TOMS RIVER -- A parolee admitted on Thursday he stabbed a fellow halfway house resident to death in Point Pleasant Beach after the two got into an argument over a football game.
Anthony Strong, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the Oct. 7, 2015, death of Frank Campagna, who was found fatally stabbed in his room at a halfway house on Trenton Avenue the day after his 41st birthday.
Strong, who was at the halfway house while on parole for a robbery conviction, told Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels that he was in Campagna's room watching a football game when the two got into an argument and Campagna punched him in the face.
At the questioning of Assistant Deputy Public Defender Vita Mennie, Strong said he then picked up a knife Campagna had earlier used to make a blunt cigar and stabbed him 90 times.
Some of the blows were so forceful that one stab wound penetrated Campagna's skull and entered his brain, another severed his carotid artery and five penetrated his heart, Strong acknowledged at the questioning of Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Laura Pierro.
In exchange for the guilty plea, the state will dismiss two weapons charges and a charge of certain persons not to possess a weapon, Pierro said.
Prosecutors will also recommend Strong be sentenced to 30 years in prison and serve the entire term before becoming eligible for parole, she said. He could have faced life in prison if convicted at trial. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Strong said the day's events started when Campagna knocked on his door and asked if he wanted to party. The two went to a local liquor store and after Campagna bought a bottle of vodka, the two went back to Campagna's room to drink and to watch a football game, he said.
While there, Campagna cut open a cigar and added marijuana to make what is known as a blunt, which they shared, Strong said. Pierro noted that toxicology tests showed no signs of marijuana in Campagna's system.
When they got into a heated argument, Campagna punched Strong in the face, he said. He retaliated with the stabbing and continued the attack until he knew Campagna was dead, he said.
"That was clearly your intent, sir?" Mennie asked.
"Yes," Strong replied.
As Mennie started asking Strong about Campagna's stab wounds, members of Campagna's family who were sitting in the audience filed out of the courtroom but later returned when that portion of Strong's statement concluded.
Because of the noise coming from Campagna's room, Point Pleasant Beach police were called to the halfway house. When they knocked on Campagna's door, Strong tried to delay their entry and compose himself by telling them he was sleeping, Strong told Daniels.
Eventually he walked out of the room and told police he had fatally stabbed Campagna, Strong said.
Strong pleaded guilty before he was indicted but there initially was an issue over whether he was mentally competent to stand trial, prompting Daniels to hold a hearing on Aug. 4 in which he accepted a psychiatrist's report that Strong did not suffer from any mental illness that would prevent him from going to trial.
Assistant Deputy Public Defender Carol Wentworth told Daniels that she and Mennie had explored several defense options based on Strong's mental health - including insanity and diminished capacity - and concluded that none of them applied to their client's case.
Mennie said Strong contacted them to say he wanted to plead guilty.
She said Strong was in the halfway house after being placed on parole for a robbery conviction out of Atlantic County.
Campagna, who was on disability, was living at the home as a boarding house resident, authorities said.
Members of Campagna's family declined to comment after court.
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