Freehold hate crime case: Accused said he wanted to kill ‘old white man’
FREEHOLD BOROUGH — A Black man accused of brutally attacking a white man outside his apartment complex, leading to his death months later, has said that nothing provoked the beating other than race.
A Monmouth County Superior County judge on Monday watched a videotaped police interview with Jamil S. Hubbard, which appeared to show a lack of emotion in the hours after he beat unconscious Jerry Wolkowitz into a vegetative state that he never woke from, as reported by the Asbury Park Press.
The 28-year-old Hubbard, of Sayreville, is charged with the murder and bias intimidation of Wolkowitz, who was 56 at the time of his death five months after being attacked and run over with his own car in May 2018.
When asked about a potential motive for the confrontation, Hubbard only referenced Wolkowitz's physical appearance.
“White,’’ Hubbard said in the video, adding, “Old white man. Nothing.’’
A mental health defense has been likely in the murder case, as reported in September by Asbury Park Press, which said the public defender representing Hubbard mentioned diminished capacity in a previous court hearing.
Wolkowitz was a member of the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad and a member of the New Jersey Press Photographers Association as a freelance photographer for Asbury Park Press and other publications.