NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A man was convicted of murdering a New Jersey woman for the second time on Wednesday after his 2017 conviction was overturned and he was retried this month.
Daniel Rochat, 48, was convicted of entering the home of Barbara Vernieri, 70, in East Rutherford on June 14, 2012. He beat her about the head and face, and set fire to her body while she was still alive, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
Rochat then destroyed evidence at the scene and stole Vernieri’s cell phone, authorities said.
The defendant was first arrested by Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office detectives on Oct. 13, 2012, and was initially convicted of the crime in June 2017.
But in January 2022, his conviction was reversed “due to some evidence testing being deemed as unreliable,” prosecutors said. A state appellate court ruled that the DNA found under Vernieri’s fingernails did not positively connect the defendant to the crime.
Anthony Pope, Rochat’s attorney, did not immediately respond to 1010 WINS/WCBS 880’s request for comment. According to NJ.com, Pope said on Thursday that the same DNA that prompted the 2017 conviction to be overturned was introduced and considered in the new trial.
“It’s not Dan’s DNA. Dan simply can’t be excluded from this DNA,” Pope said. He noted that there was a one in 331 or 332 chance that Rochat had DNA present.
Prosecutors reportedly argued that Rochat, formerly of Wood-Ridge, knew Vernieri since he was a child and robbed her to pay a debt to a girlfriend to the sum of $11,000.
Pope reportedly argued on Thursday that this motive is flawed, emphasizing that beyond Vernieri's cellphone, nothing was stolen.
Rochat was convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder, aggravated arson, unlawful desecration of human remains and charges related to hindering officials on Wednesday following a 15-day trial in Bergen County Superior Court, officials said.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 14.