Son charged in South Brunswick murder
Police say 19-year-old suspect used a sword to slay his father
By charles w. kim,
Jerry wolkowitz
& Dave Goldberg
Staff Writers

JERRY WOLKOWITZ The Janicki family home in Dayton was the scene of a murder early Wednesday. At right, Michael Janicki, 19, has been charged with killing his father, Ortwin, 55, with a sword.

Police have charged a 19-year-old South Brunswick man with stabbing his father to death with a 3-foot sword.

According to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, 19-year-old Michael Janicki is charged with the murder of his father, Ortwin, 55, early yesterday morning.

"Based on interviews with family members, police have charged Michael Janicki with murder," Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan said Wednesday morning.

Michael Janicki was arrested while walking along Schalks Crossing Road in neighboring Plainsboro at about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to police.

He was apprehended by Plainsboro Township police officers, patrolmen Joseph Jankow-ski, Richard Colluci and Sgt. William Kugel, and transported to the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick, police said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge today at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, police said.

Police believe that Michael Janicki stabbed his father several times with the sword in the family’s 1 Madison Place home in the Dayton section of the township early Wednesday morning.

According to Kaplan, police received a 911 call at 2:32 a.m. from one of the two other family members in the home.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan speaks about the murder of Ortwin Janicki at a press conference in New Brunswick yesterday.

Janicki’s wife, Cheryl, and a second son, Adam, 15, were waiting in their car for police to arrive, Kaplan said.

Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered the elder Janicki’s body in the second-floor bedroom with multiple stab wounds to the right arm and torso.

"A bloody sword was found in the hallway by the bedroom," Kaplan said.

Kaplan described the weapon as a 3-foot-long decorative sword.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ South Brunswick Police Chief Michael Paquette speaks during a news conference in New Brunswick concerning the Wednesday morning murder.

According to Kaplan, Mrs. Janicki was present in the bedroom at the time of the stabbing.

The prosecutor said that Michael Janicki fled the scene.

Kaplan would not reveal any possible motive for the killing or other details of the case during a Wednesday morning press conference in New Brunswick.

South Brunswick Police Chief Michael Paquette also attended the conference.

Michael Janicki, Kaplan said, was entering his sophomore year at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona section of Galloway, and worked at The Bagel Exchange in Dayton.

"I am shocked. I am waiting to see [what happened until] the evidence comes out," said Bagel Exchange manager Danny Gibbons. "He was a good worker and a pretty good kid."

Gibbons said that he worked with Michael Janicki for two years and expressed shock regarding the announcement of murder charges against his employee.

"I am hoping it is not as bad as it looks [for Michael]," Gibbons said.

A wanted poster of Michael Janicki circulated by police at the press conference said that he may have had a problem with drugs.

"The suspect is a known drug offender and may be under the influence," the poster states.

The investigation into the murder is continuing, and anyone with information is asked to contact South Brunswick police Detective Edward George at (732) 329-4000, ext. 486 or Investigator Virgil Angelini at (732) 745-3711.