40 yrs. later: A young girl's murder is news Zarinsky denies guilt at court arraignment BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer Feelings of anger, hatred and memories of a lost loved one took control of a courtroom in Freehold last week, replacing feelings of anticipation and frustration as the hourlong wait for convicted murderer Robert Zarinsky to arrive ended. Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches listens as Prosecutor Luis Valentin speaks at a press conference March 11. Lying on his back, strapped onto a gurney with restraints on his hands and legs and an oxygen tank by his side, Zarinsky was rolled into a room filled with family members and people with a connection to a 40-year-old murder case, all wanting a look at the man who has caused more than four decades of pain and sorrow. Zarinsky, who claims to be terminally ill, was being charged on March 13 with murder and felony murder in connection with the Nov. 4, 1968, murder of Jane Durrua, then 13, of the East Keansburg section of Middletown. Though no formal plea was entered, Zarinsky, who is currently serving a life term for the murder of another young woman, spoke out of order to state his case. "I am absolutely not guilty of this offense," Zarinsky said as a chorus of groans filled the courtroom. "It is the jurisdiction of this court that you committed the crime of murder of J.D. by unlawfully killing J.D. with malice without reasonable provocation or justification or excuse," Assistant Prosecutor Marc LeMieux read to Zarinsky. "The murder of J.D. was by vocal, deliberate, premeditated acts … a first-degree crime." After LeMieux finished reading the charges to Zarinsky, he took the papers that he had been reading from and forcefully tossed them onto the convicted murderer's chest. The feeling of disgust shared by the people in the courtroom was almost palpable. In August 1968, 13-year-old Jane Durrua moved from New York City to the Bayshore area, a move that was supposed to help her escape the violence of the big city, former Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye said in 2004. Durrua came to live here following the death of her mother in February. Her father had died previously. Three months later, the violence that she tried to avoid followed her to Middletown, where she was raped and killed behind a supermarket on Route 36. Ronald J. Connors, Jane's brother-in-law, found her body in the tall grass near the railroad tracks behind the Grandway supermarket on Route 36, according to Kaye. Her body was sprawled in one of the many ditches that crisscrossed the grassy meadow, an apparent victim of a sexual assault. A trail of her possessions - a sewing kit, her schoolbooks, a pocketbook - led Connors from the little used track to the place where she lay, about 15 yards south through the tall brown grass. She had sustained blunt force trauma to her head, and it appeared she had been sexually assaulted. An intensive criminal investigation ensued, in the course of which over 200 individuals were questioned, but no one was charged with her murder. In 1999 Jerry Lee Bellamy, 53, was charged by the county Prosecutor's Office with first-degreemurder for the 1968 death of Durrua. At the time, Bellamy was serving a term in the Adult Diagnostic Center, a sex offender unit at the East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge, on an unrelated sexual crimes charge. Reopening the case resulted in detectives reviewing forensic evidence taken fromthe crime scene.Advanced forensic science enabled authorities tomatch DNAleft at the scene with Bellamy's, Kaye said in 2004. Authorities connected Bellamy to the crime by using DNA taken from Durrua's underwear. The DNA sample was the only evidence that the Prosecutor's Office had at the time. Kaye found a link between Durrua and Bellamy. Even though the requisite 12 points of comparison were never established, Kaye said that seven points should be enough to bring Bellamy to justice. At a press conferenceMarch 11, current Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said that authorities decided to carefully review the evidence in light of advances in forensic science and investigative techniques. The clothing Jane was wearing when she was killed was retrieved from evidence and forwarded to laboratories where cutting edge technology was used to examine them for biological residue that might provide evidence of the identity of Jane's killer, according to the Prosecutor's Office. Valentin said that when he was sworn in as prosecutor in 2005, he wanted to take a deeper look into this case. Over the last several years, up through last week, evidence had been thoroughly and comprehensively analyzed by multiple laboratories, to ensure the reliability of the results, Valentin said when he announced the upcoming arraignment of Zarinksy. The investigation culminated with the charges lodged against Zarinsky, originally from Linden, on Thursday. While not stating that Bellamy was cleared of the charges, Valentin did say at the press conference, that Zarinsky is the only person the prosecutor is looking at for the crime. "Zarinsky is the sole person in this case," Valentin said. "He is the only one." Valentin sat in the last row of the courtroom during the initial hearing on Thursday and observed the emotions of Durrua's family members and relatives of other victims of Zarinsky. Rose Loikitz, who sat one row in front of Valentine, and had no relation to Zarinsky or any of the family members, said she is related to someone who had a hand in convicting Zarinsky. Loikitz's husband, his brother and two friends were out driving back in 1969 when they saw a car with Rosemary Calandriello, a 17-year-old girl who they knew, in a car in front of them in the passenger seat with a man who they did not recognize. "Rosemary was a very shy girl and they were stunned to see that Rosemary was with a man," Loikitz said. "They followed her for a little while and the back window was out of the car so they had no problem seeing who was in the car." Loikitz, who was overcome with emotion and paused often, said that her husband told her that Calandriello looked very comfortable and relaxed so they decided to take off. "They have lived with it ever since that they did not follow that car," Loikitz said. "But they were able to point him out in a court and they pointed right at him." She said she was there to see the man who has haunted her husband brought to justice. "I wanted to see him, I wanted to hear what was going to happen to him and I want to see him convicted," Loikitz said. Loikitz said that she spoke to her husband as soon as the hearing ended and gave him a description of all that occurred. Zarinsky was not charged with the underlying offenses of kidnapping and rape because the statute of limitations has expired for filing those charges. Bail was set at $2 million, with Uhrmacher requiring a cash only payment. Uhrmacher said that no date has been set for a hearing on Zarinsky's indictment. LeMieux asked for a hearing as soon as possible. Zarinsky, who previously had asked his medic to increase his oxygen supply, said that he had no concern over the bail. "The bail is irrelevant," Zarinsky said. "I'll be dead by then anyway." Staff writer Jamie Rommcan be reached at jromm@gmnews.com.