FILE 93 / 8 November 2018 / 133 MIN / full

Perverted, Depraved & Mom Approved

Middle Township, New JerseyListen

The town

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We're going all the way to Middle Township, New Jersey, which is at the very bottom of Jersey; it's in Cape May County. about 0:06:17

History, in brief

Town note

Native Americans used the area to hunt and fish during the summer before Europeans arrived.

about 0:11:37

Town note

The area that is now Cape May County was claimed at different times as part of New Netherlands, New Sweden, the province of New Jersey under the British crown and later West Jersey.

about 0:11:49

1609

On August 28th, 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the Delaware Bay and stayed one day on land at what is now Cape May Point.

about 0:12:31

1620

Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobson May sailed the New Jersey coastline from 1620 to 1621.

about 0:13:51
All 24 history facts

Town note

Native Americans used the area to hunt and fish during the summer before Europeans arrived.

about 0:11:37

Town note

The area that is now Cape May County was claimed at different times as part of New Netherlands, New Sweden, the province of New Jersey under the British crown and later West Jersey.

about 0:11:49

1609

On August 28th, 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the Delaware Bay and stayed one day on land at what is now Cape May Point.

about 0:12:31

1620

Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobson May sailed the New Jersey coastline from 1620 to 1621.

about 0:13:51

Town note

The Dutch West India Company purchased 16 square miles of land from the indigenous people along the Delaware River, then bought more land about 11 years later.

about 0:14:33

1640

The Dutch founded a town bank in the area in 1640 around the Delaware Bay because it was a whaling village.

about 0:15:36

1685

Whale numbers declined by 1685, the bank lost its money, and by 1750 most of the town was gone again.

about 0:15:56

1699

The first water mill in the county was constructed in 1699 in Cold Spring.

about 0:18:13

1718

The first Cold Spring Presbyterian church was built in 1718 and served as the centre of early local government.

about 0:18:25

1764

The first jail and courthouse were built in 1764.

about 0:19:12

Town note

The area grew as what the hosts call America's oldest bathing resort, or in the town's preferred phrase the nation's oldest seashore resort.

about 0:19:50

Town note

During the Revolutionary War two British ships pursued and attacked the American brig Nancy, which fled into an inlet; the abandoned and sabotaged brig exploded after the British boarded it, killing 30 British sailors.

about 0:21:13

1798

Cape May County was split into three townships, lower, middle and upper, in 1798.

about 0:21:42

1812

During the War of 1812 British raids forced farms in the area to supply food and water.

about 0:21:50

1869

Cape Island Borough was the oldest independent borough in the county and became part of Cape May in 1869.

about 0:22:01

Town note

Ocean City, in Lower Township, was founded as a religious retreat.

about 0:22:07

1887

A land development company established Avalon in Cape May County in 1887.

about 0:22:33

1891

Woodbine was founded in 1891 as an agricultural settlement for Russian Jews fleeing religious persecution.

about 0:22:40

1928

North Cape May was founded in 1928 and dissolved after it failed to attract development.

about 0:23:27

1955

The area floundered until the Garden State Parkway was built in 1955 and tourists could get down there.

about 0:23:37

Town note

The town's motto is 'where New Jersey truly meets Panhandle'.

about 0:11:15

Town note

Middle Township covers 82 square miles, 70 of them on land.

about 0:09:25

The figures, as told

Religious

54%

Biggest faith: Catholic, 37%

about 0:28:56

Who lives here

White about 83% · Black 10% · Asian about 1.79% · Hispanic 5%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ about 20% higher

about 0:34:13

Violent crime
▲ about 20% higher

about 0:34:23

Money

Median home value$333,500
Two-bedroom rent$1,350 a month
Median household income$57,394
Cost of living$125 out of $100

For sale

$160,000

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,296 square feet

about 0:31:52

For sale

$269,000

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,700 square feet

about 0:32:20

For sale

$525,000

Four-bedroom, three-bath house on the water, 3,100 square feet

about 0:32:37
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2018

Population

"18,778"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:28

Population in 1990

"14,771"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:33

Residents under 18

"about 21%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:40

Residents 65 and older

"19%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:47

Median age

"44.6"

Comparison: "about seven years older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:26:54

Residents who are married

"54%"

Comparison: "50-50 is the normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:27

Average household size

"2.58"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:55

White residents

"about 83%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:59

Black residents

"10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:27:59

Asian residents

"about 1.79%"

