The bodybuilder suspected of shooting his parents at their sprawling Long Island mansion has waived his right to an extradition hearing in New Jersey and will be sent back to New York this week to face charges.
Dino Tomassetti, 29, of Brooklyn made a brief virtual appearance in court in Bergen County, NJ, on Monday afternoon, where he agreed to be shipped directly to Nassau County court for the case.
The personal trainer from East Williamsburg has been held at the Bergen County Jail since his local Dec. 25 arrest on a fugitive-from-justice warrant out of Nassau County.
Tomassetti was nabbed in the Garden State on Christmas Day while allegedly fleeing from the scene of the shooting at his parents’ $3.2 million home in tony Hewlett Harbor.
Police arrived at the mansion at around 10 a.m. that day to find 64-year-old Vincenza Marsicano-Tomassetti with a bullet wound in her head and 65-year-old Rocco Tomassetti shot in the back.
Officers tracked Dino and his 2017 white Cadillac Escalade using GPS and contacted the Mahwah Police Department for assistance when he reached the area a few hours later.
His mom and dad underwent surgery for their wounds. The father, who heads a construction empire, is reportedly in more serious condition.
Dino has yet to be officially charged over the shooting. He appeared before Judge Mitchell Steinhart on Monday and was represented by a lawyer from the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.
The Nassau County Police Department couldn’t say exactly when the 5-foot-9, 235-pound suspect would be hauled back to Long Island. The judge’s clerk said defendants are typically transported within two days.
Friends described the pumped-up suspect as a gentle giant and were shocked at the thought that he may have taken a gun to his parents.
“Dino is a good guy. I’ve never seen him get upset,” said a gym buddy who only gave his name as Chris.
“If someone came to the gym and said, ‘Can you help me?,’ he’d help them right away.”
Additional reporting by Steven Vago
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