Rockaway, NJ: Conviction of Mine Hill man who killed wife in Rockaway mall parking lot is upheld

ROCKAWAY — A state appeals court today upheld the murder conviction and life sentence given to a Mine Hill man who gunned down his estranged wife in a minivan while parked at the Rockaway Townsquare mall on Oct. 9, 2003.
A jury in Superior Court in Morristown returned the guilty verdict in 2008 against George Melendez, now 64, who was a landscaper. His wife, Barbara Melendez, 49, was a teacher’s assistant who helped disabled and autistic children.
The appeals court said the main question raised by Melendez in his appeal challenged the admissibility of incriminating statements he gave in response to a police officer's questions, while he was in custody and after he had invoked his right to counsel. These statements led police to the wooded area where he had discarded the handgun used to kill his wife, the court said.
Melendez “voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to counsel at the time he decided to answer questions posed to him by different officers” from the Rockaway Township Police Department and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, the court ruled.