GUILTY NJ - Brendan Creato, 3, found dead in Cooper River Park, 13 Oct 2015

A seventeen year old child doesn't like children.
Ironic.

Jealous, petty, controlling piece of ****. The both of them.
 
How crazy!!!! Murder your own child to be with a teenager?? Why not just let Grandparents have him on the weekends? Oh, maybe Grandparents wanted him involved in the child's life, and he was going along to please them, but his lust for a teenager was greater than the live for his son. Devastated. We've seen cases of women killing their child to be with a man (Susan Smith) but I can't recall a case like this!!!!!

I pray his parents don't feel guilt for taking Brendan to his Dad's that evening. They couldn't have known he would kill Brendan to try to keep a teenager around.

Always a path a destruction left by evil deeds of one person!!! If that gf had anything to do with this, I hope her charges are soon. Why would she have written that stuff otherwise? Maybe knew afterwards? How do you continue a relationship with someone who killed their child to be with you???
 
ETA: does anyone think maybe the pair conspired together to get rid of Brendan? It's very suspicious that he would visit where he placed him the day before Brendan died, with his "intense" relationship and all. Not so sure what's "intense" about dating a 17-year-old but I suppose mentally they're probably in the same league.

Absolutely.
 
Absolutely.

It is possible some of their texting was referring to a scenario such as what happened. Only she never thought he would go through with it.....both selfish waste of space cases.
 
How crazy!!!! Murder your own child to be with a teenager?? Why not just let Grandparents have him on the weekends? Oh, maybe Grandparents wanted him involved in the child's life, and he was going along to please them, but his lust for a teenager was greater than the live for his son. Devastated. We've seen cases of women killing their child to be with a man (Susan Smith) but I can't recall a case like this!!!!!
?

Exactly. These were my thoughts all last night after reading of the arrest. DJ had a solid local support system - gma and gpa who had a nice house where they doted on their grandson, as well as an auntie who took her nephew out on excursions. Plus, DJ only had his son every other weekend! It's not like he was overwhelmed with being a sole parent!

I have to wonder how influential teen <modsnip> was and if she said "it's me or your kid." Plus, if drugs played a role in addled thinking.
 
Is anyone else reminded of Ayla Reynolds?
 
That is what is hanging me up on the prosecution's theory too DropthePuck. Why wouldn't a father who found fatherhood inconvenient just stop fathering? Many do that every day. Unless there was a financial concern. If he and Brendan's mom shared custody does that mean neither owed the other child support? Could it be about the Benjamins?

BBM - IMO, that is a rational thought.

Murdering your defenseless three year old named Brendan to satisfy your cravings for your teenage GF is not a rational thought. If he did this - he is a monster.

ps. NJ does not have the death penalty for those that asked earlier.
 
From the 6ABC.com article referenced in another post below:

"D.J. Creato began dating a 17-year-old girl in June of 2015, and the girl had a 'dislike' of children, prosecutors say. Still, the couple kept dating.

In September, the girl went away to college and, according to prosecutors, became upset that Creato had custody of his son every other weekend, limiting their time together.

Furthermore, Creato was alleged to have been jealous of a boy that his girlfriend was talking to at college, and is accused of logging in to her social media accounts. At one point, he allegedly posed as the girl online and told the boy to leave her alone.

The girl repeatedly threatened to break up with Creato, Shah said."


I just don't understand this. If he really didn't want Brendan around, why didn't he just give Brendan's mother full custody? Why do such a heinous, selfish thing and ruin so many lives??

I also do not understand it. He had visits every other weekend.

Link to article in case anyone missed it. It started as a timeline story & at some point the title changed.
Prosecutor: Brendan Creato dad killed son to continue relationship
In September, the girl went away to college and, according to prosecutors, became upset that Creato had custody of his son every other weekend, limiting their time together.....

The two did see each other the weekend before Brendan's death, prosecutors say, while Brendan stayed with other family members. Brendan was brought to D.J. Creato's apartment around 8 p.m. on Monday, October 12th...

..As for the cause of death, investigator say it is still undetermined, but Brendan's brain showed a lack of oxygen before his death, indicating causes such as drowning, smothering or asphyxiation. He also had a fresh bruise near his collarbone.

That is what is hanging me up on the prosecution's theory too DropthePuck. Why wouldn't a father who found fatherhood inconvenient just stop fathering? Many do that every day. Unless there was a financial concern. If he and Brendan's mom shared custody does that mean neither owed the other child support? Could it be about the Benjamins?

I don't understand it either. My fear is his attorney will try an insanity plea due to him dating a 17yr old (at 22). I don't know if they will bring charges with his relationship.

