Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced today that John Filistovich, 59, has been indicted by an Ocean County Grand Jury on charges of Murder and Theft. Filistovich is accused of killing Betty Perry, 60, both residents of Lakewood, New Jersey.
The indictment is connected to Perry’s death which took place on May 30.
On that day, Lakewood Township Police Department officers conducted a welfare check on Perry at her Thornbury Court residence. Upon entry, officers discovered Perry’s deceased body on the bedroom floor.
“A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that Filistovich and Ms. Perry had been living together and were in a dating relationship,” said Billhimer.
Further investigation found that a 2015 Hyundai Elantra, owned by Perry, had been taken from the residence. On the same day, Filistovich was found near Salisbury, Maryland, by state troopers, in possession of the stolen vehicle. He was initially charged with theft and taken to a local medical facility in Salisbury for undisclosed reasons.
The following day, the Ocean County Medical Examiner performed a post-mortem examination on Perry, determining that she died from blunt force injuries to the head, neck, and chest with asphyxiation.
The manner of death was ruled a homicide. Filistovich was formally charged with Perry’s murder on June 1, 2023, the day he was released from the Salisbury medical facility. Since then, he has been held in the Ocean County Jail after being extradited from Maryland’s Wicomico County Corrections Center.