Michael Lodzinski says he came to peace with belief that his sister killed her son Timothy Wiltsey long before Wednesday's verdict.
On Tuesday night, Michael Lodzinski said he had a premonition: his sister would be convicted the following day of murdering her 5-year-old son, Timothy Wiltsey.
When his premonition came true Wednesday morning, he said he was at peace.
"To me, everything points to her. Whether it was an accident or not, only she knows and it's for her to say," Michael Lodzinski said in an interview with NJ Advance Media in a parking garage near the Middlesex County Courthouse.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I just had a really heavy heart. I was praying for her and praying for other people. I knew it was God's way of saying it was time for this to happen, so my heart was ready."
Michelle Lodzinski, 48, was convicted of murder by a jury of seven men and five women Wednesday after eight weeks of testimony before Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves in New Brunswick. It closes a chapter on a murder case that riveted the state and made headlines across the nation for more than two decades, all while slowly tearing at the psyche of a family thrust under the public spotlight.
At 47, Michael Lodzinski is just one year younger than his sister, Michelle. The land surveyor and Hillsdale, Mich. resident was the only family member present when the jury's verdict was read at Middlesex County Superior Court.
For 25 years, he said he has grappled with the torn loyalties of supporting his sister, who until 2014 had never been charged in connection with the case, and seeking justice for his 5-year-old nephew.
"I'd be back and forth. It was your nephew, it's your sister," Michael Lodzinski said. "We didn't talk about it as a family, and shame on us. It was always under the surface. But there were no charges and she said she was innocent. What do you do?"
"At a certain point, I had to come to terms with the fact that I was enabling her by not confronting her," he added.
In August 2015, he did. He penned a letter to her in prison pressing her for answers.
"The family has always supported you but we also recognize things don't add up. All the lies, why? Everything you have put the family through over the years, why? Why have you never sought justice for Timmy?" He wrote in the letter, provided to NJ Advance Media.
Read the Full Letter
Timmy, a doe-eyed 5-year-old with wispy brown hair, went missing on May 25, 1991. His mother at first said he left her side while she was on line getting a soda at a carnival in Sayreville.
A massive search ensued, but ended futilely.
Timmy's skull was found in the marsh eleven months later.
Michelle Lodzinski's erratic behavior in the months and years that followed kept suspicion focused on her.
Her story changed repeatedly. There were two men with a knife that took him. Then two men and one woman. There was a local go-go dancer named Ellen involved that authorities could never find.
Then, in 1994, she was arrested on charges that she faked her own kidnapping. She ultimately turned up in Detroit, claiming that she had been abducted at gunpoint by men who said they were FBI agents looking for information about Timmy.
She eventually pled guilty to lesser charges. The murder case, meanwhile, went dark for two decades as Michelle Lodzinski rebuilt her life, first in Minnesota, then Florida.
She had two more sons, now 14 and 18, and had held down steady employment while living near her parents and sister in Port St. Lucie, Florida, until she was arrested in 2014.
Timothy Wiltsey murder: Timeline of a 25-year-old tragedy
But her brother, Michael, said the 1994 kidnapping hoax changed his perception of his sister, and, her innocence.
"That's when I knew something was wrong. I started to look into it," he said. "Why do that? Why go through all that instead of seeking justice for Timmy? She gave the family a lot of reasons to doubt because she never talked about it. But the case went cold, and there came a point where I had to decide whether I was going to have a relationship with my sister and my nephews. So I supported her. She was the only one that knew and still is."
After her arrest in 2014, the case began to weigh on him again, and he wrote the letter.
"I know they have no physical evidence, no eyewitnesses, no confession but they do have a lot of circumstantial evidence and from what I've seen juries will take that leap and connect the dots. I urge you to rethink your position and search your heart. Ask God for guidance. If you are truly innocent, fight on but if not come clean and ask for mercy," he wrote.
Michael Lodzinski said his sister never responded and the letter frayed relationships with some of his other family members.
As the verdict was announced, Michelle Lodzinski dropped her head forward and there was an audible gasp from the large crowd in the courtroom. Her entire body began to shake noticeably, including her head, with her hands clenched tightly in front of her. She did not say anything.
As his sister was handcuffed, a visibly distraught Michael Lodzinski shouted out "I love you sis! I love you very much."
Michael Lodzinski delivered the news to his father, who he said was devastated. He said he also mourned for his two nephews -- Michelle's sons -- who he said "just lost their mom."
But he said he hopes the verdict begins a new chapter for their family; one he hopes will be centered around acceptance and healing.
"It's the end of the public portion of this, but the beginning of another," he said. "Hopefully, the healing can begin. It comes down to 'can you embrace the truth of what happened?' That's up to each individual family member to decide."
To that end, Michael said he visited Timmy's grave at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport, Sunday.
"I spoke with Timothy. When I usually go to graves I think things and feel things, but I talked out loud to him ... just that 'I don't know why this happened to you' and things like that."
My heart was at peace, just sitting there with him."
Stephen Stirling may be reached at sstirling@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook.
