Michelle Lodzinski struggled to be a parent as her 5-year-old son Timothy Wiltsey, a witness testified at her murder trial
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Michelle Lodzinski's relationship with her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey, grew more distant as he grew older, according to her brother's ex-girlfriend.
Danielle Marquis, testifying Tuesday morning on the 11th day of Lodzinski's trial for her son's 1991 murder, said, "the older he got, the more medical problems he was having. It was harder for her. You could tell."
She said Timmy had difficulties with his teeth and with his stomach.
After one particular trying time, Marquis told the jury, she heard Lodzinski say, "I'm a weekend mom and I'm not made for this sh---."
Marquis said she and Lodzinski had made plans on May 24, 1991, that Lodzinski would pick up Marquis's daughter, who was near Wiltsey's age, and take the girl, named Jessica, and Wiltsey to a carnival in Sayreville on Saturday, May 25, 1991.
She said Lodzinski was supposed to pick Jessica up in the morning, but Lodzinski never called and never showed up at the apartment in Woodbridge that Marquis shared with Lodzinski's brother, Edward.
"I called her house, I left messages," Marquis said. "I hoped Timmy would pick up the phone. But I never heard anything back."
She said she learned Timmy was missing about 3 a.m. the next morning when Edward Lodzinski woke her up and told her his mother was picking him up to help search for the boy.
Timothy Wiltsey's remains were found 11 months later in a swampy area of Raritan Center in Edison.
Under both direct examination and cross-examination, Marquis testified she told police she suspected Lodzinski's then-boyfriend, Fred Bruno was involved in his disappearance.
She told of how she was babysitting for Timothy once when Michelle told her a man was going to pick him up -- someone she later learned was Bruno.
"When he arrived, Timmy became hysterical and refused to go with him," Marquis said. "I had to call Michelle."
She said she suspected Bruno because, "my nephew was terrified of him."
Bruno has testified he had no involvement in Timmy's disappearance or death.
Lodzinski told police that she went to get soda at a concession stand at the carnival about 7 p.m. the evening of May 25, 1991 and Timmy was with her. She said he was standing about 8-feet from her when she turned to pay for her soda, but when she turned back, he was gone.
But, over the next several weeks, she became the prime suspect in her son's disappearance after she gave police conflicting statements including that he was abducted by a woman named Ellen and two men, according to testimony at the trial.
Lodzinski was charged with her son's murder in August 2014 after the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office reopened the case in 2011.
The trial will resume Wednesday morning before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.