Man Convicted in 1976 Rape and Murder of 20-year-old in Paramus Denied Parole Once Again

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus NJ, Christopher Righetti was denied parole once again . Righetti  is serving a life sentence, for the rape and murder of Kim Montelaro a  graduate of Immaculate Heart Academy high school, then a 20 year old law student who he abducted at knifepoint from a popular shopping mall and forced into woods near the Pine Lake Swim Club in Township of  Washington .

Christopher Righetti, a then-16-year-old high school student from nearby River Vale, N.J., was convicted of murder in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison, though he has appeared before a parole board five times since 1991.

Police say Kim Montelaro was abducted on August  31, 1976, as she got into her car parked outside the Paramus Park mall in Paramus, in broad daylight. Township of Washington Retired Police Chief Randy Ciocco, who was a young officer on patrol the day she disappeared, recalled spotting a suspicious vehicle parked at the Pine Lake Swim Club shortly before 3 p.m.

Ciocco said a group of boys playing in woods near the swimming hole discovered Montelaro’s bloodied body the next day.

“There was every indication that she did not die right away,” said Ciocoo, who added that the knife used to kill Montelaro was later found in the mud.