Romulo Gregorio, 41, is convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s daughter then setting her body on fire to hide the crime.

 

Claire Mariano’s 20-year old daughter, Christine, was found burned beyond recognition in their Jersey City home on September 1, 2009.

 

The Jersey Journals reported that Gregorio killed Christine while arguing with her about his failed relationship with her mother.

 

He and Mariano had broken up two weeks earlier. Over that period, he sent her hundreds of text messages, including “I hope one of us dies, you animal,” “I will only rest when one of us is dead,” and “I want you to feel what you did to my life."

 

The horribly charred victim was found naked in her mother’s bed after a “sexual portion” of her body had been doused with accelerant and lit, according to prosecutors. A charred Bible was found on the bed beside her, they said.

 

Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Sal Rozzi reminded jurors Mariano had earlier given the defendant an ultimatum, saying he had to start going to church if the relationship was to continue. “Think of the symbolism of his putting Christine Mariano in her mother’s bed with a Bible next to her.”

 

In his summation, defense attorney Mitchell Nelson acknowledged that Gregorio was upset about the breakup of a relationship.

 

But he said his client was no threat and the Mariano family knew it. Nelson noted that “On the day of the fire, (Claire Mariano) texts my client saying "I miss your brown eyes."

 

Nelson has contended that the police took a wrong turn when investigators quickly focused on Gregorio and stopped looking for the “real killer.” 

 

He said the state’s case was completely circumstantial and not one bit of physical evidence put Gregorio at the crime scene that day.

 

Gregorio’s sentencing is scheduled on March 19 at the Hudson County Superior court in Jersey City, New Jersey. - With report from Jersey Journal