David Shroitman is a Somerville, New Jersey, man who is accused of stabbing his former high school classmate, Maryrose Fealey, a visual artist and real estate agent, to death.
Fealey, 27, was stabbed 37 times outside her home on January 30, according to February 5 court documents accusing Shroitman of Fealey’s murder.
According to My Central New Jersey, a judge has ordered that Shroitman stay in jail until his trial, calling him an “extremely dangerous individual.”
The motive is not clear. Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Gerard Tyrell told the judge that there was “no evidence of a romantic relationship” between Shroitman and the victim, My Central New Jersey reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. David Shroitman Is Accused of Writing a ‘Manifesto’ That Planned the Murder of Maryrose Fealey ‘Step by Step’
MugshotDavid Shroitman.
Shroitman is accused of writing a manifesto “laying out a plan step by step,” the probable cause affidavit says.
The complaint against Shroitman says that he committed the “crime of murder” by “stabbing the victim approximately 37 times with a sharp object causing the victim’s death.” It also accuses him of “utilizing bleach to clean” a tan Toyota Camry.
The complaint says that at 10:20 p.m. on January 30, the Somerville Police Department responded to a residence on North Bridge Street regarding a 911 call “for an unresponsive female.”
They located the victim “with multiple apparent stab wounds. The victim was deceased by the time the officers arrived on scene. The victim was returning home from a business in Bridgewater New Jersey” at about 9 p.m., the court documents say.
One of the victim’s relatives advised “that upon arriving home the victim’s front passenger door of their vehicle was open with their belongings spread throughout the front yard area. A relative located the victim unresponsive with multiple stab wounds,” the affidavit says.
By “word of mouth,” police developed Shroitman as a suspect, it says, adding that, when they searched his house, they obtained “numerous bleach containers” located throughout the residence and “a manifesto laying out a plan step by step for the homicide.”
2. Somerville Police Built Their Case Against David Shroitman by Gathering Video Evidence
#njmornings “Court believes he poses a grave danger to community if released” says Judge during Detention Hearing for David Shroitman. He’ll be held with bail. He’s the man charged with the stabbing death of 27 year old Maryrose Fealey in #Somerville. Story today on @News12NJ
The complaint says Somerville police painstakingly built a case against Shroitman by gathering video evidence.
On February 1, dash cam surveillance was obtained from the night of January 30. It shows “a male in a gray sweatshirt, black face [gaiter] and thick cushioned sneakers” standing at the intersection of North Bridge Street and Cliff Street in Somerville near the victim’s residence around 8:59 p.m., the court documents say.
On February 2, detectives “attempted to speak with Shroitman at a business in Bridgewater, New Jersey.” They observed a white garbage bag over the driver’s seat of a tan Toyota Camry and a black gaiter in the front passenger seat along with “duct tape in the rear seat,” it says. He declined to speak with detectives, the documents say.
On February 4, surveillance video was obtained from a residence the night of the homicide and showed a male matching the description from the dash cam video running up and down East Cliff Street at around 9:02 p.m., the documents say. Shortly after the male ran out of view of the video a sedan matching the description of the Camry drove into view down Cliff Street, they add.
At 5:56 p.m. on February 4, police responded “ to a suspicious person call at a business in Somerville.” They found Shroitman “who was wearing clear latex gloves cleaning his vehicle,” the complaint says. They could smell the odor of bleach. They later found a “discarded clear latex glove with apparent blood” on East Cliff Street, according to the complaint.
The driver’s door of Shroitman’s car was doused in bleach and “Luminol spray detected blood in the entryway and bathroom area of Shroitman’s residence,” the complaint says, adding that clothing and sneakers were found matching the man on the surveillance video.
3. David Shroitman Was Classmates With Maryrose Fealey at Somerville High School in New Jersey
Facebook (MaryRose Fealey)MaryRose Fealey.
The link between Shroitman and Fealey so far appears to be that they were high school classmates and also attended the same college, although the latter was during different years.
On Facebook, Fealey wrote that she “studied at Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick” and “went to Somerville High School.”
According to My Central New Jersey, the lawyer representing Shroitman told the court that he has “significant mental health problems” as well as migraines.
The 27-year-old has no criminal history and graduated from Rutgers Business School in 2022, according to MyCentralNewsey, which added that he has worked in a full-time job for two years.
The site reported that both Nealey and Shroitman grew up “in Branchburg and graduated from Somerville High School in 2014.”
4. Maryrose Fealey Wrote ‘Yesterday Is Gone’ on Facebook Only 8 Days Before Her Death
Facebook (MaryRose Fealey)MaryRose Fealey
On January 22, eight days before she was murdered, Fealey wrote on her Facebook page, “Yesterday is gone, todays the day, tomorrow is the mystery.”
On January 19, she posted a selfie and wrote, “Cheers to 2024 being a beautiful year 💫✨”
Her top post, on January 27, was a graphic that read, “Have you ever dreamt of soaring through the cosmos, past twinkling stars and fiery nebulae? Now, you can embark on a celestial adventure.” She wrote, “DESTINATION COSMOS,” with the post.
5. Maryrose Fealey Worked as a Realtor & Was a Visual Artist as Well as an Entrepreneur
NJ man charged with murder for allegedly stabbing ex-classmate 37 times using manifesto t.co/yatlv5Z1QU
Fealey’s obituary says she was “a 2018 graduate of Rutgers Business School, Maryrose was a Logistics Management Specialist who focused on logistics, decentralization, material and supply chain management. A former federal employee for the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), she had taken a break from her profession to focus on her life’s mission work as she called it.”
According to her LinkedIn page, she was working as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker.
The obit reads,
Maryrose was many things – a visual artist, anti-drug activist, entrepreneur, champion of the underdog, philanthropist, encourager, writer, and logistician. Recently, she was enjoying her weekend work at Roman Jewelers in Bridgewater. Friends and family often described Maryrose as a ‘light’ in the room or in their day whenever they spoke of her. Her signature bright smile was unforgettable. She was one to ‘show up’ and to be supportive, bringing positive energy, willingness, and kindness to any task at hand.
She was committed to her vision and efforts to empower youth and those battling addiction. Founder of the non-profit 4TheYoungerMe (4TYM), she also was involved with the non-profits Not An Easy Fix and Empower Somerset (Next-Of-Kin/NOK interviewer). She firmly believed that ‘substance abuse does not define the person’ and that ‘a toxic environment does not define the child’s future.’
“Most of the people in this organization are accustomed to dealing with death. This was a brutality that I don’t think anybody was ready for,” Jack Rannells told My Central New Jersey. He runs a nonprofit that Fealey was involved in. “Maryrose Fealey was thought of by many as a ‘light’ in the room or in their day whenever they spoke of her. She was one to ‘show up,’ be supportive, bring positive energy, plus willingness and kindness to the task at hand.”
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