Troy Negron and Linda Tesauro Hillman were both present when prosecutors allege Damien Johnson and Brian Johnson shot and killed Joseph Costanza Jr. in 2008.
TRENTON — Two witnesses to the shooting death of a 38-year-old Hamilton man in 2008 testified today they have had psychological issues since the homicide.
But an attorney for one of the defendants challenged both witnesses on cross-examination, suggesting at least one was motivated to give more details after his arrest on a probation violation.
Troy Negron and Linda Tesauro Hillman were both inside a home on the 1400 block of South Clinton Avenue on Dec. 1, 2008, when prosecutors allege Damien Johnson, 38, and Brian Johnson, 44, who are not related, shot and killed Joseph Costanza Jr.
The Johnsons are standing trial before Judge Robert Billmeier on charges of murder, first-degree felony murder, robbery, burglary and weapons charges. If convicted, each defendant could face life in prison.
Costanza, a U.S. Navy veteran of the Persian Gulf War and student at Middlesex County Community College, was watching Monday Night Football in the living room of the home when two masked men entered through an arched entryway from the kitchen and shot him, Negron said.
“Before I knew it, I heard the gunshot. I glanced up real quick and I see two guys under the archway,” he said.
Negron said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the incident, and was treated for it by a psychologist in 2012.
It was during that treatment, he said, that he remembered more details about the event, including that one of the masked men had a lazy eye.
Kelly Anderson Smith, Brian Johnson’s attorney, challenged Negron on cross examination, pointing out that he told prosecutors more details about the incident in November 2013 after he was arrested on a probation violation.
“You’re telling me that, five years later, when you’re facing a recommendation of jail time, your mind gets better,” Smith said.
Negron said his psychiatrist helped him to uncover the details over a 10-month period.
“They don’t try to make you recall too much at one time,” Negron said.
Hillman, who said she was at the home to drop off food from a church food pantry at the time of the murder, said she has been consumed by thoughts of the incident and has sometimes been unable to do simple things such as sleep or cook for her family.
“I haven’t been getting much sleep. I’ve sat and tried to think of every little detail,” she said. “I’ve been consumed by this.”
In the five years since the incident, Tesauro Hillman said she has forced herself to remember new details about the murder, but she said today she couldn’t remember some of what she told police the day after.
Hillman said it was only within the past year that she remembered that the man who shot Costanza had a large hand that covered most of the gun. But she could not say if the man was wearing gloves, or what kind of gun he was holding.
“You testified today that the person doing the shooting had a large hand. You didn’t tell police there was a large hand,” Smith said to Hillman. “You can remember this big hand covering the gun, you can picture this big hand, but you don’t remember if this big hand had gloves on.”
The Johnsons are being held in the Mercer County Correction Center in lieu of $750,000 bail each.
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