The prosecutor said he intends to pursue the case again if additional evidence comes to light
NEWTON -- The prosecutor may retry the murder case against a Stanhope man accused of stabbing his wife 47 times, a state appeals court has ruled.
Valentino Ianetti Valentino Ianetti, now 65, spent more than three years in the Sussex County jail awaiting trial in the 2009 death of his wife, Pamela.
But he was released in 2013 after the prosecutor's office dismissed the case, saying it did not have enough evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The issue before the appeals court was the decision by the Superior Court judge in Newton to dismiss the case "without prejudice" -- meaning the prosecution could retry the case if it wanted.
Ianetti's attorneys pursued a motion before the appeals court to have the case dismissed "with prejudice" -- meaning the case could never be reopened.
The appeals court rejected his appeal and affirmed the lower court ruling, which it said would "maintain" both "society's interest in prosecuting murder cases and defendant's interest in protecting his rights."
Sussex County's then-medical examiner, Junaid Shaikh, ruled the death a homicide.
But in arguing for dismissal of the case, the defense maintained that Ianetti's wife had killed herself.
All but one of the stab wounds on Pamela Ianetti's body were found to have been superficial, and that was indicative of a suicide, her public defender, Steven Insley, argued.
Pamela Ianetti had also ingested enough oxycodone -- between 20 and 40 pills -- that she was likely on her way to an overdose, the attorney said.
An expert hired by the defense said Pamela Ianetti had no "defensive wounds" and there were no "blood trails," the court wrote. The expert concluded that the defendant's wife had taken a lethal dose of oxycodone as "insurance" that the suicide would be successful.
Upon receiving this report, the prosecution hired three experts to review it, the court wrote. Based on the information received from the experts, the prosecutor filed a motion to dismiss the charges.
"It would have been morally and ethically wrong to proceed in the face of those documents," Sussex First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller said in an interview.
Reacting to the court decision, Mueller said the prosecutor has no immediate plans to retry the case. However, he added, because the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, and did not budge from that ruling, the case remains open.
Mueller said the office will retry the case "if additional information comes to light," something that the court decision permits.
In its decision, the court wrote that the prosecutor "never declared that he believed the defendant was innocent," just that there was "reasonable doubt as we looked at the evidence."
In arguing to dismiss the case with prejudice, the defense said that should happen "on the grounds of fundamental fairness," pointing out that the prosecution provided no evidence after the experts testified.
However, the court rejected those arguments, pointing out that Ianetti was not acquitted of the charges, so the state would not be taking him to trial for a second time.
Also, the court said, in dismissing the case, the trial judge "never made a determination that the state was unable to prove the charge."
Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.