Hazlet Man Charged in Murder of M’town Woman

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By John Burton
FREEHOLD – A Hazlet man, arrested and held in Georgia, is being charged with a murder of woman whose body was discovered in a Middletown home destroyed by fire.
Monmouth County’s Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said in a statement released Sept. 11, authorities have arrested Darryl E. Petlock, 34, and charged him with the first degree murder of Lynn A. Moretti, 40, a Middletown resident whose remains were discovered after the Sept. 4 fire at a Jersey Avenue residence was extinguished.
Petlock, who is also known as Isa Maajid, was also charged with third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degree aggravated arson, according to the prosecutor.
County law enforcement authorities received word on Sept. 9 that Petlock had been arrested by police in Brunswick, Ga., on an unrelated matter.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office investigators and township police, who lead the criminal investigation, arrested and charged Petlock on Sept. 10, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Township firefighters and police responded to the fire at 160 Jersey Ave., a residential street off of state Highway 36, in the North Middletown section of the township, and discovered Moretti’s body.
Petlock appeared in Glynn County, Georgia, Magistrate Court on Sept. 11 and agreed to waive extradition. He will be transported to New Jersey for prosecution, according to the prosecutor.
Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. set Petlock’s bail at $2.5 million without a 10 percent bond option.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Petlock faces a minimum of 30 years in state prison, with 30 years of parole ineligibility, and a maximum of life behind bars. The weapons charge carries a maximum of five years and the arson offense has a maximum of 10 years, according to the prosecutor’s office.