Ocean Twp. Man Guilty Of Murdering Woman, Setting Her Home On Fire

OCEAN TOWNSHIP, NJ — This week, a Monmouth County jury found an Ocean Township man guilty on nearly all charges of murdering a longtime family friend and then setting her home on fire in an attempt to cover his tracks.

The trial of Ronald Teschner, 52, lasted about a month in Monmouth County Superior Court. On Wednesday, he was was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery, three first-degree weapons offenses, second-degree aggravated arson, desecration of human remains, burglary, theft, drug offenses and resisting arrest, plus other charges.

These are all in connection with the 2019 murder of Jacqueline Terrulli, 65.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, September 12, 2019, firefighters and other first responders rushed to a home on Wickapecko Drive in Ocean Township that was fully engulfed in flames. Once the fire was put out, police determined two residents of the home were unaccounted for: Teschner and Terrulli, the woman who owned the home.

Terrulli had allowed Teschner to live in her home.

Terrulli’s vehicle, a white Jeep Cherokee, was also missing from the property.

The next morning, on Friday, September 13, 2019, Ocean Township Police found her Jeep parked on a residential street in Paterson, a little more than an hour’s drive north. Teschner was located in the driver’s seat, and recovered from the vehicle were two shotguns, a quantity of fentanyl, and jewelry and other items belonging to Terrulli.

Murder charges were filed against him in December of that year. He was indicted on 16 counts, including first-degree murder, 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 the remains and totally covered them, initially concealing them.

Prosecutors say Teschner killed Terrulli while her Terrulli’s mother and two siblings were away in Atlantic City.

“This was a genuinely monstrous crime, hallmarked by callous brutality: Jacqueline Terrulli welcomed (Teschner) into her home to live, and as a result of that charity, lost her life,” said First Assistant Prosecutor Michael Wojciechowski, who help prosecute this case. “While this verdict can’t bring her back, we hope it offers some sense of solace to her family and friends, knowing that justice has been served.”

Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2023, at which time Teschner will face a term of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In addition to Wojciechowski, this case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Joseph Cummings and Katherine Butler, who presented evidence at trial including witness testimony, cell-phone records and physical evidence.

The Prosecutor’s Office would again like to sincerely thank the numerous agencies that participated in this investigation and/or the extensive search for Terrulli’s remains.