By Emily Schopfer
HIGHLANDS – Michael Dunzello, 49, of Highlands has been charged with the murder of his roommate, 49-year-old Angus McDougald, according to a Sept. 22 news release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. McDougald was fatally stabbed Monday evening, Sept. 21.
Dunzello, represented by Thomas Huth, Freehold, was charged with first-degree murder and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Just before 6 p.m. Sept. 21, members of the Highlands Police Department responded to a 911 call to the “area of the 20 block of North Street,” according to the release. McDougald was dead when officers arrived and had two stab wounds, one to the neck and one to the upper back.
In the 911 call, Dunzello identified himself to the operator and confessed to the stabbing, according to the Sept. 22 affidavit of Detective Joe Leon of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office. Dunzello also told the operator he “ ‘snapped’ and that ‘Angus’ was the person that had been stabbed,” the affidavit said. Dunzello said he would be waiting in the driveway when police arrived and the knife used in the murder would be in the kitchen sink, the affidavit read. When Highlands police arrived on scene, Dunzello was inside the residence kneeling next to the victim.
The affidavit also noted that police found a witness in the residence’s first-floor bathroom.
During Dunzello’s detention hearing Sept. 28 before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, assistant prosecutor Matthew Bogner acknowledged the unidentified witness. The witness was “trapped in the bathroom” when the victim fell off a chair and against the bathroom door, Bogner said. In a statement, the witness told police they “heard Dunzello and McDougald arguing about ant traps and the fact that the watermelon (left out by McDougald) was bringing ants into the house.” After about two minutes of arguing, the witness heard a knock, then heard Dunzello state, “Angus, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”
The affidavit confirmed the incident occurred after an argument broke out between the two roommates over dirty dishes McDougald left out. During the 911 call, Dunzello told the operator that McDougald was making fun of him while he cleaned dirty dishes McDougald had left out for several days. According to the affidavit, Dunzello also told the operator “he can’t believe he did this” and “that he doesn’t know what came over him.”
Public Information Officer for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Christopher Swendeman confirmed that Dunzello has been a county employee since 2005, working as a GIS Analyst (Geographic Information Systems Analyst).
This article originally appeared in the October 8-14, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
