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TagsMother and siblings died in tragic Manville fire in 2007
BY ALICIA CRUZ
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has charged Tubal Eduardo Sr. with third-degree theft after they say he selfishly squandered over $33,000 in donated monies intended for his son, Noah, who lost his mother and siblings in a tragic fire in their Manville home in 2007.
The trial began Wednesday in Superior Court with Judge Paul Armstrong presiding.
Attorney Maureen O'Reilly maintained in court Thursday that her client used all of the donated funds the Weston School Parent Teacher Association collected for the Eduardo family for living expenses, like a used car and other necessities.
However, Detective Michael Schutta, testifying for the prosecution, said his investigation showed that Eduardo spent more than $7,000 of those monies on an escort service and another $14,346.75 was withdrawn in cash.
Schutta testified that between September and December of 2007, Eduardo made 19 purchases that could not be for the child.More than $7,000 of the money was spent at First Professional Referral Services, which is an alleged escort service. Other funds were spent at a liquor store.
The PTA collected $38,351.24 in all. They wrote two checks to the Eduardo family, one for Eduardo Sr., for $5,000 and another for Noah in the amount of $33,351.24.
A June 2007 court order issued by Judge Julie Marino stated any funds raised for Noah were supposed to go into a joint guardian account naming Eduardo and Noah's maternal grandmother, Debra Jean Walters. Both parties had to agree and sign off on any money before it was spent. The state asserts Eduardo did not do that.
Robert DiSanto, manager at the Bank of America branch in Somerville testified Thursday that Eduardo opened three accounts of which he had sole control over. DiSanto testified that Eduardo deposited $5,000 into a personal checking account, $25 into a money market savings account, which lie dormant and $33,351.24 was deposited into a custodial savings account with Noah as the beneficiary.
The custodial account was used as an overdraft protection account for Eduardo's checking account. If he spent more than what was in the checking account, monies from the custodial account would be transferred to cover the expenses, DiSanto testified.
When court resumes Tuesday with testimony from defense witnesses. If Eduardo is convicted, he could spend up to five years in prison.
Tragic fire in Manville
On March 12, 2007 the South Fifth Avenue home Eduardo Sr., shared with his girlfriend of 10 years, Heather Marchie and their three children, went up in flames, killing Marchie and two of the children as they slept on the second floor of the house.
Fire officials say the blaze, which began around 11:45 p.m., started near a five-outlet power strip, which appeared to be overloaded by several plugs that had been plugged into the strip.
Eduardo said he was asleep on a sofa bed on the bottom floor of the two-story house when he was awakened by the smoke detector. He jumped up and ran into the backyard and broke down a back door with the help of his landlord, George Kochis.
Eduardo says despite the immense smoke, he was able to reach the second floor of the house by "crawling on his belly" up the stairs in order to reach his two-year-old son, Noah.
Gerard Lardieri, Noah's godfather, grabbed Eduardo and Noah, who began losing consciousness from the smoke, and pulled both into the yard.
"I just started pulling until we hit grass," Lardieri told the New York Times.
Once in the yard, Lardieri began performing CPR on his godson until he could breath on his own. Lardieri and Eduardo attempted to re-enter the smoke-filled home in an effort to save Marchie and the other children but were restrained by fireman and police officers.
Lardieri told the New York Times, "We tried to run back inside, but they practically tackled us and told us we couldn't go in anymore."
Eduardo lost his girlfriend, Marchie, 28, their 5-year-old son, Tubal Eduardo Jr., and daughter, Angelina, 4.
After the tragic deaths of Noah's mother and siblings, the PTA opened an account at the Manville Federal Credit Union, which raised $38,351.24.
