Scott Kologi is a teen killer from New Jersey who is currently on trial for the murders of his parents, sister and a family friend back in 2017. According to court documents Scott Kologi would fatally shoot Linda Kologi, 44, father Steven Kologi Sr., 42, sister, Brittany, 18, and Mary Shulz, 70 on New Years Eve 2017. Now Scott Kologi is on trial and his defense team do not deny that the then eighteen year old committed the murders however they are not trying for an insanity defense saying the teen killer suffered from years of mental illness that would ultimately lead to the quadruple murder.
Scott Kologi More News
From the time Scott Kologi was a toddler, his oldest brother knew he was different than other kids his age.
“He acted as if he was at a much younger age,” Jonathan Ruiz said of Scott, who is 10 years younger than him.
As Scott got older, the difference between his actual age and the age he acted became greater, Ruiz told a jury in Monmouth County.
“There was a greater disparity in his mental abilities,” Ruiz testified.
At age 15, Scott still slept in the bed with his parents every night, as he had done throughout his childhood, Ruiz said.
In 2017, when Scott was 16, his mother still dressed him every morning and made him special meals “because he had the palate of a child,” Ruiz testified. And, by then, Scott still believed in Santa Claus, he said.
Asked how he knew that, Ruiz replied, “Because I would help hide presents in the attic so he would believe that Santa brought him the presents, and the presents were tagged ‘Santa.’
That New Year’s Eve, when Ruiz was at his family’s home in Long Branch, Scott appeared happy, he said.
But just before midnight, Ruiz acknowledged, Scott shot and killed his mother, father, sister and surrogate grandmother.
Ruiz, 30, of Toms River, was the first witness for the defense at Scott Kologi’s trial on four counts of murder.
Defense attorneys do not contest that Scott Kologi shot and killed his mother, Linda Kologi, 44, father Steven Kologi Sr., 42, sister, Brittany, 18, and Mary Shulz, 70, the longtime companion of his grandfather who he looked upon as his grandmother. The defense attorneys, however, claim their client was legally insane and experiencing a severe psychotic episode after suffering for years from mental illness for which he was never treated.
The prosecution has argued that Kologi, despite any mental illness, knew what he was doing when he committed the killings.
The prosecution rested its case Monday after calling two medical examiners to testify about the cause and manner of the deaths of Shulz and the Kologi family members. All were victims of homicide, suffering multiple gunshot wounds from an assault rifle, they testified.
But Ruiz testified that everyone seemed happy earlier that day.
He told the jury that his family was “fun” and “very close.
Although Steven Kologi Sr. was not his biological father, Ruiz always considered him to be his father, he said.
The family would often spend time together playing games, watching movies, taking trips to the beach and playing basketball in the back yard of the family home, Ruiz said.
“Why was that family time important?” defense attorney Richard Lomurro asked him.
Ruiz paused and wiped tears from his eyes.
“Because family is the most important thing in the world,” he replied and then apologized for crying.
Ruiz said he was close to Scott, and even after he moved out of the family’s home on Wall Street in Long Branch, he still would visit there at least one or twice a week.
In 2017, he was at the family gatherings there for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Christmas was like any other Christmas before, always a happy and joyous occasion,” he said.
That Christmas, as every Christmas, Ruiz said he watched as Scott opened his presents from Santa Claus.
That New Year’s Eve, Ruiz said he drove from Toms River to the family’s home and spent several hours there before taking his then-girlfriend, now his wife, to a gathering at a friend’s house in Philadelphia.
“What was everyone’s mood?” Lomurro asked of those gathered in the Kologi household.
“Happy,” Ruiz replied.
There were no arguments, and “Scott seemed normal,” he told the jury.
While he was there, Ruiz said he took a ride with his mother to Domino’s to get a special meal for Scott.
“What was that ride like with Mom?” Lomurro asked him. The question again brought the witness to tears.
After a moment, Ruiz, still crying, replied, “It was happy, it was normal.”
He also said he spent “a happy time” with his father that day. Nothing seemed unusual, Ruiz said.
While at his friend’s house in Philadelphia, Ruiz said he learned that something had happened.
“I immediately rushed to my vehicle and drove directly to Long Branch,” he said.
Several hours later, while at the police station in Long Branch, Ruiz said he learned that his mother, father, sister and “grandmother,” were dead.
Kologi is being tried as an adult for crimes that occurred when he was still a minor. The trial is before Superior Court Judge Marc C. LeMieux.
https://www.app.com/story/news/local/courts/2022/02/15/scott-kologi-murder-trial-brother-testifies-long-branch-nj-family-happy/6786929001/
Scott Kologi Other News
The Jersey Shore teen accused of slaughtering his parents, sister and family friend on New Year’s Eve gunned down his victims “at close range” with an AK-47-style rifle, officials said Tuesday.
Scott Kologi has been charged as a juvenile with four counts of first-degree murder for the brutal slayings inside the family’s Long Branch home — but Monmouth County prosecutors intend to try him as an adult.
“We’re going to be attempting to waive him or transfer his case from the juvenile court system up to the adult court system, but there is a process and a procedure that comes with that,” prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said at a press conference Tuesday.
Scott’s father, Steven Kologi, 44, mother, Linda Kologi, 42, sister Brittany Kologi, 18, and Mary Schultz, 70, were all killed in the New Year’s Eve carnage.
Three others — his older brother, Steven Jr., grandfather, Adrian Kologi, and a family friend in her 20s — made it out alive.
“Once they heard the shooting, they ran from it and called 911,” Gramiccioni said.
One of those survivors legally owned the AK-47 variant, made by Century Arms, that Scott Kologi allegedly used in the bloodbath. It had a magazine capable of holding 15 rounds, according to Gramiccioni.
“These deaths are homicides from multiple gunshots at close range,” the prosecutor added.
He called it a “heartbreaking family tragedy.”
“The unfortunate and sad reality is that [in] this case, when we seek justice for the remaining family members . . . the sad fact is that justice is likely going to involve serious punishment for yet another family member and loved one,” Gramiccioni said. “This is a situation that we don’t find ourselves often in.”
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive for the slayings.
Kologi, who is being held at the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center, is expected to appear in court Wednesday. His Tuesday hearing was postponed after media requested to have the court proceeding opened up to press.
Andrea Santos, 45, who has known the family for four years described Linda as being devoted to her teen son, whom friends and neighbors say is autistic.
“She was so devoted to that kid. She was always with him,” Santos told The Post. “I think she thought she was able to take care of that kid. Now, definitely we know that kid needed more help.”A GoFundMe page set up for the Kologi family has raised more than $26,000.
