Confident that Creato will be acquitted in 3-year-old son's murder, defense presents case in 20 minutes

The attorney for David "D.J." Creato Jr. asked a judge to dismiss the murder charge against his client Wednesday, saying the prosecution had presented no evidence linking Creato to his 3-year-old son's death in 2015 in Haddon Township.

"They have put on no evidence to say that Brendan Creato was killed, or that D.J. Creato was the person who killed him," Richard J. Fuschino Jr. said.

Judge John T. Kelley denied Fuschino's request, saying prosecutors had showed motive and enough evidence for jurors to decide whether Creato is guilty.

Closing statements and jury deliberation are scheduled for next week.

After Wednesday's hearing in Superior Court in Camden, Creato's father, David Sr., voiced optimism about his son's chances.

"I feel very confident that he will be home next week," David Creato Sr. said. "And I look forward and plan on working very closely with the Prosecutor's Office to find out who really did this."

The prosecution presented its case for nearly 10 days. Jurors visited the woods where Brendan's body was found and heard testimony from detectives, forensic experts, and medical examiners.

The defense presented its case for 20 minutes, all on Wednesday. Fuschino called eight witnesses, Creato's family and friends, and asked each the same questions: What is Creato's reputation for peacefulness? What is his reputation for honesty?

"He's always been very calm, peaceful; he's always been a very nice person," said Kelly Creato, his cousin.

"You can trust him with pretty much anything," said Creato's friend, Erin Lovett.

Creato, 23, is accused of killing Brendan to stop his girlfriend, whom he met on the dating app Tinder, from leaving him.

The prosecution has faced an uphill battle from the beginning.

It has no witnesses or video surveillance to indicate Creato traveled three-quarters of a mile from his apartment to the woods where Brendan's pajama-clad body was found slumped over a rock in 2015.

Three medical examiners who ruled Brendan died of "homicidal violence" couldn't determine whether asphyxiation, drowning, or strangulation — each of which can deprive the brain of oxygen — caused Brendan's death.

In testimony last week that could prove to be particularly damaging to the prosecution, state medical examiner Andrew L. Falzon acknowledged that if all the circumstances were the same but Brendan had been found dead on a sofa, he would have ruled the cause "undetermined."

The 9,487 text messages Creato exchanged with his girlfriend, Julia Stensky, show that Creato was jealous of other men she was seeing, and that Stensky and Creato fought often because she disliked being around Brendan. But none of the messages described a plot to kill Brendan.

Prosecutors say the messages still point to motive.

On Wednesday, they showed pictures of Creato and Stensky together in the months after Brendan's death. On Oct. 30, 2015, 2½ weeks after Brendan died, Creato and Stensky took a selfie as they held up a hedgehog at Creato's Haddon Township apartment.

In November 2015, Creato and Stensky visited the Poconos. They spent the Christmas and New Year's Eve holidays in Haddon Township.

Stensky, 19, was at Pace University in New York City when Brendan died and has not been charged.

After Fuschino tried to have the charges against Creato dismissed Wednesday, Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Christine Shah told the judge that the case had always been circumstantial.

"The state has never claimed it to be anything other," Shah said.

She repeated one of the prosecution's key points: That Brendan was found with clean socks, which suggest someone had placed him in the woods near Cooper Street and South Park Drive.

Brendan was also afraid of the dark. Shah has said that makes it unlikely he would have left Creato's apartment, where he was last seen alive, by himself.

Creato called 911 around 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2015, saying he woke up and Brendan was gone. Two police officers, following a dog that tracked Brendan's scent, found the boy's body less than three hours later.

Creato had walked through the woods with Stensky two days before Brendan's death. Stensky later told investigators she and Creato had previously been there 20 to 30 times.

Brendan's mother, Samantha Denoto, who did not live with Creato, also secretly recorded a conversation between her and Creato a month after Brendan died. In the conversation, which authorities had asked Denoto to record, Creato suggested spirits may have drawn Brendan to the woods.

Creato, telling Denoto he did not mean to sound crazy, said there was perhaps "some kind of energy that guided him."

Denoto, who testified for the prosecution, called Creato's suggestion odd and unexplainable. She has sat opposite from Creato's immediate family in court.

Creato has stayed mostly stoic during the trial, occasionally turning around to glance at his family or the reporters who have gathered every day.

The jury is composed of 11 women and three men. They will reconvene Tuesday at 9 a.m.