Michelle Lodzinski

I am unsure if this case proves that you simply cannot get away with murder, or if it proves that no matter how long it takes an investigator will put the pieces together they way in which they want and “get” their “man.” Now, do not take this as a case that I am coming out of the gate and saying that I believe the perpetrator who was eventually convicted was not guilty because that is not the case. I just believe that the passage of time can often distort a case and maybe if investigators in essence had done their job the first time the evidence that led to the arrest of Michelle Lodzinski would have gotten out sooner, with more accuracy and less questions.

On May 25, 1991 Michelle Lodzinski called the police and stated that she and her son, Timothy Wiltsey had been at the local carnival in Sayreville New Jersey and that she had turned her back to pay for a pop she had purchased but when she turned back around Timothy was gone. Law enforcement pounced on the carnival to the point that it was said that it was shut down while large search parties began looking for the five year old.

A week after Timothy disappeared Michelle went to authorities with a new story to tell. Now she was saying that two men with a knife had taken Timothy and intimidated her into silence. The next day she went back again and told authorities that the perpetrators were two men and woman that she knew. The woman was allegedly named “Ellen” and was a “Go-Go dancer” and a customer at the bank in which Michelle worked as a teller. She quickly made herself the prime suspect in the disappearance of her son. She was allegedly given two lie detector tests and had failed them. Of course we all know those tests are not allowed in a court of law, but investigator use them as a tool to gauge the honesty of someone. Investigators spoke to people at the carnival and no one remembered seeing Timothy, who was said to be wearing a bright red shirt. Even people who knew Michelle and admitted seeing her at the carnival say they never saw Timothy, or any child with her. They also looked into finding “Ellen” and all leads failed. Michelle had told authorities that on the afternoon of the day he disappeared she and Timothy had gone to a park. Investigators learned that the parking lot in which she claimed she parked was closed on that day. The last confirmed sighting of Timothy came from a neighbor in their South Amboy neighborhood who said they saw him playing outside on the morning of his alleged disappearance.

On October 26, 1991 a man who was bird watching found a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shoe in a wooded park area. It had been reported that Timothy had such shoes but when it was shown to Michelle she denied it was Timothy's. By now investigators had long ruled out Timothy's father, George Wiltsey who lived in Iowa and apparently had little to no involvement in his son's life. Authorities determined he had never left Iowa and it did not seem to be an assumption that he would have hired someone to either kidnap, or possibly murder Timothy. Authorities decided they needed more help and called in the FBI. In early April an FBI agent went back to the area in which the shoe had been found and it was learned that Michelle had once worked nearby. More interesting was the fact that when she had given the investigators a work history she had left this place of employment out. On April 23, 1992 a full scale search of the area was made. Quickly a shoe matching the one that had been previously found was discovered. Soon after a partial skeleton was found with pieces of clothing matching what was reported that Timothy was wearing. Also with the items was a blue blanket. This blanket would be of significance later. Due to advanced decomposition no time, location or exact medical cause of death could be determined. Identification had to be confirmed through dental records.

It is unclear exactly what went on in the investigation for the next few years. Then on January 21, 1994 Michelle was back in the scope of investigators but for a different reason. Her car was found idling in the driveway of her home but Michelle was not there. She showed up the following day in Detroit Michigan claiming that she had been abducted by a FBI agent who she claimed told her he was doing this “to teach her a lesson for talking about Timmy.” Two weeks later her brother found a business card for an FBI agent on her door. There was a message written on the back... “It's not over.” Investigators looked into the case and discovered that Michelle had visited a local print shop and had business cards for an FBI agent printed. Finally Michelle admitted to the fake kidnapping. She was sentenced to six months on house arrest and three years probation.

By 1997 Michelle was pregnant with her second child (father is never mentioned in my research). It was in that year that she pleaded guilty to stealing a computer from a former employer. Once again she was given house arrest and probation although the specifics were unknown. In 1998 she moved to Florida and then in 1999 moved to Minnesota where a few years later she got married. By 2003, pregnant with her third child, the marriage was over and Michelle moved back to Florida buying a house in Port St. Lucie.

On August 6, 2014, Timothy's 29^th birthday Michelle Lodzinski was arrested and charged in the murder of her son nearly twenty-five years earlier. The judge in the case did allow evidence of her changing statements about what had occurred to establish circumstantial evidence of her guilt but did not allow evidence of the kidnapping hoax. Michelle's trial began on March 16, 2016. At least three women who had babysat for Timothy back in 1991 identified the blanket that was found near the body as being one similar or identical to one that Michelle kept on her couch in her home. Authorities had spent a lot of time focusing on that blanket. Michelle had claimed to not own such a blanket but investigators believed that only someone close to Timothy would have taken the blanket to cover his body. That is often thought to be an act of compassion from the murderer, despite what they had already done. The fact that the blanket was there also indicated to investigators that Timothy had not been at the carnival as Michelle had claimed. The day he disappeared it had been ninety degrees and humid outside. It was not described as a child's blanket that he would have been carrying even if it was a cool day.

Prosecutors claimed that Michelle killed Timothy because he was a “burden” to her and her lifestyle. They put former school administrators as well as former employers of Michelle's on the stand. School officials testified that Timothy had attended kindergarten from September of 1990 to May of 1991. Within that time period he was late sixty three days and absent twenty-five. In the same respect two former employers claimed that Michelle herself was late or absent herself quite often. It seems that she was never at a job more than a few months at a time.

After more than sixty witnesses testified in the case the jury heard closing arguments. They returned with a verdict on May 18, 2016 after less than four hours of deliberations. The jury found Michelle guilty of first degree murder. After several delays she was sentenced to thirty years in prison without the possibility of parole on January 5, 2017.

I attempted to find Michelle in the New Jersey Department of Corrections but failed. Despite the fact that she had married, and divorced, in the time period all reports still listed her surname as Lodzinski which was her maiden name. So of course I began there but after being unable to find her I discovered I could search by first name only and I made two more attempts. Even more interesting I found an articled dated in 2018, still using the Lodzinski name that stated she was in the state prison system. The article referred to a suit she filed against the prison system and the county. I had noticed in articles during her trial that one of her arms looked to be heavily bandaged. Apparently while being transported to court she had been chained and restrained at her wrists and ankles. The court filing claims that she tripped and fell causing permanent injuries to her wrist and hand. It also claims that she was refused adequate medical treatment which made the injury worse.

I do believe Michelle was guilty in the murder of her son but I also believe that with due diligence that could have been proven decades earlier. It appears that her family seemed to be a bit divided as to their beliefs. Some family members claimed that to talk about Timothy years later was considered to be “taboo” of sorts but Michelle's other two sons claimed that she talked of him often to them. It appears that the family members that lived near her in New Jersey at the time of Timothy's murder believe in her guilt while those who did not live near believe her to be innocent.