Updated: Feb. 23, 2024, 6:47 p.m. | Published: Feb. 23, 2024, 12:33 p.m.
Timothy Puskas, right, with his attorney, Joseph Mazraani, after his release from jail on Wednesday. Joseph Mazraani
By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Timothy Puskas is no longer an inmate at South Woods State Prison.
The 49-year-old, convicted seven years ago in the murder of college student William “Billy” McCaw in New Brunswick, was released following a second trial that ended with an acquittal on Wednesday.
A Middlesex County jury deliberated five hours before returning the not guilty verdict in the six-week trial, which began on Jan. 9, according to Puskas’ attorney, Joseph Mazraani. Puskas’ 2017 murder conviction was reversed by an appellate court in 2021.
“We are pleased that the jury finally saw this case for what it was – something the court even failed to recognize – a devastating example of what happens when cooperators and informants are not closely scrutinized, when prosecutors are not held accountable and when law enforcement fail to investigate properly,” Mazraani said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on the case Friday.
McCaw, 22, was a college student who had transferred from Rutgers to Kean University in Union County. But he maintained ties to the New Brunswick area and had attended a fraternity party hours before he was killed while walking through a yard to a friend’s house.
The student’s bloodied and badly bruised body was found on Feb. 15, 2014, lying in deep snow in the backyard of a home on Hartwell Street.
William “Billy” McCaw File
Prosecutors floated two theories during the trials. The first was that Puskas was tired of his roommates stealing from him and took out his anger on McCaw. The other was that Puskas killed McCaw and robbed him of $40, which he used to buy cocaine.
But in an interview with NJ Advance Media on Friday, Mazraani said neither theory made sense, and that cooperating witnesses blamed Puskas for McCaw’s death in order to obtain lenient sentences for themselves for crimes they had been charged with.
Puskas didn’t own or live on the property where the victim was found. In addition, evidence showed McCaw had cash in his wallet when he was found, Mazraani argued during trial.
“The whole theory of a robbery made no sense,” Mazraani said, adding that the witness who testified to selling Puskas cocaine has a lengthy arrest history.
Another cooperating witness died of a drug overdose before the start of the first trial, but his tape-recorded conversation with Puskas was played in court anyway without the benefit of cross examination, Mazraani said.
Mazraani also said McCaw’s blood-alcohol level and testimony from two witnesses prove that McCaw was killed much later than the early morning time-frame suggested by prosecutors.
After his acquittal about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Puskas was taken in handcuffs and leg shackles to the Middlesex County Jail, where he was released about 8:30 p.m., Mazraani said.
The lawyer said he’s now trying to help Puskas re-enter society. Imprisonment has caused him “to lose everything, he has nothing,” Mazraani said, adding his client is involved with the Returning Citizens Support Group in Newark.
Mazranni noted Puskas had turned down a plea deal with prosecutors before the second trial that would have allowed him to walk free.
“The prosecutor’s office said, ‘Just say that you killed the kid and we’ll let you go. They just wanted him to admit to committing the crime,” Mazraani said.
“They offered him time served. My client said, ‘I didn’t do it. I’m innocent. It doesn’t matter if you’re telling me you’re going to open the jail cell door right now, I’m not going to say I did it just so I can get out of jail,” Mazraani said.
In a statement through Mazraani, Puskas offered his “heart and prayers” to the McCaw family.
“Contrary to what you have been led to believe, I did not assault nor kill your beloved son,” Puskas said.
The former inmate added he wished his mother were still alive “to see me cleared of this injustice.”
The victim’s father, Bob McCaw, said on social media he is thankful to the prosecutors “who worked so hard seeking justice for Billy and our family.”
“The fight is always worth it and love always wins,” Bob McCaw wrote on Facebook. “Also, forever grateful for the support each and every day from friends and family in the courtroom and the prayers of many.”
