Man Arrested In Toms River Motel Robbery Is Shot 9 Times, Killed

A 22-year-old man who was arrested in July in connection with the assault and robbery of a Lacey Township man at the Howard Johnson motel in Toms River has been found shot to death, Monmouth County authorities said Monday.

William H. Karecki was found dead in a parking lot in the Cliffwood Beach section of Aberdeen on Sunday night, according to Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Police were called about 9:45 p.m. to a parking lot on Ocean Boulevard, Webster said, and found Karecki, already dead.

No arrests had been made as of late Monday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Patrick Petruzziello of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 or Detective Anthony Valentino of the Aberdeen Township Police Department at 732-583-4200, ext 205.

Karecki’s sister told NJ 101.5 that he had been shot nine times, and that he had left the family’s home in Cliffwood Beach after receiving a phone call from a restricted number earlier Sunday evening.

NJ.com reported that Karecki’s father, Ed, said the family had no issues with anyone and was well-known in town.

Karecki was one of three people charged in July with robbing a Lacey man at a Toms River motel. Toms River police spokesman Ralph Stocco in July said Karecki, who lived in Keyport at the time, was arrested along with Kevin Gesualdo, 24, of Sunset Place, Port Monmouth section of Middletown Township, and Nicole Cantatore, 18, of Brainard Avenue, Port Monmouth, in the July 20 incident.

Stocco said the victim told police that while he was in his room at the motel with his girlfriend, a 21-year-old woman from Port Monmouth, there was a knock on the door. At the door was his ex-girlfriend, now identified as Cantatore, Stocco said.

A moment later two men -- now identified as Gesualdo and Karecki -- entered the room and began assaulting the Lacey man, Stocco said. They then took $200 cash belonging to the man and fled the area.

The man, who suffered extensive injuries, was taken to Community Medical Center for treatment, Stocco said.

The investigation led to the three because Cantatore is the victim’s ex-girlfriend, he said, and indications are she and the two men knew the victim was at the hotel on the date and time of the crime. Investigators believe he was specifically targeted as opposed to this being a random act, Stocco said.

Detective Louis Santora arrested and charged the three on July 23. Karecki and Cantatore were charged with robbery and criminal restraint, while Gesualdo was charged with robbery, Stocco said.

Karecki, whose bail was set at $125,000, was out on bond, according to jail records, and living in Cliffwood Beach, authorities said.

Gesualdo remains in the Ocean County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to jail records

Cantatore, whose bail was set at $125,000, also is out on bond, according to jail records.

(Photo via Ocean County Corrections Department)