Girl Allegedly Dismembered by Next-Door Neighbor

MORRISTOWN, N.J, Aug. 2, 2005— -- A 16-year-old girl who had been missing since Saturday was found stabbed to death and dismembered -- and police say her killer lived right next door.

Jonathan Zarate, 18, appeared Monday in Morris County Court to face charges of murder, weapons offenses, and hindering apprehension in the slaying of Jennifer Parks.

Zarate lived next door to Parks in their Randolph, N.J., neighborhood, and prosecutors say the 16-year-old victim left her house early Saturday morning to watch TV with Zarate. But then, authorities said, the two became embroiled in an argument that led to Parks' gruesome killing.

Relatives became alarmed when they realized that Parks had not come home and was missing. Authorities said a police officer in Secaucus saw Zarate, his 14-year-old brother and a 16-year-old friend in a car parked on a bridge over the Passaic River early Sunday morning as as they tried to dump a trunk over the overpass. When police opened the trunk they found Parks' dismembered remains.

"She was there that whole day," said Cathy Dodd, Jennifer's aunt. "We were walking around the yard, looking for her, and she was still in the trunk. It's hard to believe something like this can happen to your own family."

An autopsy found that Parks died from blunt force trauma to the face and body, stab wounds to the neck and abdomen and mechanical asphyxiation.

"He beat her in the face and stomach with a metal pole used to secure the rear sliding glass door and then stabbed her multiple times with a knife," Morris County prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio said.

Prosecutors said there was no sexual interaction between Parks and Zarate while the two were in his home. Neighbors say Zarate and Parks had a dispute dating back several years to when Parks attended a Randolph middle school, because the suspect's younger brother apparently used to taunt the victim in class. But neighbors say in recent years the friction had cooled off.

Members of the community were stunned by the slaying, especially since some remembered talking to Zarate after Parks disappeared.