Judge hears mom’s conflicting statements in murder case

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- Conflicting statements made by a Florida woman charged in the death of her young son more than 20 years ago in New Jersey were presented by prosecutors at a court hearing Thursday to determine their admissibility at trial.

Michelle Lodzinski is charged with murder in the 1991 death of 5-year-old Timothy Wiltsey. His remains were found near Raritan Center 11 months after his disappearance. Lodzinski was arrested last year in Florida, where she was living at the time. She has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $2 million bond.

Her recorded statements to Sayreville police were played at the hearing in New Brunswick. In deciding whether to admit the statements, the judge will also determine if they can be heard clearly. The trial is scheduled for January.

Lodzinski told police in a statement May 26, 1991, that her son disappeared at a Memorial Day carnival while she was waiting to get a soda. The following June 7, she added that she met a woman she knew at the carnival who was accompanied by two men and a young child. She said the woman told her she would watch Timothy while Lodzinski went to the concession stand. She said that when she returned, the woman and her son were gone. Under questioning by police, she later said that the woman and two men abducted her son at knifepoint.

In one of the recordings, Lodzinski identifies Timothy's father as George Wiltsey of Iowa, and says he had once indicated he was going to try to take the boy, but that was five years before Timothy disappeared.

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