Anthony Novellino stabbed his ex-wife 84 times and then put a pig mask on her face. (Morris County Prosecutor’s Office)
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — A New Jersey man convicted of stabbing his ex-wife 84 times and then putting a pig mask on her face has had his murder conviction upheld.
Seventy-year-old Anthony Novellino was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the killing of Judith Novellino 11 days after their divorce was finalized in 2010.
Judith, a high school English teacher, was packing items to take to her apartment when she was stabbed.
Anthony Novellino was captured several days after the killing in Washington state, where he fled to meet a woman he had been communicating with online.
Novellino said in his appeal prejudicial evidence was presented to a jury at his 2014 murder trial and his 50-year sentence was excessive.
A state appellate court panel rejected all of Novellino’s arguments in a ruling issued Thursday. It says the judge who sentenced Novellino made correct rulings.
Under the terms of the sentence Novellino won’t be eligible for parole until he is 105 years old.
Novellino and his wife had been married for decades and had two children. The couple’s adult daughter found the body.
