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Police say woman from Bernardsville was abducted by a former employee of her husband.


By GIOVANNA FABIANO and CHRISTA SEGALINI
Staff Writers

The man charged Thursday with kidnapping a Bernardsville woman from her home and leaving her bound and gagged with duct tape in a horse stable, was fired three months ago from her husband's landscaping company.

Authorities said Edgar Rene del Cid-Perez, a 34-year-old Guatemalan citizen who lives in Bernardsville, had been plotting to get back at his former boss, David Maffucci, ever since.

Armed with a knife and a .32-caliber handgun, del Cid-Perez set out to kidnap Maffucci's wife, Karen, and collect a $200,000 ransom, authorities said.

But the scheme went awry in less than a few hours Wednesday, after Karen Maffucci -- who was abducted at gunpoint and taken to a nearby barn -- escaped, flagged down a passing driver and made her way to police headquarters.

After a massive manhunt, del Cid-Perez was in police custody by 10:30 p.m. A Superior Court judge set his bail at $250,000 cash -- more than he initially demanded in ransom from his former boss.

Handcuffed and wearing a light green prison jumpsuit, del Cid-Perez appeared Thursday in Superior Court, Somerville, where he was arraigned on charges of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and third-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. According to court documents, del Cid-Perez admitted to police that he had kidnapped Karen Maffucci.

If convicted of the most serious charge -- kidnapping -- he faces up to 20 years in prison. Judge Edward M. Coleman entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of del Cid-Perez, who said he would seek representation from a public defender.

Details of the crime and the manhunt that followed unfolded at a news conference Thursday at the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office in Somerville.

According to investigators, del Cid-Perez spent Tuesday night in a shed behind the Dryden Road home of his former boss, staking it out and waiting for the moment his wife was home alone on Wednesday morning. The house, assessed at $998,000 in 2004, sits on a wooded 6-acre lot.

He entered the cavernous home through the garage, bound Maffucci with duct tape, and forced her into her Volvo sport utility vehicle, pointing a loaded .32-caliber revolver at her head, Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said.

Del Cid-Perez took Maffucci to a nearby horse stable off Hardscrabble Road and left her in a storage closet, despite her pleas to be set free. According to Forrest, Maffucci told del Cid-Perez that she was a diabetic, and was afraid to be left alone in the barn for an extended period of time.

"He told her it was going to cost her $200,000 for her life. He later called her husband and requested $1 million for the return of his wife," Forrest said.

When del Cid-Perez left the barn, Maffucci struggled to escape, rubbing her bonds against a sharp piece of plywood. After an hour and a half, she cut the duct tape loose, made her way onto the rural road and flagged down a motorist, who drove her to a police officer parked nearby.

Once authorities realized del Cid-Perez had Karen Maffucci's cell phone, police immediately began tracking any calls made from the cell phone after she had been abducted. Two phone numbers, one for the Woodstone construction company, del Cid-Perez's employer, and another for the cell phone of an unidentified Bernardsville man, gave police the leads they needed to search del Cid-Perez' residence.

Police listed Perez' address as 23 West St., a small, two-story blue house just a block from the NJ Transit rail line running through downtown Bernardsville. The house was quiet Thursday, but glass jalousies on both sides of the front door were open, and a ball of wadded-up duct tape was jammed in a window.

Ukit Sudrajat, 34, has lived on one side of the divided house for about three years. He described Perez as a Guatemalan immigrant who had moved in only about two months ago and lived with several other men. Sudrajat said he did not know Perez well and said he was unsure exactly how many people lived in the shared home.

"I didn't know how many people (were) coming and going," he said. Police had searched the home late Wednesday and early Thursday, Sudrajat said, adding the house is normally quiet, and he has never had a problem with any of his neighbors.

In court, del Cid-Perez was given the option of having the Guatemalan Consulate notified of his arrest. He accepted. Authorities said they were investigating his immigration status.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest and Bernardsville Police Chief Kevin Valentine ask that anyone with information on the incident call the Bernardsville Police Department at (90 766-0037, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Squad at (90 575-8477. All calls are kept confidential.

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No mention of Woodstone construction company, del Cid-Perez's employer being charged or fined for hiring an illegal alien.