Jersey City, NJ: Police: Woman found dead in NJ fire was strangled

Posted on Wed, Sep. 2, 2009 The Associated Press JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Authorities say a woman found dead in a fire at a Jersey City home was strangled, and her mother's ex-boyfriend has been charged in the slaying. Romulo A. Gregoria Jr. was charged Wednesday with murder and arson in the death of 20-year-old Christine Mariano. Her body was found Tuesday afternoon in a bedroom at her mother's home. Gregoria was being held Wednesday night in the Hudson County Jail on $750,000 cash bail, and it was not known if he had retained a lawyer. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio says it appears Gregoria killed Mariano following an argument about the older couple's relationship. Mariano recently moved back in with her mother after attending school in Miami where she studied to be a chef.