The Murder of Rachel Siani

New Jersey State Police and Burlington Township Police responded when Rachel Siani's body was found on April 1, 2000. Detective John Villamil of the New Jersey State Police led the investigation. The initial question of whether Rachel had died by suicide was quickly dismissed; the clean bottoms of her socks, the absence of shoes, and the blood found on the bridge railing directly above the body all pointed to homicide. The investigation shifted immediately to the hours preceding her death.

Investigators traced Rachel's last known movements to the parking lot of Diva's International Gentlemen's Club and the adjacent Econo Lodge in Levittown, Pennsylvania. A police officer who had been patrolling the lot confirmed seeing Rachel and John Denofa enter the motel together at approximately 2:30 a.m. on March 29. The night clerk at the Econo Lodge told investigators that Denofa checked out shortly after 3:00 a.m., earlier than his usual routine, smelling of soap and without a word. A guest in the room below Denofa's had heard a loud thump sometime between midnight and 3:00 a.m. Rachel's keys were later found in the parking lot below his second-floor room.

A painstaking review of Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpike toll records and surveillance footage produced the critical evidence in the case. Footage from Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange 29, time-stamped at 3:13 a.m. on March 29, showed a red Dodge pickup truck consistent with the vehicle registered to Denofa, with a human body visible in the truck bed, partially covered by a white drop cloth. The same interchange captured the truck returning at 3:40 a.m. with the bed empty. Toll records placed the truck on the New Jersey Turnpike between Interchanges 6 and 7 during the 27-minute interval, consistent with a route across the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge and back.

A blood stain on the sidewalk directly beneath Denofa's second-floor motel room matched Rachel's DNA. Investigators found blood beneath the bed liner of Denofa's red Dodge pickup truck; DNA testing confirmed this blood was Rachel's. When questioned at the Bristol Township Police Department, Denofa was described as impassive and without feeling. When investigators pressed him about scratches on his arm, he requested an attorney and terminated the interview.

Denofa was arrested approximately one week after Rachel's body was found. The state's forensic case was anchored by the testimony of New Jersey State Medical Examiner Dr. Faruk Presswalla, who concluded that Rachel had been manually strangled to unconsciousness, fell or was thrown from the second floor balcony of the Econo Lodge, was placed into Denofa's truck while still alive and critically injured, and was thrown from the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge from a height of approximately 112 feet. The liver injuries and the 400 cubic centimeters of blood found in her peritoneal cavity were, in Dr. Presswalla's firm opinion, consistent only with the force of a fall from the bridge, not from the motel. Rachel was still alive when she went over the bridge.

Key Evidence — Butterfly Necklace

The Butterfly Necklace

Rachel was wearing a butterfly necklace when she was found beneath the bridge. The necklace became a key identifying detail in investigators' reconstruction of her final hours and was referenced throughout coverage of the case and in the Forensic Files episode on the investigation.