A co-worker of James P. Matikonis was indicted recently for the January murder of the Jamesburg resident.
By:Matthew Armstrong
JAMESBURG — A co-worker of James P.
Matikonis was indicted recently for
the January murder of the James
burg resi
dent.
Police in
January charged Theodore Susik,
37, of East Brunswick with killing
Mr. Matikonis, 51, following a dis
agreement at the Jamesburg Colli
sion Center where they worked
side-by-side. Mr. Matikonis was
shot twice and left in the trunk of
his car parked at St. Peter’s R.C.
Church in New Bruns
wick.
Mr. Su
sik, a former psychiatric patient,
was indicted May 4 by Middlesex
County Grand Jury on one count of
first degree murder, a second-de
gree charge of unlawful possession
of a firearm and a third degree
charge of possession of a firearm
without a permit, according to the
Criminal Records Department of
the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s
Office. Mr. Susik pleaded not
guilty to murder charges at his ar
raignment in February at the Mid
dlesex County Court
House.
Mr.
Matikonis was found dead in the
trunk of his car at St. Peter’s R.C.
Church in New Brunswick six days
after he was last seen, Middlesex
County Prosecutor Glenn Berman
said after Mr. Susik’s arrest. He
had been shot once in the back of
the head and once in his right
shoulder.
Mr.
Susik was arrested Jan. 27 and ini
tially charged with illegal posses
sion of a handgun. He was charged
Feb. 4 with the mur
der.
Officers
from the Middlesex County Prose
cutor’s Office found Mr. Matiko
nis’ 1985 Cadillac on Jan. 31 in the
parking lot of the church on Somer
set Street. The autopsy was delayed
until Feb. 4 because the body was
frozen. After the autopsy was per
formed, Mr. Susik was formally
charged with mur
der.
Ballistic
tests to determine if Mr. Susik’s
gun was the murder weapon have
yet to be conducted and could take
up to a year, the prosecutor’s office
said in Febru
ary.
Mr. Susik
and Mr. Matikonis worked together
fixing automobiles at the James
burg Collision Center for eight
months prior to the shooting.