TOMS RIVERS -- Lawyers Tuesday morning presented two different accounts of Daniele "Danny" Romeo DiSantillo's role in the April 2015 shooting death of Peyman Sanandaji.
Prosecutors claim Romeo DiSantillo orchestrated a calculated plan to have Sanandaji, 34, "executed" inside a Jackson pizza restaurant by an accomplice, Hector Calderon, to erase a $140,000 debt Romeo DiSantillo owed Sanandaji.
Romeo DiSantillo's attorney, Edward C. Bertucio, said the shooting was an "unfortunate tragedy" that resulted from an argument between Calderon and Sanandaji inside the Casanova Ristorante, located in a strip mall owned by Romeo DiSantillo's father on South New Prospect Road in Jackson.
Romeo DiSantillo, 28, of Manalapan, is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, weapons offenses, money laundering and theft by deception. He remains free on bail.
Hector Calderon. (Ocean County Jail)
Calderon also faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons offenses. His trial is pending the completion of Romeo DiSantillo's trial, which is expected to last three to five weeks.
Both Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Weatherstone and Bertucio said during their opening arguments presented in Superior Court Judge James M. Blaney's courtroom that Romeo DiSantillo did not shoot and kill Sanandaji on April 9, 2015.
But the jury of 10 women and five men heard different arguments as to what led to the shooting.
Weatherstone accused Romeo DiSantillo of being the mastermind of a murder-for-hire plot to erase a $140,000 debt. Bertucio, however, claims his client is a "good kid," who is an "honest, law-abiding citizen." Bertucio labeled Sanandaji as a "hot head" who bragged about owning guns.
Weatherstone said the case starts in the summer of 2014 when Romeo DiSantillo and Sanandaji entered into a business agreement that included buying and selling homes, and purchasing pizza restaurants in Spotswood and Jackson.
"Sanandaji was murdered because of a business agreement he made," Weatherstone said. "Because he entered into an agreement with a friend, a good friend."
Sanandaji was single and lived a modest lifestyle, Weatherstone said. He worked hard, putting in 12- to 15-hour work days at a car dealership. Weatherstone said Sanandaji gave Romeo DiSantillo $140,000 -- "almost all of his life savings" -- for the business deal.
"That was his mistake, and that would ultimately lead to his death," Weatherstone said.
Romeo DiSantillo spent the $140,000 on himself and his family, Weatherstone said. He transferred bulk payments to his wife and then retransferred smaller amounts back to himself, Weatherstone said.
By January 2015, Weatherstone said, the money was all gone.
Sanandaji wanted his money back, Weatherstone said. That's when Romeo DiSantillo elicited the help of Calderon to "remove the debt" by killing Sanandaji in the empty Casanova pizza shop.
"There goes the debt, there goes the problem," Weatherstone said.
He said Calderon shot Sanandaji in the pizza shop three times -- once in the side and twice in the head. Calderon then left the pizza shop -- and the scene to Romeo DiSantillo.
Romeo DiSantillo called two off-duty Jackson police officers to ask their advice about "hypothetical" situations.
One of those officers, Eric Prosniewski, was later charged with two counts of hindering apprehension for giving detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office false, deceptive and misleading information in the investigation.
Prosniewski, who was a 12-year veteran of the Jackson police force, was suspended without pay pending the resolution of his criminal charges. He will not testify in Romeo DiSantillo's trial.
Weatherstone said Romeo DiSantillo's story changed in "not even a two-minute period" from when the first officer arrived at the scene. Romeo DiSantillo's story, he said, went from one of stumbling over the body after hearing a loud noise while making his end-of-the-night rounds to "I was there, the victim is my good friend."
Romeo DiSantillo would go on to lead investigators to Calderon's home in Freehold, and set up a phone conversation in which the police listened in on, Weatherstone said.
In that phone conversation, Weatherstone said, Calderon told Romeo DiSantillo, "you knew this was going to happen."
Daniele Romeo DiSantillo. (Ocean County Jail)
On April 17, 2015, eight days after Sanandaji was killed, Romeo DiSantillo turned himself into authorities.
"Ladies and gentleman, Hector Calderon shot Peyman (Sanandaji), there's no dispute about that," Weatherstone said. "But the only one who benefitted is Romeo DiSantillo. He orchestrated this, chose his patsy ... and he got rid of his business partner. That's what this case is about."
But the fact that Romeo DiSantillo led investigators to Calderon and helped them gain evidence leading to his arrest shows, in part, that Romeo DiSantillo is innocent, Bertucio told the jury.
"He didn't lawyer up, he didn't shut up," Bertucio explained. "He helped them capture the killer."
Bertucio said the $140,000 that Sanandaji gave to Romeo DiSantillo wasn't necessarily an investment. Rather, it was a combination of business loans, personal loans and gifts.
Sanandaji bragged about earning $300,000 to $400,000 a year, Bertucio said. He also drove expensive cars and lent a high-end vehicle to Romeo DiSantillo, Bertucio said.
"We have his tax records, so we know what he did. He did well, but he didn't do that well," Bertucio said. "It was not Danny (Romeo DiSantillo) playing on Peyman (Sanandaji). ... At the end of the day, it was Peyman playing on young Danny."
Bertucio said Romeo DiSantillo feared Sanandaji, and when they met at the pizza place, he brought Calderon along for "support."
Evidence shows Sanandaji brought the gun, a .380 Micro Desert Eagle semi-automatic handgun, that was used in the shooting to the meeting, Bertucio said. Sanandaji began threatening Romeo DiSantillo and Calderon. Bertucio said a scuffle between Romeo DiSantillo and Calderon ensued, leading Calderon to shoot Sanandaji.
"This was not a conspiracy," Bertucio told jurors. "This was not murder. This was a fight that erupted in gunfire by Hector Calderon. Danny DeSantillo did not know what was going to happen; did not plan it; did not expect it; did not want it; did not cause it. And is in no way responsible for it."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.