By: centraljersey.com
TRENTON – Former Millstone Township resident Rosario DiGirolamo accepted a plea deal Monday morning on charges of aggravated manslaughter in connection to the June 2007 slaying of Amy Giordano in her Hightstown apartment.
Mr. DiGirolamo’s defense attorney, Jerome Ballarotto, accepted the deal that will put his client behind bars for 25 years, with the possibility of parole after he serves 85 percent of that. Mr. DiGirolamo, 35, was facing a more serious murder charge that could have put him away for life if found guilty.
Jury selection was scheduled for Tuesday.
At a pretrial conference before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Edward Neafsey on Monday morning, Mr. DiGirolamo described how he fatally struck Ms. Giordano, his 27-year-old mistress, in the back of her head with a hammer. He claimed she first tried lunging at him with a pry bar.
The plea came on the heels of the discovery of new evidence found on a laptop Mr. DiGirolamo used. According to prosecutors, detectives found a Google search for the phrase "martial arts lethal blows to the back of the head," made one week before Ms. Giordano’s June 2007 disappearance, on his computer.
Both Mr. Ballarotto and Assistant Prosecutor Al Garcia said the new evidence was a key factor in the defense’s decision.
"It was catastrophic because it was evidence that was going to be admitted that, in my opinion, would convince the jury that he committed this act out of premeditation," Mr. Ballarotto said.

