Sayreville man guilty in random, brutal Freehold murder, as jury rejects insanity defense

FREEHOLD - A Monmouth County jury Friday found a 30-year-old Sayreville man guilty of murder in a brutal, random attack that left an Asbury Park Press freelance photographer on life support for almost six months before he succumbed to his injuries.

The jury rejected an insanity defense and found Jamil Hubbard guilty of the murder of Jerry Wolkowitz after a seven-week trial before Superior Court Judge Lourdes Lucas.

The panel also convicted Hubbard of bias intimidation, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, eluding police and two counts of theft stemming from the attack in the victim’s apartment complex on Harding Road in Freehold on May 1, 2018. 

The panel of seven women and five men, however, found Hubbard not guilty of felony murder and robbery. 

Closing arguments:Freehold murder suspect 'knew it was wrong and so do you,' prosecutor tells jury

The victim’s two sisters, Goldie Markowitz and Judy Marcus, seated next to his fiancée, Peggy Zorovich, in the front row of the courtroom, silently wept when they heard the jury forewoman announce that Hubbard was guilty of Wolkowitz’s murder. The victim’s brother, Perry, seated behind them, reached forward and hugged the women.

Hubbard appeared emotionless as the verdict was announced. 

“This has been a living nightmare for almost five years for all of us," Marcus, speaking on behalf of the family and her brother’s fiancée, said outside the courtroom following the verdict. ”It was relentless, tenacious and masterful prosecution and detective work that gave us the ability to go on and end the nightmare.’’

Wolkowitz, also an emergency medical technician in Freehold, succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 18, 2018, at age 56.

Hoda Soliman and Keri-Leigh Schaefer, assistant Monmouth County prosecutors, argued that Hubbard, motivated by rage after fighting with his girlfriend, randomly attacked Wolkowitz as he returned home from work about 7 a.m.

Defense attorneys Allison Friedman and Katherine Caola argued that Hubbard suffered from serious mental illness, including bipolar disorder, that prevented him from knowing what he was doing or appreciating its wrongfulness, which is the basis for an acquittal on insanity grounds.

'I tried to kill him':Defense claims insanity in fatal beating of freelance photographer

Hubbard, following his arrest later on the same day as the assault, told detectives he hit and kicked Wolkowitz at least 10 times before dragging him into the parking lot and running him over with his car. 

Hubbard then went through Wolkowitz’s pockets, stealing cash and his car keys, before setting fire to the money and fleeing in the victim’s vehicle as police were responding to the assault. 

Trial testimony indicated Hubbard led authorities on a chase into Middlesex County that reached speeds of 115 mph before police called it off in Old Bridge out of concerns for public safety. 

Hubbard abandoned Wolkowitz’s car near his Sayreville home and then discarded items of clothing as he ran home, according to testimony. 

How cops found Hubbard:Shirtless, shoeless, sweaty fatal beating suspect found after Freehold-to-Sayreville chase

He was arrested later that morning at home and went on to give a statement to detectives, in which he confessed that he tried to kill Wolkowitz and he picked him to attack because he was old and white.

The defense team did not dispute what prosecutors alleged Hubbard did. Instead, they called a Boston psychiatrist, Dr. Fabian Saleh, who was on the witness stand for four days, laying the basis for an insanity defense, but undergoing lengthy cross-examination by prosecutors. 

Another psychiatrist, Dr. Howard Gilman, testified for another three days as a rebuttal witness for the prosecution, disputing Saleh’s testimony and telling the jury Hubbard acted out of rage because he had been fighting with his girlfriend. Gilman testified that Hubbard knew his actions were wrong, pointing out that he told detectives he knew he would be going to prison after first hitting Wolkowitz. 

Marcus praised the assistant prosecutors and Detective Wayne Raynor of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, who was the lead detective on the case.

“The three of them have been our life savers," she said.

She also thanked Freehold and Sayreville police officers for apprehending Hubbard, and the victim advocates from the prosecutor’s office and Monmouth County sheriff’s officers for ”kindness and comfort" provided to the family during the trial.

Marcus said the ordeal was particularly difficult because both her parents were Holocaust survivors and, for two years, while her mother was still alive, the family couldn’t bear to tell her that her son was murdered.

Hubbard’s sentencing is scheduled for March 31. He faces a minimum of 30 years in prison without the possibility of release on parole and up to life in prison on the murder alone. 

He is being held without bail at the Monmouth County Jail. 

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.