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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Lawsuit Filed Over New Jersey Pick Ax Murder

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CN) - The estate of a man who was killed by a pick ax sued the accused assailant, his suspected co-conspirator and a property owner that allegedly failed to safeguard its premises.

Neida Dumo, as administratrix of the estate of Kelvin Dumo, filed the complaint in Middlesex County Court against Michael Doce, Daniel Medaglia and Viking Terminal Marine.

The six-page action says that Viking Terminal Marine had "a business relationship" with Doce and Medaglia and are liable for the attack on its industrial lot in Sayreville, N.J.

After the murder of the 28-year-old Edison man in November 2011, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office announced that it had arrested Doce, Medaglia and a third man who is not named as a defendant to the civil lawsuit.

While Medaglia was charged with the murder itself, Doce was charged with conspiracy.

The alleged assailants pleaded not guilty, and there is a Nov. 6 status conference scheduled for the case, the prosecutor's office said. A trial date has not yet been set.

At the time of the arrest, investigators believed that 30-year-old Doce had used his purported connections to organized crime and 27-year-old Medaglia's Mafia aspirations to orchestrate the crime, the Newark Star Ledger reported.

Echoing this sentiment, Dumo's estate says Doce "directed Daniel F. Medaglia as his agent, servant and/or employee, to effect the killing of the plaintiff, Kelvin M. Dumo."

Doce's attorney, Brian Neary, had told the Ledger back in 2011 that his client believed he and Medaglia were "playing games" when talking about the Mafia. He said Doce never wanted anyone killed.

Dumo's estate seeks damages for negligence and wrongful death. It is represented by Donald Stanzione with Lombardi & Lombardi of Edison, N.J.

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