Lawyer: Princeton murder suspect ‘struggling to cope’
WORCESTER — A Worcester man accused of brutally murdering a Princeton jogger was ordered held without bail yesterday after his lawyer said his client is struggling to cope with the reality of the charge he’s facing.
“It’s very difficult, very difficult,” attorney Edward P. Ryan Jr. told reporters following the brief proceeding in Worcester Superior Court. “He doesn’t speak any English, he’s never been involved in any court process before at all, and he is quite nervous and frightened.”
Angelo Colon-Ortiz, originally from Puerto Rico, pleaded not guilty through an interpreter while standing behind a door inside the courtroom. Ryan asked that Colon-Ortiz be kept out of sight, although he had appeared months ago at a district court arraignment, due to possible “identification issues.”
Charged with a single count of first-degree murder in the death of Vanessa Marcotte, Judge Daniel Wrenn ordered Colon-Ortiz held without bail and scheduled him to return to court Aug. 24 for a pretrial conference.
“In spite of what’s been reported, he stands innocent before the law, presumed to be innocent,” Ryan said outside the courtroom, “and we intend to investigate the case and move forward with his defense.”
Several members of Marcotte’s family sat in the first row of the courtroom during the arraignment and left without commenting to reporters.
Colon-Ortiz, 31, is accused of killing Marcotte last summer while the 27-year-old Google executive went for a run during a family visit in Princeton.
Her burned body was found in woods not far from her family’s home. State police said Marcotte suffered a broken nose fighting for her life and “crushing injuries to the structures surrounding her throat.”
Prosecutors say part of Colon-Ortiz’s DNA profile matched samples recovered from the victim’s hands.
Colon-Ortiz is a married father of three with no criminal record who worked in Princeton as a FedEx driver at the time of the murder, prosecutors said. He told police he did not know the victim.
Ryan said the defense is still reviewing the DNA evidence, which was recovered after Colon-Ortiz voluntarily provided a cheek swab.