Keansburg Man Remains In Jail On Murder Charge In Ex-Fiancé's Death

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — New details are released in the case of a Keansburg man accused of fatally beating a woman he was dating, and who had recently broken off their engagement to be married:

The woman is April Duncza, 39, of Woodbridge. Police say she was beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend inside her home on Paul Street in the Fords section last Tuesday night.

Kevin Bacon, 46, of Manning Place in Keansburg, was taken into police custody Thursday, two days after her death. He is charged with first-degree murder, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

Bacon and Duncza had dated, and at one point the two were engaged, said police. However, Duncza recently broke off the relationship; Bacon is listed in police reports as her "ex fiancé." He also has a history of "stalking, harassing and making threats," according to police records on the case. Duncza's Facebook page shows many photos of the two of them together.

As of Wednesday, Bacon remains behind bars at the Middlesex County jail, pending his first detention hearing. Police also say he used a weapon against Duncza, but have not yet identified what that weapon was.

Duncza's neighbors in Woodbridge say they are still in shock:

"She was nice. She kept to herself; she was really quiet," said Joshua Sanchez, 22, who lives right next door to where the woman was killed.

Sanchez lives with his mother in the home immediately next door to the house Duncza lived in. She rented a small, one-story white apartment just behind his home; the two homes are so close they are nearly touching.

"We really didn't know her that well, because she just moved in Nov. 1. But she was really nice," he continued. "She would just go in and out, drive her Subaru to work every day and come home. My mother was extremely shocked and upset when this happened. It's really sad and it's really crazy."

According to an affidavit, Woodbridge Police went to Duncza's apartment sometime after midnight, on Wednesday, Nov. 29. They had received a 911 call from either her friend or family member, saying they were concerned about her and asking police to check on her welfare.

Police had to break down the front door of her apartment, as it was locked. Inside, they say they found Duncza's body in her bedroom. She had suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sanchez, the neighbor, said he and his mother watched as police surrounded the home last Tuesday night, and set up a yellow-tape barricade around her front door. He said he could actually see Duncza's body lying on her living room floor when police opened her front door.

According to the affidavit, police interviewed Duncza's family members and they immediately listed her ex-boyfriend as a suspect. The last person who spoke to her Tuesday night was a long-distance friend. Woodbridge Police obtained surveillance footage from homes next door, and one of the cameras showed a man entering and leaving Duncza's home multiple times Tuesday night. He was also seen carrying a grey storage bin into her apartment.

Woodbridge Police checked the license plate of a car parked on the street, and it matched that of Bacon's, putting his vehicle outside her home the night she was killed. Police then showed Duncza's sister the neighbor's security camera footage, and she identified Bacon as the man entering and leaving her sister's home, and carrying the grey storage bin.

Bacon was questioned by police at the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office in New Brunswick. He told police he found the storage bin at his home and that it belonged to Duncza. However, he denied ever trying to return the bin to her home. At that point during questioning he asked for a lawyer, and the police interview abruptly stopped.

Initial Patch report into Duncza's death: Man Charged With Murder In Woodbridge Woman's Death

According to her obituary, Duncza grew up in rural Nebraska. She had a "flourishing" career in marketing, and her friends and family praised her for her "deep spirituality and remarkable strength," as she celebrated more than 15 years of sobriety in AA. Duncza was also an accomplished artist: A painting she made was among 20 pieces of art selected to create a butterfly sculpture in Bound Brook Township. Family members described her as creative, "whimsical and imaginative," vibrant and resilient.

This case was investigated by Detective Eric Manresa of the Woodbridge Police Department and Detective Javier Morillo of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. They still seek information and surveillance footage from her alleged murder: Call Woodbridge Police Detective Manresa at 732-634-7700 or Detective Morillo with the county prosecutor at 732-745-8843.

Keansburg Man Charged With Murdering His Woodbridge Girlfriend (Dec. 1)