A Roselle man has admitted to stabbing his wife to death in 2006, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Monday.
Ademir Ramalho, 64, pleaded guilty to a count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in connection with the death of 51-year-old Lucia Emeliano of Elizabeth.
According to authorities, on July 23, 2006, in violation of a domestic violence restraining order, Ramalho approached his estranged wife outside her home on Adams Avenue in Elizabeth and trapped her between his rental vehicle and her vehicle, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Colleen Ruppert, who prosecuted the case.
Ramalho then immediately got out of the car and stabbed Emeliano four times, three times in the chest and once in the back, Ruppert said. Emeliano was pronounced dead at the scene, while Ramalho was arrested moments later.
Ramalho was tried and convicted of murder and other charges in 2009, but the conviction was overturned via a 2013 Appellate Division ruling. Ramalho had remained incarcerated in Union County Jail pending a possible retrial.
The State will recommend a term of 30 years, 85 percent of which must be served before the possibility of parole, when Ramalho is sentenced March 3 by state Superior Court Judge Scott J. Moynihan.