Slain woman’s body found in S.B. woods

JERRY WOLKOWITZ Above, South Brunswick Police Chief Michael Paquette shows the scene where the body of Refugia Olmedo, 36, was discovered off Miller Road Sunday night. At right, this home at 192 French St. in New Brunswick is where police believe the murder occurred early Sunday morning.

Police suspect common-law husband killed wife in their New Bruns. apt.

By charles w. kim

& Dave GOldberg

Staff Writers

VERONICA YANKOWSKI

Police have charged a New Brunswick man with killing his common-law wife and then dumping her body in a heavily wooded area off Miller Road in South Brunswick.

"The biggest part of the investigation was to find out how the body ended up here," South Brunswick Police Chief Michael Paquette said Tuesday.

Ismael Serrano, 33, of 192 French St., New Brunswick, was charged Monday with allegedly killing his companion Refugia Ruiz Olmedo, 36, in their New Brunswick home sometime Sunday during the early morning hours.

According to investigators, the couple lived at the address in the city for four years with their three children, ages 10, 15 and 17.

JERRY WOLKOWITZ The body of the murder victim was found in this wooded area off Miller Road in South Brunswick Sunday night.

Police said that the couple came to the United States from Mexico about 14 years ago, and that they do not believe either to be a citizen.

Middlesex County Prosecu-tor Bruce Kaplan said during a Monday afternoon press conference that Serrano went to the police station in New Brunswick at 1:31 p.m. on Sunday afternoon to report his common law wife as missing.

Olmedo worked for the Barnes and Noble warehouse at 331 Herrod Blvd. in South Brunswick, according to police.

South Brunswick police were notified about Serrano’s report, and began to look for the woman that afternoon at her place of employment.

When officers arrived at the warehouse, police said, a worker there confirmed Olmedo’s employment at the facility, but also said that all of the employees had left.

Later that evening, according to Kaplan, Serrano returned to the New Brunswick police station claiming to have an "anonymous note" describing the location of the body in a desolate, wooded area on the east side of South Brunswick.

Serrano accompanied two officers from New Brunswick and South Brunswick police Sgt. Joe Charmello, Patrolman Lazlo Nyitrai and Patrolwoman Tara Fiandaca to the location just off rural Miller Road.

At about 9:20 p.m. Sunday, the officers made the grisly discovery of the woman inside a garbage bag a couple hundred feet from the access path to the road.

According to Kaplan, Olmedo had suffered severe head injuries and had a rope tied around her neck.

An autopsy performed by Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick DeCarlo determined the cause of death to be severe head trauma and strangulation.

Investigators could not say if Olmedo was beaten or strangled first.

Following an extensive investigation by South Brunswick police, New Brunswick police, and investigators from the prosecutor’s office, Serrano was charged in the killing.

Police said that they believe that Olmedo was killed in the New Brunswick residence before being transported to the site on Miller Road.

South Brunswick Detective Jim Ryan and county investigator Virgil Angelini interrogated Serrano at the South Brunswick station.

Incriminating statements made during the lengthy interrogation led to the arrest, according to the complaint filed Monday.

According to Kaplan, jealousy regarding a perceived affair may have been the motive for the slaying.

Serrano is employed by Church & Dwight, on Jersey Avenue in North Brunswick as a laborer, according to police.