Jurors in the Michelle Lodzinski murder trial will rehear the testimony of two witnesses when the trial resumes Tuesday.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- A note from one of the jurors in the Michelle Lodzinski murder trial today was passed to Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves.
The judge threw the note down on his desk, and then, for the next two hours the courtroom remained closed as Nieves questioned each juror individually, along with Lodzinski's attorney, Gerald Krovatin and the two Middlesex County assistant prosecutors, Scott La Mountain and Christie Bevacqua.
Afterwards, he opened the courtroom and told each one of the jurors that what was said was a secret between him and them. "Shhhhh," he told them to say, and dutifully they repeated what he said.
Just as he released them Monday from their second full day of deliberations, he recommitted them to silence.
"I need to hear it again louder," Nieves said from the bench.
"Shhhhhhh."
Nieves has given this shorthand for jurors to keep quiet about the case outside the jury room. None of the dozen jurors or four alternates were dismissed from the panel.
Deliberations in the trial of Lodzinski, charged with the 1991 murder of her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey, began with jurors listening again to testimony from two witnesses, both police officers.
The jurors wanted to again hear Sayreville police Sgt. Ray Szkodny's explain how he showed a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sneaker to Lodzinski, and how she told him it wasn't her son's sneaker. The sneaker, found in October 1991 at Raritan Center in Edison by a Bound Brook High School science teacher, was similar to one worn by her son when he disappeared from a carnival in Sayreville the evening of May 25, 1991.
The jurors also asked to hear the testimony of the first witness in the trial, back on March 16, 2016. Gary Skolnick, an auxiliary Sayreville police officer assigned to work at the carnival, was alerted to Timmy's disappearance, by Danielle Gerding, a friend who accompanied Lodzinski's niece, Jennifer Blair, to the carnival. The two girls came upon Lodzinski shortly after 7 p.m. and asked her where Timmy was. She told them he was missing, and she couldn't find him.
Timothy disappeared on May 25, 1991. Over the weeks that followed, Lodzinski's version of events that night changed in statements to police with the last version having him abducted by a woman and two men.
Timmy's skeletal remains were found April 23, 1992 in a swampy area of Raritan Center in Edison, 11 months after his mother reported him missing.
Lodzinski was charged with her son's murder in August 2014 after the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office reopened the case in 2011.
She has always maintained that she had nothing to do with her son's disappearance or death.
The jurors have been out since Thursday and have asked to rehear the testimony of six witnesses before the additional two they asked for Monday afternoon.
They must decide among the charges of murder, aggravated manslaughter and manslaughter. Here's how the charges differ:
-- Murder is punishable by up to life in prison, and the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lodzinski purposely and or knowingly caused the death or serious bodily injury resulting in the death of her son.
-- Aggravated manslaughter is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and the state must prove that Lodzinski recklessly caused Timothy's death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.
-- Manslaughter is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and the state must prove that Lodzinski recklessly, or in the heat of passion, caused Timothy's death as a result of reasonable provocation.
The jurors are expected to return at 10 Tuesday morning to continue deliberations.
Staff writer Stephen Stirling contributed to this post.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.