Woman Charged In Murder Of Brick Man Didn't Think Boyfriend Was Serious: Report

FREEHOLD, NJ — A Monmouth County woman told investigators she didn't think her boyfriend was seriousabout shooting and killing Trupal Patel of Brick, whose body was found dumped in Shark River Park in February, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press reported Raquel Garajau, 20, of Tinton Falls, said "I could have stopped him," according to a tape of her interrogation that was played for Superior Court Judge Thomas Scully on Tuesday.

"Him" is her boyfriend, Joseph Villani, 21, of Ocean Township, with whom she is charged in Patel's murder.

Villani and Garajau were indicted in May on 13 counts, including first-degree murder in the death of Patel, 29. His body was found in the park along the side of Gully Road lying down a slight slope, at about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 22 by a Monmouth County park ranger who was collecting litter in the area, the Monmouth County prosecutor's office has said.

Patel had been reported missing to the Asbury Park Police Department by a friend on Feb. 9, and a black 2003 Jaguar that Patel was driving prior to his disappearance was discovered abandoned on an Asbury Park street on that same day, Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County proseecutor's office, has said.

Detectives determined Patel was killedat Villani’s Ocean Township residence, and Villani was arrested on Feb. 25, Webster said. Garajau, whose attorney has said she is a dean's list student at Brookdale Community College, according to the Asbury Park Press report, was arrested May 15. Both are being held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institute.

Villani confessed to the shooting when he was arrested, the Asbury Park Press reported. A friend told authorities Villani had planned to rob Patel of cash and marijuana, the report said.

Read more about Garajau's arraignment here.

Trupal Patel photo provided by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office