Woodbridge Man Sentenced For Murdering Wife In Their Colonia Home

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — A Woodbridge Township man will seven years in a New Jersey state prison for causing the death of his 32-year-old wife on July 22, 2015.

Vito Nigro, 46, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge was sentenced Tuesday for bludgeoning to death Giorgina Nigro, in the home they shared on Devon Road in Colonia.

After his initial not-guilty plea, Nigro admitted in court this past Dec. 3 to bludgeoning his wife to death with a pick ax while she was sleeping on their couch.

Her body was found at 10 a.m. on July 22, and that same day, Nigro attempted suicide by jumping into traffic on the Garden State Parkway. At the time of her death, the couple had three young children, 4- and 6-year-old girls, and a 9-year-old boy. They used to both work together as hair stylists at European Hair Design in South Plainfield, owned by Nigro's mother, Pasqualina Nigro.

The couple was divorced, but they were living in the same home, MyCentralJersey reported. Her family members wore purple, a color that represents domestic violence awareness, at her funeral last year.

Nigro was arrested and charged following an investigation by Detective Andrew Kondracki of the Woodbridge Police Department and Detective Craig Marchak of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Nigro will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term before becoming eligible for parole. He will be on parole for five years when he is released from prison and the judge also ordered him to pay $8,000 in restitution to his wife's family.

His wife alleged years of serious physical abuse at his hands in divorce papers she served him, obtained and reported on by NJ.com, including that Nigro allegedly smoked pot "every day," did cocaine and would regularly lose money at card games, after which he would come home and beat her.

According to NJ.com, here are some of the allegations in Giorgina Nigro's divorce filing:

• When the plaintiff was pregnant with the defendant's daughter, the defendant arrived home from losing in a card game. At that time, he proceeded to break walls in the house, threw plants, and struck the plaintiff in her jaw causing pain and extreme suffering.
• Defendant engaged in a physical fight with the neighbor. When plaintiff tried to stop the defendant from hitting the neighbor, the defendant pushed her to the ground. When plaintiff went back into the house, the defendant punched the plaintiff in the head and near her ear. This caused the plaintiff's eardrum to rupture and caused her to lose hearing for two weeks and caused extreme pain.

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