A Relationship Based On Crime
By: Edward Anderson
Tags: True Crime, Marijuana, Relationships, Justice, Culture

A Relationship Based On Crime

A couple killed their dealer, then tried to cover their tracks.

Photo: Thomas P. Costello

Writers will sometimes flip the script on certain stereotypes in order to keep the audience engaged. The ingenue might become a devious vixen or the pastor might be a womanizing lothario. Doing this opens up a world of storytelling for the writer and helps the audience see that the characters could be real people.

In real life, a grieving widow could be a malicious murderer. She could have plotted the death of her spouse to inherit the life insurance money. A father might kill his family to start over, to begin a new life without the baggage of the one he started earlier in life. Everyone has a shade of grey.

Three people in the center of a New Jersey murder push the boundaries of stereotypes and how people view them.

Interconnected Forever

Joseph Villani, Raquel Garajau, and Trupal Patel had what would be described as a loose relationship. Patel was the weed dealer of choice for Villani and Garajau. He would come over and sell them copious amounts of marijuana but allegedly warned them if they ever decided not to pay, he had people who would take care of them.

Garajau was an honors student at Brookdale Community College. People close to her say she was very in love with Villani, though privately confided she didn’t like how much time he spent smoking and playing videogames. She wanted him to make more money, she wanted to start a family with the man she loved.

Villani was content to play his games and smoke some weed. He loved Garajau but didn’t like her nagging him to get a “real” job. When his girlfriend began her Lady Macbeth act, he resisted at first. Then slowly began to give in to what she wanted to.

One night Garajau figured out that Patel had a lot of money. He also had nice things and bought an Xbox for a kid who was asking for it at a restaurant. She figured she and Villani could rob him to get some quick cash. A plan began to form. One that she was quite proud of.

It would go horribly wrong.

Garage Murder

Villani asked Patel to come over on February 6, 2017. It was under the guise of selling him some weed. However, the plan was to rob him of the weed and the money he had on him. When he walked into the garage, Villani shot him three times in the head.

Garajau and her now ex-boyfriend went to work taking everything Patel had on him. They took his money, weed, and other valuable items. The body needed to be dealt with, and police found text messages that showed Garajau instructing her beau to dump the body and clean up the garage so that nobody suspected what they had done.

Villani did what he was told. He took the body to Shark River Park and dropped it there. Hoping that when the body was found, it would appear as though the drug dealer had been robbed while on a run.

Once that was done, Villani went about selling the weed he had stolen from Patel. He then used the money to buy Garajau a ring and himself a new videogame system. He deposited the rest of the stolen money into his bank account.

Everything seemed to be going their way. Until it wasn’t.

Things Fall Apart

A friend became concerned about Patel missing. On February 9, 2017, a missing person’s report was filed. An investigation was opened into the case and police started looking into what might have happened. His 2003 Jaguar was found abandoned by Asbury Park shortly after Patel was reported as missing.

They kept following up on leads that went nowhere for two weeks. Then on February 22, a park ranger who was picking up litter in Shark River Park discovered the corpse. His mother was called in to identify the body and she confirmed it was Patel.

As the investigation turned into a murder case, police were stumped. Then an acquaintance of Villani’s gave them a tip that helped solve the case. The friend told the police that he had seen Villani behind the wheel of Patel’s car. He was quickly arrested.

For a few weeks after, Garajau thought she was in the clear. But the police had found the text messages where she directed him to clean up the scene of the crime and discussed the ring he had bought her.

Both of them were charged with first-degree murder, along with various other charges.

Sentencing The Murderers

Garajau went to trial first. She maintained her innocence, as she continues to do, saying she had no idea what her boyfriend had in mind. Her defense was that she couldn’t have known what Villani was going to do. The jury did not buy her defense and convicted her on all counts.

Judge Joseph W. Oxley questioned her about why she claimed innocence. Garajau simply said she had no idea what was happening when Villani and Patel met. However, the judge asked about the “clean the bullets” texts and she did not answer him.

He sentenced her to 33 years in prison. Garajau has vowed to appeal the conviction and sentence.

Villani pleaded guilty and asked the judge for leniency. He admitted that he and Garajau had conspired to kill Patel and steal the victim’s money.

His lawyers argued that a drug dealer was being “lionized” and that Oxley should consider that before handing down the sentence. The judge disagreed and sentenced him to 30 years in prison for the murder and then 10 more for the other charges including robbery. Villani will be forced to serve 25 1/2 years of his first sentence before he can be paroled under New Jersey law.

“There’s nothing I can do to change the facts, nothing I can do to help Mrs. Patel with her grief and her loss. There’s nothing I can do to make anybody whole in this case,” Judge Oxley said as he passed down the sentence.