By The Diary
Aug 30, 2024, 09:28 AM EDT
William DiBernardino Jr. (49) was accused of hiring a couple for almost $40,000 to burn his ex-girlfriend using acid in New Jersey.
DiBernardino, a Boynton Beach, Florida, resident, allegedly hired a Jacksonville couple – identified as Betty Jo Lane (38) and Jmarr McNeil (39) – to travel to New Jersey and carry out the violent plan, according to the Gloucester County District Attorney’s Office.
The attack took place on July 26 outside the 42-year-old victim’s home in Monroe Township and she has been hospitalized in critical condition ever since. All three suspects were arrested in Florida last week.
It is unclear what happened between DiBernardino and the unidentified victim to provoke the violent attack. The two were together for 12 years before splitting up, Assistant District Attorney Dana Anton said, as quoted by the court. Daily News.
The woman was airlifted to a burn center and remains in the hospital in critical condition after undergoing more than 10 surgeries, prosecutors said yesterday.
In addition to hiring the couple, the ex-boyfriend allegedly also provided them with instructions on where to obtain a GPS tracking device to place on the victim’s car.
On the day of the attack, Lane allegedly approached the woman as she was returning home from work and threw a cup of acid at her, causing chemical burns to about 35 percent of her body. The attacker then sped away from the crime scene with McNeil, according to prosecutors.
DiBernardino, Lane and McNeil now face charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit murder and stalking. All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case, an immigrant woman in New York was sentenced this week after pleading guilty to hiring a hitman to kill her brother-in-law.
Crimes of passion between spouses and ex-partners are common. On Wednesday night, a man shot and killed his ex-wife and her current boyfriend in the luxurious house that was their marital home in Long Island (NY).
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