Senior Charged in Kitchen Knife Murder of His Wife in Mahwah

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Mahwah NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of DIETER R. ZIMMERMANN (DOB: 10/02/1947; married; retired) of 27 Indian Field Court, Mahwah, NJ on charges of Murder, Possession Of A Weapon For An Unlawful Purpose and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. The arrest is the result of an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Anthony Cureton, and the Mahwah Police Department under the direction of Chief Stephen Jaffe.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at approximately 7:45 a.m., the Mahwah Police Department received a 911 call reporting a domestic violence incident at 27 Indian Field Court. Upon arrival at the residence, officers found DIETER R. ZIMMERMANN with several scratches and a bleeding cut on a finger. Officers located DIETER R. ZIMMERMANN’s wife, Jaquelin Zimmermann (DOB: 03/06/51), deceased on the floor in an upstairs bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom.

An investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Mahwah Police Department revealed that DIETER R. ZIMMERMANN murdered his wife using a kitchen knife.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, DIETER R. ZIMMERMANN was arrested and charged with one count of Murder, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1), a 1st degree crime; one count of Possession Of A Weapon For An Unlawful Purpose, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4d, a 3rd degree crime; and one count of Unlawful Possession Of A Weapon, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5d, a 4th degree crime. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.

Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and he would like to thank the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and the Mahwah Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.