Jonathan Zarate

"When I stabbed her in the mouth, she was still alive, so I stabbed her in the neck,"

Mazawey said he was merely seeking the scientific data to bolster a February finding by forensic psychiatrist Diana Riccoli that Zarate's diminished mental capacity may be the result of several years of continued use of marijuana laced with PCP and alcohol. The abuse could have contributed to a "state of de-realization" that would have permitted Zarate to detach himself mentally from his actions and precluded him from giving informed consent before talking to authorities.

Instead, defense attorney Richard S. Mazawey said in court Tuesday that a psychiatrist he plans to use in the case wants to consult with a toxicologist he just hired. Mazawey said his expectation is that the toxicologist would opine that Zarate couldn't knowingly waive his legal right to remain silent because of the effects of "marijuana laced with PCP lingering in his system."

A defendant deemed to be insane at the time of a crime in New Jersey cannot be held criminally responsible. A person found guilty of committing a murder, but found to have diminished capacity, or a mental defect or impairment, is merely convicted of a lesser offense than murder.

Office Executive Assistant Prosecutor Robert Lane said the report will be reviewed over the next week to see if the office wants to hire its own expert. But Lane told Judge Salem Vincent Ahto that Jonathan Zarate's mind appeared clear when he scrubbed up the crime scene, cut off the girl's legs to cram her body into a steamer trunk and tried to toss the trunk over a bridge into the Passaic River.

At a brief hearing in Morristown, Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto wanted to know where the 27-month-old case stood. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Amirata said the only way Zarate would avoid trial is to plead guilty to the July 2005 murder.

An attorney for David and Laurie Parks filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Morristown, claiming Jonathan and James Zarate were negligent in not stopping the other from committing the brutal murder in their father's home.

The lawsuit claims the boys' parents, John Zarate and Flora Mari, failed to adequately supervise them, knowing they both had bullied 16-year-old Jennifer prior to the July 30, 2005 murder.

Jonathan Zarate's lawyer, Anthony Fusco, told Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown that he plans an insanity defense and is in the process of hiring a forensic psychiatrist to examine the high school dropout. Fusco, a privately-paid lawyer, also plans to make a petition to the state Office of the Public Defender to help finance the cost of the evaluation.

On the day a grand jury handed up murder indictments against Jonathan Zarate, 19, and his brother, James, 16, Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio said he could not seek a capital case because the crime's most-heinous aspects occurred after Jennifer Parks was dead.

Citing state law, Rubbinaccio said prosecutors must establish the murder was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman ... and that it involved torture" to allow him to seek the death penalty.

"Certainly you can describe what took place after the homicide as being all those things," Rubbinaccio said, referring to the dismemberment. "But that is not evidence of an aggravating factor that would trigger a capital case litigation."

A 15-year-old boy, scheduled to be tried as an adult along with his 19-year-old brother on charges of killing and mutilating neighbor Jennifer Parks a year ago in Randolph, will continue to be held on $1 million bail in the Morris County jail, a judge ruled this morning.

The defense lawyer for James Zarate unsuccessfully asked Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto to reduce bail for the youth, who was transferred in June from the county juvenile detention center to the jail after a judge ruled he would be tried as an adult.

The juvenile is charged with assisting his brother, Jonathan Zarate, in the stabbing, beating and dismemberment of the 16-year-old Parks at her home on Old Brookside Road in Randolph on July 30. The brothers were staying next door at the time at the home of their father.

Ahto read aloud excerpts of psychological reports that have been done on the juvenile, in which none refer to him as having a mental illness or chemical dependency. But one expert concluded he has little empathy for people, enjoyed getting into fights, and believes the girl's killing was justified.

The 15-year-old charged with helping his brother murder and sever the legs of 16-year-old neighbor Jennifer Parks in Randolph last year was ordered held in the Morris County jail this morning on $1 million bail.

Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto approved the transfer of James Zarate from the county Juvenile Detention Center to the county jail since the youth on June 7 was "waived up" from juvenile status to be tried as an adult.

Defense lawyer Joseph Ferrante said it would "be a tragedy" if the teen -- who was 14 when he allegedly helped his then-18-year-old brother kill Parks on July 30 -- was moved to the adult facility. Ferrante characterized the state's evidence against James Zarate as weak and based upon the statements of a co-defendant and DNA from a piece of chewing gum found in a bag containing supplies used to clean up after the murder.

"My view is it would not be appropriate for him to be amongst other juveniles," Ahto said, saying he believes it is in the public's interest to hold the teen in an adult facility.

Jonathan Zarate's brother, formally known as "J.Z.", will be tried as an adult, for assisting his brother in the killing and dismembering of 16-year-old Jennifer Parks...

A youth who was 14 when he allegedly helped his older brother maim and murder next-door neighbor Jennifer Parks in Randolph last year will be tried as an adult, a Superior Court judge ruled this afternoon.

Family Division Judge John B. Dangler ruled that James Zarate, now 15, will be prosecuted as an adult on charges of stabbing and chopping off the legs of the 16-year-old victim on July 30.

James and his now-19-year-old brother, Jonathan Zarate, are accused of getting Parks to visit their father's home on Old Brookside Road around 2 a.m. and then ambushing the girl shortly after her arrival.

Parks' mother, Laurie Parks, asked the judge to order James Zarate to be prosecuted as an adult.

"Our loss is complete. We only had one child; now we only have pictures, videos and our memories," she said.