Fairfield Woman Convicted in Mother’s Strangulation Death

A New Jersey woman has been convicted of strangling her elderly mother to death in their northern New Jersey home.

The Essex County prosecutor's office says a jury on Friday found 45-year-old Tina Lunney of Fairfield guilty of the 2009 murder of 81-year-old Marie Zoppi.

Acting Prosecutor Carolyn Murray says Lunney killed Zoppi and then used the dead woman's credit cards to pay bills, settle debts and pay for a vacation to North Carolina.

Zoppi had lived for 14 years in a split-level home with Lunney and Lunney's husband and two children.

Prosecutors say Lunney crushed her mother's ribs and strangled her to death with a man's necktie on July 22, 2009.

Prosecutors say they'll seek a life sentence for Lunney at her July 26 sentencing.

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