Shaun
Woodson faces up to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2010 slaying
of a World War II veteran from Essex Fells. Woodson is shown here at
his 2010 arraignment in Essex County Superior Court in Newark.Frank Conlon/For the Star-Ledger
NEWARK — A
Newark man pleaded guilty today to his role in the 2010 slaying of a
91-year-old World War II veteran who was beaten and strangled in his
Essex Fells home before his killers fled with thousands of dollars in
jewelry, prosecutors say.
Shaun Woodson, 28, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Newark to
charges of aggravated manslaughter and conspiracy to commit burglary in
the April 2010 killing of Robert Nevius, a retired electronics
executive.
Woodson faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced March 4 by Judge Peter Vazquez.
In 2012, a jury found Woodson’s alleged accomplice, Reginald Anthony,
32, guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary but acquitted him of more
serious charges of murder and robbery. Anthony is serving a 20-year
sentence at New Jersey State Prison.
Prosecutors say Nevius was beaten with a stapler, stabbed in the neck
and strangled with his own suspenders in what was the first slaying in
Essex Fells in more than three decades. Nevius’ nose was broken and his
hands and feet were bound with electrical cord and packing tape,
prosecutors said.
The day before the April 14, 2010, slaying, Anthony filled in for his
aunt who had regularly worked as a chauffeur for Nevius and his wife
Janet, prosecutors say.
They say Anthony schemed with Woodson to carry out the slaying
because they knew Janet Nevius would be staying in Manhattan overnight
for business and her husband would be home alone.
At his 2012 trial, Anthony testified that Woodson carried out the killing while he stayed outside and acted as a lookout.
Afterward, jurors said they decided to acquit Anthony of murder
because prosecutors had failed to make their case. “It’s a damn shame
the old man had to die that way,” one juror told the Star-Ledger at the
time. “He served his country. He lived the right way. But it was a rush
job gathering the evidence.”
There was no DNA evidence or fingerprints linking Anthony to the crime scene, according to testimony at the trial.
Anthony, of East Orange, was only facing five to ten years after
being convicted of a second-degree crime but was given a 20-year
sentence because of his lengthy criminal record as a juvenile and as an
adult.
