On February 6, 2021, Elina Gutti dialed 911 and reported to the South Bound Brook Police Department that her wrist was slit with a knife while she was sleeping. Shortly after, the Officers responded to her home located at 138 Cedar St. Upon arrival, Officers observed Gutti holding a towel over a cut on her left wrist and stated that her wrist was cut while she was sleeping. As Officers continued to observe, they noticed Gutti having dry blood on her sweatshirt, pants, and hands to later see a child laying motionless on Gutti’s bed. The child, John Doe, had several large wounds to his throat and blood on the sheets, carpet, and floor. The Officers also observed two bloody kitchen knives with black handles not too far from Gutti’s bed. Gutti’s Ex-Husband, who lives separately upstairs from her residence, arrived at the scene, and later collapsed after he acknowledged what had happened to his son.
After an investigation was conducted, Gutti was arrested and taken into custody. The investigation determined that the kitchen knife found at the scene was the murder weapon used to fatally stab John Doe. The New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office conducted a post-mortem examination, which determined the cause of the victim’s death. The result of the cause were multiple incised wounds to the neck area and the manner of death to be homicide.
On December 19, 2023, Gutti was found guilty of murder in the first degree for the criminal homicide death of her four-year-old son. Gutti faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for January 16, 2024, in the Somerset County Superior Court.
