Update: Ex-boyfriend of young mom slain in her Waldwick home charged with murder
OCTOBER 24, 2013--A 23-year-old single mother and 2008 Miss Teen New Jersey pageant contestant was found dead on Wednesday afternoon after apparently being strangled at her parents' home in Waldwick, with her baby lying unharmed in a bassinet nearby, authorities said.
Mary Greff, who gave birth to a baby boy in February, was found by her father at 1 p.m. in a second-floor bedroom of the house on Mary Lane, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said at the scene. Her infant son appears to have been alone for hours because police said they believe she died sometime in the early morning hours on Wednesday.
"An autopsy is yet to be performed, but the death has been ruled a homicide due to evidence of strangulation/asphyxiation," Molinelli said in a statement on Wednesday night.
The dead woman's parents, Leon and Carol Ann Greff, who are well known in education circles, had gone out on Wednesday morning to run errands, Molinelli said. They called police after they returned home and Leon Greff found his daughter's body on her bedroom floor, Molinelli said.
Mary Greff's body remained where it had been found for much of the day as police cordoned off the area and waited for a warrant to search inside and for the medical examiner to arrive. The examiner arrived shortly after 8 p.m., and Greff's body was removed from the house about an hour later.
Mary Greff was adopted when she was a preteen, Molinelli said. She was a contestant in the 2008 Miss New Jersey Teen USA contest, according to the pageant's website. She graduated from Waldwick High School in 2009 and attended Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vt., where she majored in special education and was on the dean's list.
She had left college and moved in with her parents when she gave birth to a son in February, said Marissa Molinaro, a friend and former classmate of Greff's. Greff then lived for a time in Waldwick with the father of her child, whom a friend identified as Mark Spatucci, but recently moved back in with her parents, she said.
Attempts to reach Spatucci were unsuccessful. A woman who identified herself as his mother when reached by phone said she was concerned about her grandson. "I don't know anything," said the woman, who declined to give her name. "They're not telling me a damn thing. I'm trying to get my 9-month-old grandson," adding that she had been unable to do so.
Molinelli initially said police believed Greff died between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 1 a.m. Wednesday. He later said in a statement that she had died in the "early-morning hours" on Wednesday. He described her as "very petite, thin" and said she recently began working as a hostess at a restaurant. Greff had written on her Facebook page that she was working at the Tilted Kilt Pub in Wayne.
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WALDWICK (WABC) -- Police in New Jersey have arrested the former boyfriend of a young mother found strangled to death with their infant in the same room. The body of 23-year-old Mary Greff, a former Miss New Jersey Teen USA contestant, was discovered in bed Wednesday in the Waldwick home she shared with her parents. Her infant was found unharmed in a bassinet in the same room.
Investigators say Mark Spatucci, 22, drove to the Greff residence and entered the house through a second floor window and entered the victim's bedroom on Tuesday night. Once inside the bedroom with the victim and the baby, Spatucci and Greff began arguing. Authorities say it is believed the baby and Greff's parents were sleeping at the time.
The argument apparently turned violent and Spatucci is alleged to have killed Greff and left her lying on her bed. Autopsy is still pending, but the cause of death is believed to be by asphyxiation.
Investigators say Spatucci then left the Greff residence in the same manner that he entered, unnoticed by the victim's parents.
Police found him late Wednesday afternoon in Midland Park and taken into custody for questioning. He was later charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering apprehension. Spatucci is currently lodged in the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack on $2,000.000.00 bail.
According to the family, Spatucci had court ordered custody visitation with the baby but Mary Greff had full custody. Greff's parents had gone out to run errands on Wednesday morning, and police say the body was there for about 12 hours before she was found.
"They left in the morning, and it wasn't until they returned when they realized that they had not heard from their daughter," Bergen County Prosecutor James Molinelli said. "So that's when the father went upstairs and found the body."
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