Murdered Wife Judith Novellino Was Stabbed 84 Times, Found Wearing Pig Mask

Judith Novellino, a woman who was stabbed 84 times by her husband and made to wear a pig mask, has finally received justice.

According to Yahoo! News, a jury convicted a New Jersey man on Wednesday of murdering his ex-wife because, in part, she was “a messy housekeeper,” he said.

It took jurors less than five hours to find 67-year-old Anthony Novellino guilty of using an 8-inch kitchen knife to slay Judith Novellino, 62, in June 2010.

Though his sentencing is not until September 12, he will likely face life in prison.

More from the Yahoo! News report:

As the jury forewoman read the verdict in Morris County Superior Court, Novellino sat impassively. He was found guilty of all charges, including murder, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, unlawful possession of a weapon, hindering his own apprehension and tampering with evidence.

Judith Novellino was killed in her former home in Denville, New Jersey, when she came back to retrieve some of her belongings soon after they divorced.

“Hopefully, Judy Novellino’s family can now have some sense of solace that the defendant was convicted of this heinous crime,” Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp said in a statement after the verdict.

Michael Priarone, Anthony Novellino’s attorney, said he would not be representing Novellino after his sentencing, and declined to comment on the jury decision or on why he would no longer represent his client, though he did say Novellino “has a right to appeal the verdict.”

In the closing arguments on Tuesday, Assistant Morris County Prosecutor Margaret Calderwood said the pig mask that Novellino placed on the face of his ex-wife’s body signaled “a deliberate state of mind that warranted a jury verdict of murder.”

“You don’t methodically go to the closet and pull out a pig mask and put it on her” without being fully aware of your actions, she said.

In Priarone’s closing argument, he asked the jury to find his client suffered “a kind of temporary insanity.” Had they listened, it might have reduced his murder charge to manslaughter. He also accused Judith of initiating the struggle that led to her being stabbed 84 times.

Attorneys from the prosecution and defense said Anthony Novellino had emailed photos of the unkempt condition of the home to friends and relatives and had complained that Judith Novellino kept a sloppy home, which was a sticking point in their divorce proceedings, Yahoo! News reported.

Do you think that the husband of Judith Novellino should receive life in prison, or something worse? Sound off in our comments section.

[Image via ShutterStock]