Westville man sentenced to 12 years after missing man’s remains found
Michael Zappley pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the 2016 death of Miguel Martinez III in Deptford.
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A Westville man was sentenced to 12 years in state prison in the 2016 death of a man whose remains were found years after he disappeared, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
Michael A. Zappley, 69, pleaded guilty in August to aggravated manslaughter in the death of Miguel Martinez III in Deptford.
Martinez’s family reported him missing on June 15, 2016. Investigators searched for him for several months but were unable to find him.
In January 2020, a witness gave investigators information about how Martinez was killed and how his body had been disposed of. Investigators later searched multiple properties on Fox Run Road in Deptford and recovered 106 bones that were determined to be human remains. DNA and genetic testing identified the remains as Martinez’s.
In a recorded statement, Zappley admitted that during an altercation he grabbed Martinez from behind, restricted his airway until he could not breathe and struck him in the head with a steel door. Zappley said he left Martinez’s body outside overnight before taking it to a wooded area off Fox Run Road and attempting to burn it.
