BAYONNE — A Hudson County Criminal Court judge is to decide innocence or guilt of Shawn Southerland, who has been accused of allegedly murdering his 36-year-old girlfriend in Bayonne in 2007.
Opting to defend himself before a judge, rather than a jury, Southerland, 50, made his closing arguments last week before Judge Francis Schultz, who will decide the case based largely on circumstantial evidence.
Prosecutors claim Southerland allegedly murdered his girlfriend then put her body into a suitcase, dumping it along a New York State highway. Police later traced the suitcase back to a store in Bayonne where it was purchased.