Wife of missing man is victim who knew nothing, says attorney

By: Vic Monaco
   Maria DiMaggio — the Millstone woman whose husband is a person of interest in the disappearance of his Hightstown mistress and has been charged with abandoning their child — is a victim who has had her life turned inside out, according to her attorney.
   "She’s an innocent victim and she has nothing to hide and she knows very little about this," said Monroe attorney Jerry Bruder. "Everything she knows, she learns from police. Most she learned only after he disappeared."
   That, he said, includes the fact that her husband, Rosario "Roy" Digirolamo, was having an affair with Amy Giordano, of Hightstown, and that they had had a child, now 1-year-old Michael Digirolamo.
   "She didn’t know anything," he said. "She never met her (Ms. Giordano), never knew of her existence, never knew anything about her."
   Mr. Bruder told the Herald on Tuesday that he was speaking out because of what he characterized as a baseless story published in a Delaware newspaper. The Wilmington News Journal reported Sunday that Ms. DiMaggio had an argument with her husband about his affair at a Lowes store in Staten Island, N.Y., where he used to work. The newspaper attributed the story to three store employees, who wished to be anonymous.
   "That never happened," said Mr. Bruder.
   Mr. Digirolamo was last seen June 11 at his latest workplace, Conair, in East Windsor. Three days later, law enforcement officials have said, he boarded a plane in Newark, headed to Milan, Italy.
   "She has not heard from him since the time she saw him June 11," said Mr. Bruder.
   Since then, he said, she has cooperated with law enforcement officials.
   "She didn’t do anything wrong. When you have nothing to hide … you cooperate," he said.
   Law enforcement officials in New Jersey have said they are looking into the possibility that Mr. Digirolamo and/or Ms. DiMaggio have links to the Mafia. That’s because they bought their house at 4 Stevenson Ave. in 1999 from reputed Mafia member Stefano Vitabile, who was sentenced to life in prison last year for murder and racketeering.
   "I can only speak for her and she has no connection to the Mafia," said Mr. Bruder. "She has no knowledge of anything to do with the mob. Her husband? I have no idea. It just happened to be that they purchased the house from him. She found out after the fact that that happened to be where a lot of connected people live."
   "I don’t think she even knows who he is," he added in a reference to Mr. Vitabile, who was sentenced to life in prison last year for murder and racketeering.
   So how is Ms. Dimaggio handling all the media and police attention?
   "She’s very upset about it. How would you feel if people were intruding into your life when you’re trying to lead a normal life?" he said. "It’s like famous people with the paparazzi."
   Despite the disruption of her life, he said, she continues to work as an accountant.
   Mr. Bruder confirmed that he was referred to Ms. DiMaggio after she sought help in protecting her assets through Conair. He said he was concerned that Mr. Digirolamo may have taken his wife’s money but that did not turn out to be the case.
   Mr. Digirolamo was making about $55,000 a year at Conair. The couple’s large-two story home has been assessed at $391,900 since at least 2004.
   Ms. Giordano, 27, was last seen June 7 at the ShopRite store on Route 130 in East Windsor, with Mr. Digirolamo and their young son. Two days later, the baby boy was found abandoned outside the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del.
   Delaware State Police have charged Mr. Digirolamo with child abandonment, a misdemeanor, and reckless endangerment, a felony. Those charges were based on evidence that he made cell phone calls June 9 from near the hospital.