Suspect in missing New Jersey woman case has outburst during hearing

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Monday, September 23, 2019
Suspect in missing New Jersey woman case has outburst during hearing
Toni Yates reports on the missing New Jersey woman case.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, New Jersey (WABC) -- An intense hearing was held for the suspect allegedly involved in the case of a woman who went missing after a fire engulfed her New Jersey home on Sept. 12.

Ronald Teschner, 49, complained about media coverage surrounding the Sept. 12 fire that gutted the 6,000 square foot Ocean Township home where he lived with 65-year-old Jacqueline Terrulli.

Teschner was found and arrested a day later in Paterson, driving Terrulli's jeep with her two shotguns and jewelry inside.

Since the fire, investigators from the prosecutors office and justice department cadets have combed the wooded areas at and around the Wickapecko Drive home looking for Terrulli. Her family has searched too.

Investigators said they know Teschner and Terrulli were the only ones at the home at the time of the fire. He's been in custody since his arrest, and his public defender is trying to win his release from detention, arguing there's no evidence that he committed any crime.

But based on the seriousness of the case and Teschner's 30-year violent crimes record -- including an 11-year sentence for harassment and witness tampering -- the judge is keeping him in custody.

Right now, Teschner is charged only with burglary and weapons offenses.

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