A New Jersey woman has pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the deadly beating of her roommate in early 2020, prosecutors said Monday.
Mary Carbone, 60, was arrested just over four years ago after an investigation found she was responsible for the death of 55-year-old Frank Stochel, with whom she shared a home in the Pine Lake Park section of Manchester Township, just east of the Jersey Shore.
The incident unfolded on Feb. 24, 2020. Manchester police responded to a report of an unresponsive male at a home on 6th Ave. and found “the lifeless body of Mr. Stochel lying on the floor of the residence.”
The manner of his death was later determined to be a homicide. According to investigators, the then-56-year-old used “several household items” in the beating that ultimately killed the victim, including a wooden board, a heavy-duty tape dispenser and a shower curtain rod.
Carbone was arrested for murder on March 4, 2020. However, her charges were reduced to aggravated manslaughter, after “legitimate proof issues arose during the course of our investigation that we simply could not ignore,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said Monday in a news release.
According to NJ Advance Media, police records indicate that several incidents of domestic violence were reported in the months leading up to the deadly beating.
“We believe this to be a just and reasonable resolution after careful consideration of all the facts and circumstances,” Billhimer said.
The victim’s family agrees with the prosecutor’s decision, he added.
Carbone, who has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since her arrest, is set to be sentenced on Sept. 13. The state will seek a 10-year sentence, prosecutors said.
