Alan Bienkowski, 57, of Manchester, is charged with killing his 76-year-old neighbor, Anthony "Tony" Verdicchio.
TOMS RIVER - Anthony "Tony" Verdicchio was a 76-year-old creature of habit, who was an avid collector of everything from baseball cards to Disney figurines and who loved flea markets.
On the morning of May 12, 2013, Verdicchio stopped on his way out of Mass at St. Paul's Lutheran Church to wish a long-time friend, Mary Ann Conover, "Happy Mother's Day" as she taught Sunday school.
This was the last time Conover saw her friend alive.
Alan Bienkowski, a 57-year-old neighbor of Verdicchio's in the Pine Acres Manor Mobile Home Park in Manchester, is accused of robbing Verdicchio and beating him to death.
Bienkowski's trial began Tuesday morning in front of Ocean County Superior Court Judge James Blaney.
During his opening remarks, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Michael Weatherstone admitted that there were some facts the prosecution does not know in its case against Bienkowski, including exactly when the killing took place, how he got into Verdicchio's home or even exactly how it happened.
But what the prosecutors do know, Weatherstone said, is that Verdicchio returned home after church, he got changed because he was planning to head to a flea market with a friend and then someone put a black plastic garbage bag over his head and hit him 14 times with a hammer.
"He was hit twice in the back of the head, then a few more times on either side of the head as well as the forehead," he said. "The beating continued."
Investigators questioned Bienkowski after friends remembered Verdicchio had loaned him some money to help him out of a financial situation, Weatherstone said.
Bienkowski then proceeded to repeatedly lie to investigators about where he was on May 12 and also about his friendship with Verdicchio, Weatherstone said.
"Every time he was confronted by police about not being honest or truthful, he changed his story," said Weatherstone, who is presenting the state's case alongside the prosecutor's office's Chief Trial Attorney Laura Pierro.
In addition to Bienkowski allegedly lying to police, Weatherstone said, investigators also found several pieces of evidence linking Bienkowski and his alleged victim, including Verdicchio's blood on Bienkowski's shoes, items belonging to Verdicchio in a storage unit that Bienkowski rented after the killing, and an impression from Bienkowski's shoe on a piece of paper that was found underneath Verdicchio's lifeless hand on May 13, 2013.
However, Bienkowski's defense attorney, Michael Schreiber, told the jurors that there were no eyewitnesses to Verdicchio's killing, that the were no fingerprints or DNA from Bienkowski found at the scene and that the killer was acting on financial motives, as it was implied Bienkowski was, they left a lot of valuable items and currency behind.
Schreiber argued that Verdicchio could have been killed for other reasons, perhaps involving homosexuality, because authorities found pornographic materials in his home and vehicle, some of which were transgender in nature.
"A crime of passion rather than a crime of prosperity," Schreiber said.
After the two sides delivered their opening statements, the prosecution called Conover as its first witness. Conover knew Verdicchio from her years working at the News Stand on Route 37, which he visited regularly and often twice a day.
Conover's husband, Roger, and a family friend found Verdicchio's body partially covered up with a blanket and the plastic bag when they went over to check on him after he did not show up at the News Stand or answer his phone.
"He was the best friend to our family," Conover said through tears, adding Verdicchio spent the last few Christmases with her family. "My grandkids are still upset about it."
The defense was expected to begin its questioning of Conover after the jury broke for lunch.
In addition to the coins and other collectibles authorities found in Bienkowski's storage unit, some of which had Verdicchio's blood on it, Weatherstone said investigators also recovered a gun registered to his brother-in-law who died in 1988.
Bienkowski wrote a letter to his sister in June in which he asks his sister to go to the storage unit and get rid of the gun, Weatherstone said.
"He told his sister: 'If the cops find that gun, I'm screwed,'" Weatherstone said without offering further explanation at that time.
On May 16, 2013, just four days after he is alleged to have killed Verdicchio, Bienkowski was arrested and charged with robbing 56-year-old Michael Wells, of Point Pleasant, at gunpoint and shooting him to death on April 10, 2013, authorities said.
Bienkowski was already in jail on that murder charge when he was charged with killing Verdicchio, as well as robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon and theft.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.