David Creato Trial Jury Sees Photos, Visits Alleged Murder Scene

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — The testimony of a lead investigator continued on Thursday in the murder trial of David Creato, the Haddon Township father accused of killing his 3-year-old son. The jury also saw photos from the scene in which Brendan Creato’s body was found on Oct. 13, 2015, and physically visited the site in the afternoon, according to published reports. The judge previously banned the media from visiting the scene with the jury.

On cross-examination, Det. Michael Rhodes told defense attorney Richard J. Fuschino Jr. that Creato answered all questions when he was taken to the Haddon Township Police Department after police found his son’s body near the Cooper River, the Courier Post reports. Creato also didn’t want to meet with an attorney, despite being asked three times.

Rhodes said he didn’t consider Creato to be a suspect at first, but began to consider the possibility after about two weeks. He said they kept Creato at the police station for 12 hours to keep him from being exposed to the media the day his son died.

Rhodes said that if Creato had asked to see his family, he would’ve been allowed to. However, Fuschino provided a transcript that showed Creato did ask to see his family at 6:40 p.m., according to nj.com. He wasn’t allowed to leave the station until 9 p.m.

Fuschino’s line of questioning is designed to back up his position that the investigation was flawed because police assumed Creato was guilty from the start and didn’t consider other possibilities.

Rhodes did admit that police believe it was a murder from the start, according to CBS 3. In the pictures the jury viewed before visiting the alleged murder scene, Creato was lying on top of a rock with his body partially submerged in the water. Det. Nick Volano said Brendan Creato’s pajamas were wet from the silt, but his socks were clean.

For his part, Fuschino said his client didn’t believe his son walked from his father’s apartment to the river. He pointed to a report that came out shortly after Brendan Creato’s body was found saying that a man with a stroller was seen in the same area around the same time.

Police have said they believe that person wasn’t involved, and there was no DNA found on the stroller, which was later found behind a shed. Detectives also said they have questioned other people who were in the area, and that David Creato was the most likely suspect.

Rhodes’s testimony began on Wednesday, when he said that a forensics analysis of Creato's cell phone turned up a photo of David Creato at the spot where Brendan Creato's body was found about 36 hours earlier.

David Creato is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The prosecution believes Creato killed his son because his girlfriend hates children and was jealous of the relationship he had with Brendan.

The girl, Julia Stensky, is not a suspect because there is proof she was at college at Pace University in New York the night Brendan disappeared.

Creato said in a video that was shown on Wednesday that she had given him an ultimatum, to choose between her and Brendan. David Creato said he always told her Brendan would always be in his life.

But on Thursday, the depth of that relationship was challenged, with Fuschino pointing to the fact that David Creato initially misidentified the girl as Julia Spensky, according to the Courier Post.