CENTRAL JERSEY: Not-guilty plea filed in Giordano murder case

By Sean Ruppert, Staff Writer
   TRENTON — The Millstone man accused of the 2007 murder and dismemberment of Amy Giordano in her Hightstown apartment formally entered a plea of not guilty this week.
   Rosario DiGirolamo, 34, entered his plea to charges of first-degree murder and fourth-degree tampering with evidence before Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta in Trenton on Monday.
   Mr. DiGirolamo is accused of murdering Ms. Giordano, 27, by hitting her on the head with a tool in her Mercer Street apartment between June 7 and June 9, 2007.
   He faces up to life in prison.
   John Russo, 44, of Staten Island, N.Y., also pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of fourth-degree evidence tampering in a separate hearing. Mr. Russo is accused of helping Mr. DiGirolamo clean up the apartment Ms. Giordano allegedly was murdered in and suggesting a place to dispose of her remains.
   Mr. Russo represented himself at the hearing and applied to be assigned a public defender, according to Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
   Mr. Russo had been represented at previous hearings by George Vomvolakis. However, Mr. Vomvolakis — whose practice is in Manhattan — is not licensed in New Jersey, Ms. DeBlasio said.
   Mr. Russo helped lead law enforcement officials to a pond in Staten Island where Ms. Giordano’s remains were found in a suitcase along with a picture of Michael DiGirolamo, the son born to her and Mr. DiGirolamo.
   Mr. DiGirolamo was released on $1 million bail in November after spending about eight months in custody. As a condition of the bail, he is restricted to his parents’ home in Brooklyn and must wear an electronic tracking bracelet on his ankle.
   Mr. DiGirolamo was indicted by a grand jury Jan. 9.
   Jerome Ballarotto, Mr. DiGirolamo’s attorney, said Monday that there has been no discussion of a plea deal with the prosecution. Mr. DiGirolamo will next appear in court for a status hearing set for June 24.
   ”We are continuing discovery, and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Mr. Ballarotto said. “This is a process.”
   Prosecutors say Mr. DiGirolamo was married to Maria DiMaggio, with whom he had another young child, while he was having an affair with Ms. Giordano.
   Ms. DiMaggio filed for divorce during the summer in 2008.
   Mr. DiGirolamo pleaded guilty to abandoning then 11-month-old Michael outside a Newark, Del., hospital — before he allegedly killed Ms. Giordano — in 2007. He received probation.
   Mr. DiGirolamo spent several weeks in Italy before returning to plead guilty to the charges in Delaware.
   The child was unharmed and has been adopted by a woman believed to be Ms. Giordano’s sister, according to published reports.
   Prosecutors said Mr. DiGirolamo murdered Ms. Giordano because he could no longer afford to support her and his family.