Prosecutor: Area Man Gets Life Prison Sentence for 2019 Murder, Arson

An area man who was convicted of murdering a family friend in 2019 and then setting her home on fire has been sentenced to life in prison, Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Julia Alonso announced on Wednesday.

Ronald J. Teschner, 53, was sentenced yesterday in connection with the death of that friend, 65-year-old Jacqueline C. Terrulli.

During yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Terrulli was described as an abundantly generous and kind person who had allowed Teschner to live in her home.

“Yesterday’s sentencing was commensurate with the abhorrent nature of these crimes,” First Assistant Prosecutor Alonso added. “We again extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Jacqueline Terrulli, with the hope that the conclusion of the criminal case brings them some degree of satisfaction in knowing that justice has been served on her behalf.”

The case background …

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, firefighters and other first responders rushed to a home on Wickapecko Drive in Ocean Township that was engulfed in flames.

Once the fire was put out, a joint investigation by members of the Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and Forensic Bureau, the Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Ocean Township Police Department determined that two residents of the home were unaccounted for: Teschner and Terrulli, the homeowner. Terrulli’s vehicle, a white Jeep Cherokee, was also missing from the property.

The next morning, on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, Ocean Township police found the Cherokee parked on a residential street in Paterson, roughly an hour’s drive away. Teschner was found in the driver’s seat, and recovered from the vehicle were two shotguns, fentanyl, and jewelry and other items belonging to Terrulli.

Teschner remained lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) following his arrest, and murder charges were filed against him in December of 2019. A Monmouth County Grand Jury then returned a 16-count indictment in the case in February 2020.

Later that year, on Thursday, June 18, 2020, as demolition and site remediation work was being performed on the Wickapecko Drive property, human remains that would later be identified as belonging to Terrulli were found wrapped in plastic and buried several feet underground. As a result of the fire, charred rubble had collapsed upon and covered the remains, initially concealing them from detection.

The case against Teschner proceeded to trial late last year where evidence was presented at trial including witness testimony, cell phone records, and physical evidence showing that the murder took place while Terrulli’s mother and two siblings were away in Atlantic City.

The month-long trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley concluded in October 2022, resulting in Teschner being convicted of: first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery, three first-degree weapons offenses, second-degree aggravated arson, second-degree desecration of human remains, third-degree aggravated assault, third-degree burglary, third-degree robbery, three counts of third-degree theft, a third-degree drug offense, and fourth-degree resisting arrest.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office