Comparison: "about half of the norm". Direction: below.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:05

Hispanic residents

"5%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:12

Residents who are religious

"54%"

Comparison: "a little above the average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:28:56

County voters Democrat

"45%"

Comparison: "county figures, no town voting stats". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:43

County voters Republican

"54%"

Comparison: "county figures, no town voting stats". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:43

Unemployment rate

"6.8%"

Comparison: "national about 5.2%". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:29:57

Household income

"$57,394"

Comparison: "about $4,000 over the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:07

Cost of living index

"$125 out of $100"

Comparison: "$100 is average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:24

Housing cost index

"$177"

Comparison: "$100 is average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:30:28

Median home cost

"$333,500"

Comparison: "national average $216,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:00

Homes priced between $150,000 and $300,000

"about 40% of houses"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:05

Vacation rentals

"about 51%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:20

Two-bedroom rent

"$1,350 a month"

Comparison: "national average about $1,250". No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:42

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,296 square feet

"$160,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:31:52

Three-bedroom, two-bath house, 1,700 square feet

"$269,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:32:20

Four-bedroom, three-bath house on the water, 3,100 square feet

"$525,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2018 about 0:32:37

Property crime

"about 20% higher"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:34:13

Violent crime

"about 20% higher"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2018 about 0:34:23

The reviews

3.0 / 5 · average of 1

3 stars

“There are good and bad people in this community, but drug use is on the rise and is causing crime rates to increase; it is sad to see and makes the reviewer want to move away.”
about 0:35:29

In New Jersey

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The story

Josephine Trombetta was twenty-nine years old in 1980. She had graduated from Millville Senior High School in 1970 and lived in South Dennis, New Jersey, a short drive from the southern tip of the state.

The two men were drinking when Josephine arrived and she joined them. Josephine denied it and, sensibly, decided to leave. They would not let her.

What followed lasted around six hours. They held her against her will, forced her to undress, beat and kicked her, and made her sign over the title to her car, which is why two of them were later caught trying to sell it. They shaved her head, spray-painted her body from head to toe with black paint and made her put her breasts in boiling water. Twice during the ordeal they forced her to perform oral sex on a dog.

Shovels had been put in the car before they left. In fact she was still alive. She was buried, dug up still alive, and buried again.

Josephine had last been seen on 4 December.

On 10 January 1981 Bert Schubert, a former policeman, was walking in the woods between ten and eleven in the morning when he found a partially frozen body in a shallow grave, 250 yards east of Stagecoach Road and about half a mile from Shell Bay Road, in the Cape May Courthouse section of Middle Township. The body was jet black, which at first looked like burning but was paint, and the head was shaved. The clothing matched Josephine's. Police roped off the area and waited until about seven in the evening for the state medical examiner, Dr Robert Good, to be flown in to supervise the excavation. The body went to the morgue at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital and was autopsied the next day once it had thawed. The autopsy showed she had not been pregnant.

Bail was set at $250,000 each for the three men and $75,000 each for the three women.

He was due to be eligible to apply again in 2016.

The case

Murder of Josephine Trombetta

Victims

Josephine Trombetta (29). Graduated from Millville Senior High School in 1970; lived in South Dennis; had been seeing on and off.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 8 November 2018.

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Bert Schubert. former policeman who found the body in the woods
Dr. Robert Good. state medical examiner who was flown in to supervise the excavation
Paul Pitts. spokesman for the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office

The timeline

  1. December 4th, 1980 Josephine Trombetta goes to what she thinks is a party at apartment and is last seen alive. ( apartment)about 0:48:45
  2. December 4th, 1980 Over about six hours the family confront her about the pregnancy rumour, hold her against her will, strip her, beat her, make her sign over her car title, shave her head, spray-paint her black, burn her breasts and force her to perform oral sex on a dog twice. ( apartment)about 1:10:04
  3. December 4th, 1980 She is driven to a dirt road in the woods near a gravel pit, stabbed, buried alive, dug up still alive, stabbed again and her throat cut, then reburied. (woods near the gravel pit)about 1:22:47
  4. December 5th, 1980 tells he had blood all over his trousers and that he had to cut her throat. ( apartment)about 1:18:45
  5. January 5th, 1981 gives a further statement to police about his conversation with after the killing.about 1:18:45
  6. the next day is taken to a psychologist and hypnotised to try to establish where the body was buried.about 1:19:38

Places and phrases

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Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode