Crime & Safety

Manchester Man Accused in Long Branch Shooting Charged with Murdering Neighbor

Alan Bienkowski is already in police custody in connection with a Long Branch murder.

By Gregory Kyriakakis

The neighbor of a Manchester man found dead in his Pine Acres Manor home last month has been charged with his murder, authorities announced Wednesday.

Alan Bienkowski, 54, was charged with first degree murder in connection with the May 13 beating death of Anthony “Tony” Verdicchio, 76, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

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Bienkowski, who already faces charges in an April Long Branch murder, has been in custody in Monmouth County since late-May.

“In what could have easily passed as an episode of the popular CSI TV show, Ocean County Criminalistics Investigations Unit detectives meticulously processed the Manchester crime scene and isolated forensic evidence linking Bienkowski to the murder,” said Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato in a statement.

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Verdicchio was found unconscious and not breathing in his residence when Manchester police responded to a 911 call on Monday, May 13. An autopsy performed that week determined that Verdicchio died of multiple blunt force traumas to the head and face, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Monmouth County officials previously charged Bienkowski with the murder of Michael M. Wells, a Point Pleasant man who died of a gunshot wound in the backyard of a Cleveland Avenue home in Long Branch during an alleged robbery on April 10.

Bienkowski is currently being held on $1,450,000 bail in the Monmouth County jail in Freehold on the Long Branch case. His bail in the Manchester case has been set at $3 million dollars cash only, prosecutor’s office spokesman Al Della Fave said.

If convicted of the Manchester murder, Bienkowski faces a sentence ranging from the minimum mandatory sentence of 30 years in state prison, with a 30 year period of parole ineligibility, to a potential maximum sentence of life in prison, according to Della Fave. A conviction in the Long Branch charges would bring additional prison time. 

Authorities would like to speak with anyone who may have been in contact with or seen Verdicchio between 10 a.m. Sunday, May 12, and 5 p.m. Monday, May 13, Della Fave said.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Bienkowski around the date and time of the alleged murder are also asked to contact the Manchester police at 732-657-6111, through the confidential tip line at www.manchesterpolicenj.com, or the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department, the Manchester Township Police Department, and the Toms River Township Police Department, all contributed to the investigation culminating in the arrest of Bienkowski, according to Della Fave.

"It was a tremendous job by all the agencies," said Manchester Chief of Police Brian Klimakowski.

This case is being prosecuted by Ocean County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Michael R. Weatherstone.

Verdicchio was originally from Plainfield. When he moved to Manchester, he sold ceramic tiles. Later on, he worked for the News Stand, and beyond that, he volunteered at the shop on Route 37 East.

“He was like a family member,” said Mary Ann Conover, who worked with Verdicchio at the News Stand and grew up in South Plainfield. “He treated my kids like they were his own.”

Many Pine Acres Manor neighbors had kind words for Verdicchio, including Ruth Jarvis, who called him “a good friend.”

“Whatever the reason was for this, it wasn’t good enough. The neighborhood is going to miss him because everyone loved him," she said.


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