Woodbridge Man Guilty In Pickaxe Wanna-Be Mafia Murder

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A Woodbridge man has been found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder for arranging the brutal death of an Edison man with a pickaxe six years ago, the Middlesex County Prosecutor announced.

Michael Doce, 36, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge was convicted Tuesday. During the trial, prosecutors showed that Doce convinced Daniel Medaglia, 32, of Edison, to kill Kelvin Dumo, 28, also of Edison. Police were alerted to the crime when the victim’s body was discovered at Viking Terminal on Jernee Mill Road in Sayreville. He was fatally beaten on November 6, 2011 and his body was found the next day, on Nov. 7.

An autopsy performed by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Dumo died from blunt force trauma to the head and that the manner of death was homicide.

Prosecutors said Medaglia killed Dumo to impress Doce. Doce led him to believe he was in the Mafia, and texted him stories about the life of organized crime, largely lifted from "The Sopranos" and "Goodfellas." Medaglia and the dead man were high school friends.

Doce, for his part, said the whole thing was a "joke."

"I never thought in a million years that something like that would turn into sitting here today, fighting for my life," Doce said when he took the stand, according to NJ.com. "If I thought I'd lose my job, my career, lose my wife and someone would lose their life over a joke."

Doce was arrested and charged after after police determined that Doce discussed the homicide with Medaglia before the victim was killed.

Doce is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison when his penalty is imposed by the judge on August 18, 2017. He will be required to spend 30 years behind bars before he is eligible for parole.

Under an agreement with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, Medaglia testified against Doce and pleaded guilty to his role in the crime and will be sentenced to a 30-year prison term. Another co-defendant, Ryan Morrell, 35, of Dunellen, was charged with hindering the apprehension of Medaglia by driving him from the crime scene.

Wikimedia Commons image