Michelle Lodzinski's two sons testified at their mom's murder trial they knew they had an older brother who died in 1991.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- The Lodzinski family took center stage Tuesday morning in the trial of Michelle Lodzinski for the murder of her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey in May 1991.
The first two witnesses in the trial were her two sons, Daniel, 18, and Benjamin, 14, who testified their mother told them they had an older brother named Timmy who died.
Their testimony contradicted that of Lodzinski's niece, Jennifer Blair Dilcher, who testified earlier in the trial that Timothy's existence was "taboo" in the family.
The boys have been living with Michelle's sister, Linda Hisey and her brother-in-law, David Hisey, since her arrest in August 2014. Both families live in Florida.
They also identified a photo in a frame they said was of Timmy and was kept on their mother's nightstand and a toy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle that they both played with as children that their mom said once belonged to Timmy.
The brothers were followed by their grandfather and Michelle's father, Edward Lodzinski Sr., who recalled learning about his grandson's disappearance and death.
He said on direct testimony that his daughter doesn't "show emotions" but the night Timmy went missing, "she was scared, upset."
However, on cross-examination by Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Scott La Mountain, Lodzinski admitted when he read newspaper articles that his daughter gave police several different versions of his grandson's disappearance, he went to Sayreville police.
He admitted he told police "she was holding something back from the investigation" and asked police to tell him more information (about the investigation).
But when questioned again by his daughter's attorney, Gerald Krovatin, Lodzinski said he asked his daughter to explain what happened to Timmy and after she told him he had no doubt about her.
A former neighbor of Michelle's, Ann Golio, testified she saw Timmy on Saturday, May 25, 1991 at 11 a.m. running up and down Augusta Street, the street he and his mother lived on, with his friend Tara.
"I yelled at them to get out of the street," she said.
Prosecutors believe the boy was killed sometime that day and his body taken to the swampy area of Raritan Center in Edison where his skeletal remains were found 11 months later.
Michelle Lodzinski reported him missing the evening of May 25, 1991 at a carnival in Kennedy Park in Sayreville. She originally told police he was standing about eight feet from her as she purchased soda at a concession stand, but when she turned back after paying for the soda, he was gone.
In the weeks her initial statement to police, Lodzinski gave several other statements to police in which she changed the story to include his abduction by a woman she knew and two men who were with the woman.
Lodzinski became the prime suspect in her son's disappearance early in the investigation, according tov testimony in the trial, but she wasn't charged until August 2014 after the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office reopened the investigation.
The trial will resume Tuesday afternoon with Lodzinski's sister, Linda Hisey, on the witness stand.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.