Defense opens at trial of woman charged with killing son

A retired police lieutenant says a woman on trial for killing her 5-year-old son in 1991 acted uncharacteristically in the weeks after he allegedly disappeared.

Retired Sayreville Police Lt. Robert Dunworth testified Thursday in the murder trial of Michelle Lodzinski.

The Port St. Lucie, Florida, resident was charged in 2014 with killing Timothy Wiltsey in May 1991.

The prosecution rested its case earlier this week, and Lodzinski's attorney began calling witnesses Thursday.

MyCentralJersey.com (http://mycj.co/1qsn9MP) reports Dunworth recalled Lodzinski being hospitalized in June 1991, apparently connected to a mental breakdown. He added on cross-examination that she "seemed to enjoy the attention" from authorities and appeared to have a "laissez-faire" attitude about her son's alleged disappearance.

Lodzinski claimed the boy disappeared from a carnival in Sayreville but later said he was abducted.

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