Judge’s decision due April 22. Accused killer’s trial set to begin June 7.
By John Tredrea
A written decision from state Superior Court Judge Bill Mathesius is due April 22 on whether Jonathan Nyce’s confession that he killed his wife should be suppressed as evidence in his trial, which is slated to begin June 7.
Mr. Nyce, 54, is charged with first-degree murder and evidence tampering in the Jan. 16, 2004 death of his 34-year-old wife, Michelle Nyce.
In Miranda hearings that ended in Judge Mathesius’ court last week, Mr. Nyce’s attorney, Robin Lord, sought to have the confession suppressed because, she said, Mr. Nyce’s Miranda rights had been violated by police.
Ms. Lord maintains that when Mr. Nyce said aloud during his interrogation by police that perhaps he should have hired an attorney, the police should have stopped questioning him immediately.
During the Miranda hearings, Sgt. William Scull, the state police detective who interrogated Mr. Nyce, said Mr. Nyce mused aloud several times during the interrogation about whether he should hire a lawyer. Each time, Sgt. Scull testified, he told Mr. Nyce that he must make that decision on his own that is, without any advice from the police. Sgt. Scull also testified that, at each of these junctures, Mr. Nyce decided aloud not to call an attorney and explicitly agreed to continue to interrogated.
Sgt. Scull also testified that, during the interrogation, Mr. Nyce refused to call Lee Engelmann a Hopewell Township attorney who had called police headquarters and requested that Mr. Nyce be given his phone number and be asked to call him, Mr. Engelmann, and stop talking to the police immediately.
Prosecutors say Mr. Nyce beat his wife to death in the family garage on Jan. 16, 2004, then moved her body to the SUV, which he sent into the creek in the early morning hours in an effort to make her death look like the result of an automobile mishap.
Mr. Nyce has been free on $750,000 bail since August. He lives with his parents in Pennsylvania and has been confined to their home. His whereabouts are being monitored by an electronic tracking device worn on his ankle.
Hopewell Township Detective Daniel McKeown’s Jan. 18, 2004 arrest report states that Mr. Nyce said in police headquarters that he slammed his wife’s head face down on the garage floor until he heard "a thud that made me sick." Ms. Lord said months ago that the confession is "not true." She refused to elaborate.
If Ms. Lord’s arguments can convince the judge that Mr. Nyce was deprived of his Miranda rights, she may be able to prevent use of the confession as evidence.
Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Miranda decision, a law enforcement officer has to advise a detainee of his right to remain silent, that anything he says can and will be used against him in court if he does speak, that he has the right to have an attorney present while being interrogated and that a public defender will be provided for him if he cannot afford a lawyer.