Joint services for mother and murdered daughter

The two died Saturday in a murder-suicide.

By: Purvi Desai
   Joint prayer and memorial services for Emmalene and Sara Emiliano, the mother and daughter who died Saturday in a murder-suicide, are scheduled for today (Thursday).
   A prayer service is slated for 10 a.m. at Ketusky Funeral Home on Brooks Boulevard, followed by a 10:30 a.m. liturgy at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church, where both women were communicants.
   Richard Emiliano found the body of his 21-year-old daughter Sara inside his Tally Ho Trail home when he returned from work Saturday night. His wife remained missing until Sunday when her body was found in the Millstone River where officials say she committed suicide after stabbing Sara to death.
   While some additional details have surfaced about the deaths, police says it’s still unknown what led Emmalene, 57, to kill her daughter. Mrs. Emiliano left a note at the house, but authorities have not released its contents.
   Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said Wednesday preliminary autopsy results revealed Mrs. Emiliano drowned. The autopsy on Sara determined she died from multiple stab wounds to her head and torso.
   Sara was a 2004 Hillsborough High School graduate and volunteer emergency medical technician with the Hillsborough Rescue Squad since age 16. Dave Foelsch, an emergency medical technician on squad’s day crew said he was her training officer for the time she was on the squad.
   "She was a reliable person," he said. "It is a shame what happened."
   Mr. Forrest said the final autopsy results on Mrs. Emiliano, including toxicology reports, will be completed and released in approximately six to eight weeks.
   Authorities said the attack began early Saturday afternoon in an upstairs bedroom at the Emilianos’ residence in the Belle Mead section of Hillsborough. A path of blood led investigators down a flight of stairs to a hallway from the kitchen to the family room, where Mr. Emiliano found his daughter’s body at approximately 6:45 p.m., Mr. Forrest said.
   It remains unclear whether Sara went downstairs on her own, or if a struggle between the two women ended in the hallway, he said. Crime Scene Unit detectives took two kitchen-style carving knives and a hatchet from the home as evidence, Mr. Forrest said. Although Ms. Emiliano had been stabbed several times, he said, authorities do not know in what combination the weapons were used.
   Police then began looking for Mrs. Emiliano and her red 1998 Dodge Caravan immediately after receiving a 911 call from Mr. Emiliano. Police found the van at 10:45 p.m. on the same night on Riveredge Road in Montgomery, a side street off a county road about 4.5 miles from the family’s home.
   Witnesses told authorities that the vehicle had been parked there on Saturday around 12:30 p.m. The witnesses told police that they then saw a woman matching the mother’s description walk down Belle Mead-Griggstown Road toward Millstone River Road in Montgomery.
   Mr. Forrest said that investigators believe Mrs. Emiliano crossed the road just south of the Griggstown Causeway. The brush was pushed aside where she made her way down to the river, and she left her coat behind before entering the water wearing a top, pants and shoes, he said.
   Mr. Forrest said that Mrs. Emiliano’s body was found fully clothed at approximately 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. Her body traveled for a short distance downstream before it got snagged on an obstruction in the Millstone River, he said.
   A note left behind by Mrs. Emiliano led investigators to believe she was the only one responsible for her daughter’s slaying, Mr. Forrest said. There is no evidence that any other person was involved in the crime, he said. Police are not releasing details about the contents of the note.
   Mr. Forrest said investigators are continuing to interview family and friends to see what triggered the murder-suicide, and said the investigation so far has not yet determined what caused Mrs. Emiliano to murder her daughter.
   Mr. Forrest and Hillsborough Police Chief Paul Kaminsky ask anyone with information that could assist police in this investigation to contact either the Hillsborough Police Department at 369-4323, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Squad at 231-7100, or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers TIPS Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477). All calls are confidential.