Crime & Safety

Morris County Man Convicted of Murdering Wife With 84 Stab Wounds

Anthony Novellino faces 30 years to life in prison after jury says he murdered his wife in 2010.

A 67-year-old Denville man was convicted Wednesday of murdering his wife in 2010, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Anthony Novellino was found guilty of murder, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon, hindering own apprehension and tampering with physical evidence.

It took a jury three hours of deliberation to convict Novellino, who stabbed his wife 84 times in the recently-divorced couples’ home on June 19, 2010. Judith and Anthony Novellino finalized their divorce on June 8, 2010.

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Just 11 day later, Judith Novellino was at the couples’ home removing her belongings when Anthony Novellino arrived at the house. The ex-husband then stabbed the woman 84 times in the bathroom of the home.

Anthony Novellino then retrieved a pig mask from a hallway closet and placed it over his dead ex-wife’s face. He washed off the knife that was used in the killing and hid it underneath the staircase leading to the lower level of the home. Novellino also discarded the bloody shoes he was wearing by putting them in a garbage bag, which was tossed when he fled the scene.

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Novellino was captured on June 24, 2010 in Puyallup, Washington, where he fled to meet a woman he met through the Internet several years prior to the murder. 

Novellino faces a 30 years to life prison sentence for the murder conviction, and an additional 13 years for the remaining convictions. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2014.


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