Man charged with murdering wife

BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

George Calleia Following a search that lasted more than 24 hours, a Holmdel woman was found murdered near her home, and authorities have taken her husband of 13 years into custody.

George Calleia, 43, of 2 Tranquility Court, was arrested Sunday afternoon and was charged with first-degree murder following the discovery of the body of his wife, Susan, also 43, at a parking lot of the nearby PNC Bank Arts Center.

On Friday at 6:15 a.m., George Calleia called 911 to report his wife missing from their home. Holmdel police found Susan Cal-leia’s vehicle the next day at 11:50 a.m. in what was described as a remote area of the arts center. Her body was found nearby.

An autopsy the following day showed that a combination of multiple blunt force trauma and strangulation contributed to Susan Calleia’s death.

When asked where exactly the body was found, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin was vague and indirect.

“I don’t want to comment on the specificity of the location of the body,” Valentin said. “All I can say is that it was in a remote area adjacent to the parking lot.”

Bail was set at $3 million, a figure that Valentin said was appropriate for the crime.

“The bail is commensurate with the serious nature of the charges and obvious harm to the victim,” Valentin said.

Calleia appeared before Judge Bette E. Uhrmacher in Freehold and pleaded not guilty at a hearing on Monday afternoon.

Following the hearing, Calleia’s attorney, Nikole Pezzullo, said that she would file a formal motion for a reduction of bail, because in her opinion, the amount was “quite excessive.”

Pezzullo said that the couple was at their home, located off Line Road and near Holmdel Park, on Thursday evening, according to George Calleia. He became concerned when he noticed his wife was nowhere to be found the following morning and then called 911.

“His wife and his daughter were his entire life,” Pezzullo said. “My client maintains his innocence all the way. They had a very loving marriage and he is now devastated by all of this.”

Susan Calleia, a housewife, is survived by the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, her father and stepmother. Pezzullo said that the daughter was with school friends of hers, and is hopeful that she will be placed with family members in the near future.

Calleia, a director of sales and marketing at a financial services firm in Edison, faces a sentence of 30 years to life if convicted.