Girl whose death remains unsolved is remembered

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A bench near the gazebo on Springfield Avenue was dedicated earlier this month to Carol Ann Farino, a 17-year-old Columbia High School student whose Nov. 3, 1966, murder has never been solved.

“We would like to thank the Maplewood Township clerk’s office, the Department of Public Works and Township Committeeperson Jamaine Cripe for making this possible,” said Joe Strupp, author of a book about the case. “We would also like to thank those who donated to the GoFundMe page to secure the funds for this bench.”

Cripe, Strupp, author of “A Long Walk Home,” and Carol Ann’s sister, Cynthia, were among those in attendance at the bench dedication.

Carol Ann Farino was walking in the dark to her home on Jefferson Avenue in Maplewood, where her parents and 11-year-old sister were waiting for her the night she was killed. The vibrant and popular teenager was apparently abducted after she left work and murdered. Her body was found on Sommer Avenue in Maplewood.

“Carol Ann Farino was 17 years old and was doing what anyone her age would do, she was simply walking home and had her life senselessly snatched away from her,” Cripe said. “I encourage Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II and Essex County Chief of Investigators Mitchell McGuire III to order that the case be reopened, and that information be shared with Cynthia Farino, the surviving sister.”

According to public records, Carol Ann Farino was murdered via strangulation. According to Strupp, her clothes and other items have not been tested for DNA samples.
“Cynthia and I have filed requests to see what has been done for this case and have been denied,” Strupp said. “We have gone to township committee meetings and have been ignored, all that we ask for is more information and transparency so that justice can be served.”

Cynthia Farino spoke about the case and made comparisons to recent cases in Maplewood and elsewhere to point out the disparity to her sister’s case.

“A recent shooting of Columbia High School students in Maplewood two years ago prompted me to speak out,” Farino said. “Watching the community rally around the family, offering reward money, grief counseling, letters from the school board and comments from the governor surprised me.

I am happy that the family received an outpouring of support, but there is a clear contrast in the lack of support for my family when my sister, also a Colombia High School student, was murdered. Zero letters from the school board or town officials, no reward money or monetary support was offered, and the news coverage was almost hidden. At the time, Maplewood shunned any kind of negative publicity.”

Cynthia Farino said the only two suspects ever identified in the case were her sister’s boyfriend and her father and both had alibis.

“At the time of the investigation, we had an inexperienced detective who was never trained to investigate a homicide,” Farino said. “They leaked to the public that my father was the primary suspect; they were defaming my family name. People to this day believe that my father did it.”

“Since the publishing of ‘A Long Walk Home’ by Joe Strupp, I have reached out to the police and the prosecutor’s office to allow me access to the case files to no avail. With the advent of DNA as a tool, they have not tested her clothing if they still have them, as far as I am aware,” Farino said.

Despite attending multiple committee and town council meetings, neither Joe nor Cynthia has received any vocal support for DNA testing to be used to solve this 57-year old case.