters Friday morning.
Capt. George Meyer said the patrolman could tell Ms. Nyce was dead as soon as they saw her.
"They quickly sealed off the area. The Mercer County prosecutor’s office and state police Major Crimes Unit were contacted immediately," Capt. Meyer said.
Quickly obtaining search warrants, investigators searched the crime scene, the Nyce residence and several vehicles.
The Nyce couple had three children, who are staying with relatives in Pennsylvania. The oldest child is a sixth-grader at Timberlane Middle School. The other two children attend Bear Tavern Elementary, in fourth grade and kindergarten.
Jonathan Nyce is a former chairman and CEO of EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cranbury. He has a doctorate in pharmacology from Temple University and was a professor at East Carolina University for several years. The Nyce family moved to Keithwood Court in 2000 after residing in Plainsboro. Their Keithwood Court home has been on the market for several months, with an asking price of $1.6 million.
Cooperation between the township police, state police and prosecutor’s office was key to the investigation, Township Police Chief Michael Chipowsky, Mr. Bocchini and Judge DelehyDelehey said.
"I’d like to thank the state police and prosecutor’s office," Chief Chipowky said. "A department our size doesn’t maintain the resources for an investigation of this magnitude."