JAMESBURG — Police Lt. James Craparotta has seen his share of crime in a small town like Jamesburg — even murder.
Craparotta shared his knowledge and experiences on March 23 with the Sisters in Crime of Central Jersey, a murder mystery writers club.
“Just because Jamesburg is a small town — at only one square mile — doesn’t mean that we don’t have our share of crime,” Craparotta said.
“From small town to big town, anything can happen when an officer goes out there.”
Craparotta discussed a January 2000 Jamesburg murder case that he investigated, and took the mystery writers through the process of locating a suspect, collecting evidence and testifying at a trial.
According to an East Brunswick Sentinel report from 2002, Theodore Susik of East Brunswick was convicted of manslaughter and on weapons charges in the death of James Matikonis of Jamesburg.
“This case was the first call I ever had where it turned out the call was about a homicide,” Craparotta said.
Craparotta said the investigation began when a concerned citizen reported a suspicious incident involving Susik, which set off a string of events that led to finding Matikonis’ body in a church parking lot in New Brunswick.
“Once we found him, we had enough to charge Susik,” Craparotta said.
At trial, Craparotta was one of the witnesses called to testify for the prosecution.
“Testifying is a big deal,” Craparotta said. “It lasts a week or two weeks, and involves forensics, doctors and all sorts of experts.”
Craparotta opened the floor for a Q-and- A session, which brought up a lot of questions about police work in Jamesburg.
“Because we are a small town, the police learn to do everything,” Craparotta said. “I went to the best schools and learned the best tools to do the job. In a small department, you wear many hats, so you learn how to do everything in the department.”
Contact Stella Morrison at [email protected].