Man Convicted At Retrial Of Burning, Killing Bergen County Real Estate Agent

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A 48-year-old Wood-Ridge man was convicted of murder Wednesday in the brutal killing of a Bergen County real estate agent in 2012, prosecutors said Thursday.

Daniel Rochat had been arrested back in October 2012 for allegedly beating Barbara Vernieri in her East Rutherford home in September 2012, then setting her body on fire, killing her, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office on Thursday.

Rochat was convicted of murder in 2017, but the conviction was reversed in January 2022 "due to some evidence testing being deemed as unreliable," prosecutors said.

Court records show that Rochat became acquainted with Vernieri, a grandmother who lived alone, in 2012 because she worked for a real estate agency run by his father. In September 2012, he told detectives, he paid her an unannounced visit because his car had broken down near her house. But he said he left and did not come back.

Tenants in Vernieri's building discovered the crime scene.

After a 15-day trial in Bergen County Superior Court this month, Rochat was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated arson, felony murder, unlawful desecration of human remains, hindering apprehension by providing false statements to the police, hindering apprehension by concealing and/or destroying evidence, and false swearing, prosecutors said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 14, 2024.

Prosecutors said in a release, "On September 14, 2012, Daniel Rochat entered the victim’s home, beat the victim about the head and face, then set her body on fire while she was still alive. Rochat destroyed evidence at the scene and took the victim’s cell phone."

According to a report Wednesday in the Record of Hackensack, Rochat's ex-girlfriend testified that the chain of events was spurred by her breakup with Rochat days earlier, and that she had loaned him money but told him she would not give him any more. Rochat also had recently borrowed money from his father, court records show.

Court records show that he had appealed his conviction based on DNA evidence.

During the retrial, the state was represented by Assistant Prosecutors Danielle Grootenboer and David Malfitano of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office with the assistance of Detective Chris Pelaez and Victim Advocate Susan Tanis. The defendant was represented by Anthony Pope and Eric Feinberg.

Prosecutor Mark Musella thanked Assistant Prosecutors Grootenboer and Malfitano "for their zealous advocacy and for helping to bring justice for the victim and her family in this prosecution," as well as "detectives of his Major Crimes Unit as well as members of the East Rutherford Police Department, Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their skill and professionalism in investigating this matter."

He also thanked "the many retired detectives who so nobly continue to answer the call of duty and returned to testify at trial."

Read the 2022 decision in Rochat's appeal here.