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Man wants murder charges dropped
By TOM HOWELL JR.
A Bergen County man accused of suffocating an elevator repairman wants murder charges against him to be dismissed because his expert concluded the victim died of a drug overdose before the body was dumped in a Vernon gully, his attorney said Thursday.
Edward Mundt, 38, also was charged with desecration of human remains and hindering his apprehension after the death of 30-year-old John E. Mitchell, of Saylorsburg, Pa.
A county road crew found the body wrapped in blankets and plastic bags near Lake Wallkill Road and Stratfordshire Drive on June 16, 2006.
Mundt's public defender, David Nufrio, filed a motion to dismiss the first-degree murder charge, after a report by Maryland-based expert Dr. John Adams concluded Mitchell died from a drug-related accident, not homicide.
In his motion, Nufrio said it is "beyond comprehension" that it has taken more than seven months for the prosecution to turn over a responsive report -- based on a review of Adams' findings -- from the county medical examiner.
"Despite repeated requests for such information through counsel in court, nothing has been forthcoming and the indictment continues on track for trial with real opportunity to explore resolution," Nufrio said in the motion.
In court, Assistant Prosecutor Michael Briegel said his office is waiting for one item of evidence and will hand over its supplemental report to the defense.
Nufrio, in his motion, said the delay has had a prejudicial impact on Mundt, who is subject to a detainer on the Sussex charges when he completes a prison sentence out of Bergen County.
The court may address the motion at Mundt's scheduled court appearance in two weeks, depending on whether the supplemental report is produced, Nufrio said.
Nufrio has said the medical examiner's opinion could determine whether the case goes to trial.
If convicted at trial, Mundt faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for murder -- plus 15 years for the other two charges -- and must serve 71 years before he is eligible for parole.
Family members last saw Mitchell alive on June 7, 2006, when his father dropped him off on 42nd Street in Manhattan, authorities testified in November 2006.
Mitchell usually caught a train from the city street to his job with Gotham Construction on Roosevelt Island, they said.
His body was discovered a little more than a week later with a plastic bag taped over his head. The body was wrapped in a burgundy-pink comforter, olive green linens, and a pillowcase decorated with a "winter farm scene," detectives said.
Family members have said the defense's assertions of an overdose would not explain why a bag was placed over Mitchell's head.
According to an affidavit, Mundt said he picked up Mitchell at a Jersey City-area motel the night of June 8 and took him to his Elmwood Park apartment after purchasing drugs.
Mundt told detectives he slept in his bed that night, while Mitchell slept in a chair and was gone the next morning.
Detectives showed pictures of linens from the crime scene to Mundt's landlord, a woman who resides at the same address as Mundt.
She located a pillowcase on her bed with the same pattern, authorities said.
Mundt is serving a five-year term at South Woods State Prison for burglary and receiving stolen property in Bergen County. He was sentenced in March after admitting to break-ins at stores and a pizzeria, authorities said.
Mundt is earning "gap-time" credit on his Sussex County charges and will return to the county jail in Newton on $825,000 bail if he is paroled from state prison, Nufrio has said.
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