Prosecutors say Raquel Garajau, 20, of Tinton Falls, was involved in the killing of a Brick Township man and the disposal of his body in February
FREEHOLD --A 20-year-old Tinton Falls woman accused along with her boyfriend of killing a Brick Township man and then dumping his body in a park was ordered to remain in jail while prosecutors continue to pursue murder charges against the pair.
While Raquel Garajau's attorney on Friday tried to convince a Superior Court judge that her family would keep strict supervision over her if she were freed from jail, prosecutors in Monmouth County insisted she was too much of a risk to be released with or without bail.
After a nearly two-hour detention hearing in Freehold, Judge David Bauman concluded the charges against Garajoau are too serious to let her out of the Monmouth County jail while her case is pending.
Trupal Patel, who was found dead Feb. 22 "The weight of the evidence does appear at this juncture to be strong," Bauman said, adding later, "I am granting the state's motion to detain this defendant."
Garajoau, a graphic arts design student at Brookdale Community College in Middletown, was charged along with her boyfriend Joseph Villani, 21, of Ocean Township, with fatally shooting Trupal Patel, 29, of Brick Township, and stealing his car and watch on Feb. 6 before dumping Patel's body in a park.
His body was found Feb. 22 by a park ranger who was collecting litter along Gully Road in Shark River Park shortly after 8:30 a.m.
During the hearing, Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Melanie Falco revealed Garajau and Villani communicated by texts and phone calls extensively after the killing and continued after he was arrested and jailed Feb. 27.
Man admitted to killing after body was found in park, authorities say
She said texts immediately after the killing indicate Garajau instructed Villani to remove evidence linking them to the crime from Patel's car when she told him to "take your time bleaching everything," and that she suggested they toss Patel's cell phone into the ocean after she had touched it.
Falco said that after Villiani's arrest, the pair discussed retaliating against people who had talked to investigators about him. She said Villani instructed Garajau to "talk up the bruises" and "build up that story" in a meeting with his attorney's investigator to support his claim of self-defense.
Villani was using another inmate's personal identification number to make those phone calls "thinking we weren't going to figure it out," Falco said.
In an indictment handed up May 15, Villani and Garajau are each charged with murder, robbery, felony murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of an assault rifle, disturbing or desecrating human remains, three counts of tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension of oneself, hindering apprehension of another and tampering with a witness.
Garajau's attorney, Robert Honecker, said prosecutors have no evidence linking his client directly to Patel's killing.
"There is no direct proof in this case that she was involved in any of those incidents," he told Bauman. "At best, this is a circumstantial case."
Honecker described Garajau as a good student who was planning to take summer classes in order to graduate with an associates degree later this year or next year.
"She is 20 years old. She is a college student. She has never been in trouble in her entire life," he said.
Honecker said that Villani confessed to investigators that he killed Patel but also insisted that his girlfriend "had nothing to do with it."
He said Garajau cooperated with authorities by agreeing to be interviewed and letting them search her cell phone and car.
But Falco said Garajau lied in parts of her interview with detectives, including when she told them she never touched a gun because she was afraid of them. Investigators found on Villani's phone a photograph of her holding the murder weapon, Falco said.
She also said Garajau used marijuana and cocaine with her boyfriend and that she was involved in selling drugs with him.
Honecker produced certifications from Garajau's mother, Ruth Spizz, and her 27-year-old sister, Rubia Gomez, pledging that they would keep strict watch over her and make sure she had no access to the Internet, to cell phones or any other electronic devices.
But Falco said Spizz had Garajau's cell phone shut off after Villani was arrested yet she found a way through an app to continue the conversations.
Bauman said that concerned him as well.
"Under the supposed watch of the mother, there is a well-grounded suspicion that serious offenses were being committed," he said. "And so it gives the court some pause to believe that the defendant's mother could personally guarantee" that she wouldn't be a risk.
"The court does not and cannot consider these certifications to be ironclad, 100 percent guarantees," Bauman later added.
Honecker said after the hearing he still had to discuss with Garajau's family whether they would appeal.
"We're disappointed in the judge's decision," he said. "However, we will continue to fight to prove her innocence each and every day."
Villani also told his girlfriend he killed Patel and he told a friend he wanted to rob him, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed against him.
Patel's 2003 Jaguar was found abandoned in Asbury Park Feb. 9, the same day a friend reported him missing.
In the hours leading up to Villani's arrest, his friend told investigators he helped Villani move on Feb. 7 what he later learned was Patel's car, according to the affidavit.
Garajau told detectives Villani told her that while in his garage on Feb. 5, he and Patel "got physical" and Villani shot him in the head, the document said.
Villani didn't tell Garajau what he did with Patel's body, but he showed her blood on the garage floor, the document said. She said Villani had talked loosely in the past about robbing Patel but she didn't take him seriously, the affidavit said.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.