Flash Sale! Unlimited Digital Access - for the first month

By

• Richard Cowen | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Totowa man charged with the beating death of a 38-year-old medical technician, and three family members accused of helping him dispose of the woman’s body, all entered not guilty pleas on Wednesday.

The accused killer, Justin Fisher, and three family members — his father, Ali Gibson, mother, Clo Fisher, and brother, Ali Fisher — all appeared virtually before Judge Justine Niccolai during arraignment proceedings in Passaic County Superior Court.

All four have been indicted in the death of Stephanie DeJesus, a medical technician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Newark, whose battered body was found stuffed inside the trunk of her car in her hometown of Paterson on Feb. 25.

Justin Fisher, 30, faces the most serious charge — first-degree murder — along with desecration of human remains, evidence tampering, obstruction, hindering apprehension and weapons possession. He faces life in prison if convicted of murder.

His family members were not indicted for murder, but they also face lengthy prison terms if convicted of desecrating human remains, evidence tampering, obstruction and hindering apprehension.

Ali Fisher’s attorney, John McMahon, said he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against his client. The judge will hear that motion on Sept. 19.

The judge said the case is on the speedy trial tract, meaning the aim is to resolve the matter within a year. The next hearing will be held in late August.

The state alleges that DeJesus was beaten to death on Feb 23 by Justin Fisher, after the woman came to visit him at an apartment in Totowa where he lived with his fiancé, Joelle Martucci, and their infant child.

Martucci later told authorities that the couple was planning to move out and move in with relatives to save money for an apartment. But some of the cardboard boxes the couple had lying around to pack their stuff were used to move the woman’s body to the trunk of her car that night.

Martucci, who was initially charged as an accomplice to murder, pleaded guilty earlier this year to desecrating human remains and was given probation in exchange for her testimony.

Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Barrera told the judge that the state has more than 100 video clips taken from surveillance cameras that purportedly show Fisher and the family moving the body. The car with the woman in it was found two days later at the corner of Ryerson Avenue and James Street in Paterson by a resident who saw blood dripping from the trunk and called police, according to the arrest affidavit.

Barrera told the court that the state has not yet offered a plea deal in the case, but that discussions would continue with Justin Fisher’s attorney, Allisa Hascup.

“I will continue to discuss the case with Miss Hascup, but at this time I will reserve on a plea offer,” Barrera told the judge.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Richard Cowen may be reached at .