David "D.J." Creato rejected a 35-year plea deal, opting for trial instead. Watch video
HADDON TWP. -- It's been nearly 15 months since the body of 3-year-old Brendan Creato was discovered draped over a rock in a stream that feeds into the Cooper River.
The grisly Oct. 13, 2015 discovery, made mere hours after father David "D.J." Creato reported the boy missing, was the first development in a series of events that saw the Haddon Township man charged with first-degree murder and second-degree child endangerment.
At his last court appearance in June, Creato attorney Richard J. Fuschino Jr. said his client rejected a 35-year plea deal and would fight the charges at trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday.
Fuschino did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Creato, who pleaded not guilty, has been held on $750,000 bail since January. If convicted, he faces a life sentence.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office, which argues Creato killed his son so he could continue a relationship with a 17-year-old girlfriend who disliked children, declined to comment on the case.
Here's what we know about the boy's disappearance and Creato's personal life as well as a number of unknowns ahead of the trial:
We know:
- Brendan spent the night of Oct. 12 at his dad's Haddon Township apartment. The boy's grandmother dropped him off and Creato put him to bed shortly after. He was reported missing in a 6 a.m. 9-1-1 call and found by authorities nearly three hours later. According to the prosecutor's office, Brendan wasn't sexually assaulted and there were no signs of forced entry at the apartment. In his 9-1-1 call, Creato is heard saying, "I don't know if he wandered out or what happened. I don't know where he is. The door was locked. I guess he unlocked it and left."
Samantha Denoto, the mother of 3-year-old Brendan Creato, leaves the Camden County Hall of Justice after the arraignment of David "D.J." Creato, Brendan's father. (Tim Hawk | For NJ.com) - Brendan's presence played a role in the occasionally rocky relationship Creato had with a 17-year-old college student whom, authorities claim, had a dislike for children as allegedly evidenced by text messages saying as much. In an interview played during the June court hearing, Creato tells investigators that the two had broken up over his continued contact with his son and the boy's mother.
- The girlfriend, identified in news reports as Julia "Julie" Stensky, was with Creato as recently as the day before Brendan went missing, at which point she returned to college in New York. The two met via an online dating app in June 2015 and they often visited the area near the Cooper River where Brendan's body was found. According to the prosecutor's office, Creato accessed one of Stensky's social media accounts during the early morning hours of the day his son disappeared, as he was jealous of a classmate she was talking to.
- How Creato reacted to learning that his son was dead. A taped interview with investigators showed Creato reacting with shock and shouting "No!" when he was informed. However, authorities -- who already knew the boy was dead -- implored him to tell them anything he may have been withholding.
- Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley sided with prosecutors, who argued Fuschino's motion to dismiss the charges was "absurd." Fuschino attempted to argue that Creato was read a "Miranda-like soliloquy" during his first interview with law enforcement the day his son's body was found, thus evidence gathered then should be suppressed. It won't be, and portions of that interview was ruled admissible at trial. Fuschino also attempted to dismiss the case on the grounds that the grand jury who indicted his client having heard an "expertized" medical opinion from Camden County Medical Examiner Dr. Gerald "Buck" Feigin of what claimed Brendan's life.
'Absurd' to dismiss charges against Creato
We don't know:
- How Brendan left his father's apartment. Did he open the door on his own and walk the half-mile down to the Cooper River? Was he taken? Is Creato somehow responsible? According to the prosecutor's office, the clean socks the boy had on when he was found means his body was placed where it was discovered.
- Why Brendan's body -- pants half down and partially wet from the river water -- was quickly removed from the scene in the woods. Some called to question that decision, including Fuschino and outside medical and forensic professionals who said such a move may have tainted the scene and affected any evidence that could have been collected there by the county medical examiner.
David "D.J." Creato Jr., 23, appears at a conference hearing at the Camden County Hall of Justice., Creato is charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment in the death of his 3-year-old son Brendan. (Tim Hawk | For NJ.com) - What killed Brendan? "Homicidal violence" that could have been caused by drowning, strangulation or blunt neck trauma, according to the prosecutor's office. That conclusion was reached after three autopsies and a toxicology test failed to find a more specific cause of death.
- Will Stensky -- who in a since-deleted blog post said she may be part of a homicide investigation -- be called to testify? Will Creato take the stand and what could his defense strategy be? What about Brendan's mother, Samatha Denoto, will she take the stand? What other cards could the prosecutor's office have up its sleeve? The prosecutor's office issued a blanket statement during Creato's arraignment back in January that made it clear the office would not comment on the case outside of court proceedings.
- What the results of Creato's polygraph test were. In a statement made during the Oct. 13 interview with police, Creato said, "yes, absolutely," when asked by prosecutor's office Detective Michael Roads if he was willing to take a lie detector test.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.