Lodi man gets 50-year sentence in case of Cresskill woman stabbed 55 times

HACKENSACK — A Bergen County prosecutor called the statements and actions of Lodi resident Nicolas Coirazza "chilling" following the fatal stabbing of a Cresskill woman in June 2020.

Coirazza was sentenced Friday by Bergen County Superior Court Judge Carol Novey Catuogno to 50 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Divna Rosasco and for attempting to dump her body in Overpeck Park with the aid of her teenage daughter.

Coirazza was also sentenced to eight years for desecration. The sentences will run concurrently. Coirazza had previously pled guilty, and his attorney had asked that he be given a shorter 35-year sentence.

Rosasco was reported missing just before midnight on June 15, 2020. She was found weighed down in the waters of Overpeck Creek in an attempt to hide her body. She had been stabbed 55 times, 34 of those in the head. She also had neck wounds as well as defensive wounds.

Prosecutor Meredith Kunz said Coirazza didn't stop stabbing Rosasco until he heard her gurgling on her own blood and that he "flippantly" talked to officers about what happened.

Kunz said that at one point, Coirazza looked into the two-way mirror and was "primping" and lamenting about his appearance.

When handing down her sentence, Novey Catuogno said Coirazza was "devoid of emotion" during much of his interview with police and that he lacked remorse and empathy.

She referred to statements Coirazza made during his police interview, saying that Rosasco was "content to sacrifice herself so he would get in trouble."

Novey Catuogno described the wounds Rosasco suffered, noting many of them were not fatal and that she imagined the victim must have been terrified.

Rosasco was found after a Bergen County sheriff's officer conducted a regular check of the county park just before 2 a.m. and discovered Rosasco's abandoned car. When the officer checked the car, it appeared someone had tried to conceal who owned it, which made the officer realize that something was off.

A K-9 unit brought police from the car to the creek, where Rosasco's body was discovered wrapped in a bedsheet, with a plastic bag wrapped around her head and her body weighed down with cinder blocks.

Ron Bar-Nadav, Coirazza's attorney, told the court that his client was only trying to protect a young girl from being "terrorized" by her mother and that the girl had begun cutting herself and threatening suicide.

Kunz said the defendant wasn’t a “well-intentioned” man coming to the teen’s aid but someone two loving parents were trying to protect their daughter from.

Kunz said the Rosascos became concerned about their daughter when she began to withdraw from them and that their concern led Rosasco to look through her daughter’s phone, where she found a video of Coirazza masturbating and photos of the daughter and Coirazza together. The parents came to believe their daughter was being groomed by Coirazza since he was an adult and their daughter was 14.

Before going to the police, the Rosascos met with Coirazza and his family and told him to stay away from the girl, Kunz said.

“Despite being given a chance by her parents, he still continued to have contact, he continued to speak with her,” Kunz said. “Not only did he still have contact, he went into the family home.”

Kunz said the defendant was the problem in the family and the reason for the turmoil.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Coirazza told police he was at the girl’s Cresskill home around 8:30 a.m. when Rosasco arrived, unaware he was there, according to the affidavit.

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Coirazza hid in the home as an argument broke out between Rosasco and the girl, who was kicked out of the house into the backyard. Kunz said Coirazza grabbed the knife before hiding in a closet.

Kunz said Coirazza didn't jump out of the closet and run away. Instead, he came out, pushed Rosasco down the stairs, got on top of her and then stabbed her 55 times.

One of the stab wounds to Rosasco's head was done so forcefully, the tip of the knife broke off and became lodged in her skull, Kunz said. Some of the stab wounds left indentations in her skull, he said.

Coirazza spoke on his own behalf during the sentencing, apologizing to Rosasco’s family and appearing to cry at some points. He said that not a single day has gone by where he hasn’t thought about what happened and that he relives it every day.

“The amount of pain I caused that day doesn’t go over my head in the least,” Coirazza said.

Coirazza’s father and sister spoke to the court, saying that he was instilled with the notion of service to others.

Marcello Coirazza said that he believes it gave birth to a “hero complex” and that is what led Coirazza to where he was.

Rosasco’s family gave several victim impact statements, with her stepson reading several letters from family and friends, as well as his own statement. Victor Rosasco also addressed the court.

He described his wife as the love of his life and a partner in the many joys they shared, including cooking and hiking, and that he didn’t know that having breakfast with her that morning would be the last time he would see her.

“This left a hole in my life that can never be filled,” Victor Rosasco said.

Following the sentencing, Peter Rosasco told Coirazza he was a “child rapist and murderer” and to “go to hell.”

Coirazza rejected a plea offer in September and a tentative trial date had been scheduled for January. The prosecution offered Coirazza 45 years to plead guilty to murder, desecration and employing a juvenile in a commission of a crime. The 45 years would run concurrently with the 10 years for desecration and employing a juvenile in a commission of a crime respectively.

Bar-Nadav said turning down the prosecution’s initial 45-year plea deal was a “devastating mistake” and that the state could have offered 46 or 47 years rather than 50.

Bar-Nadav did admit it would be challenging to argue defense in Coirazza’s case as he had wounds on his hands from the knife used to stab Rosasco.

He plans on appealing the judge’s sentence and the denial of his suppression motion from September.

At the September hearing, Bar-Nadav attempted to have some of his client's statements to the police suppressed. Bar-Nadav argued that Coirazza hadn't slept in two days and he was redirected every time he mentioned retaining an attorney.

“After being awake for about 48 hours ... I think he was falling asleep in the middle of the questioning,” Bar-Nadav said. “I think he had no ability to really understand what was going on.”

Bar-Nadav claimed exhaustion made Coirazza make up stories.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Cresskill NJ woman's fatal stabbing: Lodi man sentenced to prison