The way child support works in NJ it is done using a work sheet where both parents put their financials, then it goes by parenting time and where the child is most. Say he's earning $40,000 a year; he could end up paying her $150.00 a week because he only sees Brendan every other weekend.

David Spunt &#8207;@DavidSpuntCBS3 39s39 seconds ago
DEVELOPING: Richard Fuschino Jr, Creato's attorney, says his client is NOT a flight risk. Suggested an ankle bracelet. @CBSPhilly

I can't believe there is bond at all. How would anyone know he's not a flight risk? He killed his son. Perhaps he'll take the easy way out and kill himself if out on bond
 
NJ and PA's age of consent is 16, so she was legally able to consent to the relationship with DJ. Still gross. It makes me believe DJ was really not ready to grow up and do the right thing for his son and was instead more focused on his delusional teenage love affair.
 
No, the girlfriend was Julia Spensky, who wrote about the case on her Tumblr. It's no longer available online, but this article covers it: http://www.phillyvoice.com/mystery-man-baby-carriage-near-scene-toddlers-body/

The video was made by his sister, I believe.

Yes, the video was made by his sister as a college project.

Mystery man with a baby carriage near scene of toddler's body? October 28, 2015
For instance, DJ Creato’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Julia “Julie” Spensky, has said in a social media post made after the toddler’s body was discovered that she “could be facing criminal charges in a homicide investigation.”

In another Tumblr post after Creato’s death, Spensky wrote:

“I am possibly a suspect in a homicide investigation. I was advised by my attorney not to speak to anyone about my case. I am alone, I have no one to turn to. I can’t talk to my parents or anyone else in my family, not that anyone knows what happened…

“My boyfriend is in worse trouble than I am and can’t leave the state he’s in, but he has friends and family all around him to cry with and hug and vent to and lean on. I don’t have that luxury.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say or where to go or how to handle this situation, but what I do know is that I cannot go to anyone.”

NJ and PA's age of consent is 16, so she was legally able to consent to the relationship with DJ. Still gross. It makes me believe DJ was really not ready to grow up and do the right thing for his son and was instead more focused on his delusional teenage love affair.

I will have to see if I can find it but IIRC from when my son was 18; there was a 4 year age gap. With DJ and the GF, there is 5; but I do not know when her birthday is.
 
I'm seeing lots of comments here and elsewhere about "but why do this, why not just give the mom full custody?!"

Valid question. IF this man is in fact guilty of killing his own son, it's pretty obvious if his thoughts went THERE, as a solution to his teenager gf problems, he wasn't thinking rationally about custody, child support, etc. Or maybe he did consider child support and didn't want be locked into that? Maybe in that state of mind he just went ahead and decided making Brendan go away would solve all sorts of problems. There's also the possibility it wasn't planned at all, but just happened in a momentary fit of jealousy/anger/paranoia about his gf.

Considering how close that boy was on the couch, to DJ's bedroom door - and the 4.5 hour window from the last time we know he (dad) was awake until he called 911, I do believe his killed his boy. Unless he confesses, we'll probably never really know what happened or why.
 
I listened to the hearing yesterday and came away believing the Prosecutor did not show all her cards...I feel there is more and considering the teenage girlfriend's social media posts--LE early on had a sense of what might have happened and took their time to make a case they could make stick.

Women have killed or pimped or harmed their children for their lovers and DJ is a dad who likely did the same-- I suspect drug usage or mental illness is going to be part of this case somewhere as there is no rational explanation--but for them to charge Murder 1--there HAS to be more evidence--circumstantial or not--likely as others have suggested-TEXTS? I hope they are tapping his and his girlfriend's phones--the FBI IS involved, right? :thinking:
 
I remember from early on in this thread, there was an article which said that DJ Creato was going to school to be an 'addiction counselor.' But he dropped out.

This might be an unfair generalization, but every 'addiction counselor' that I've known has had a rough past with drugs/alcohol themselves. Makes me wonder if he was using...
 
I listened to the hearing yesterday and came away believing the Prosecutor did not show all her cards...I feel there is more and considering the teenage girlfriend's social media posts--LE early on had a sense of what might have happened and took their time to make a case they could make stick.

I agree 100% about the prosecutor not showing all her cards. She did make a comment about the text messages exchanged between DJ and the girlfriend, saying some of them were "unbelievable" or something to that effect. Could be incriminating. I'm extremely anxious to see what they discussed in those 9,000 texts. The girlfriend sounds like she has a lot to feel guilty about on her blog. Hopefully they can question her and get a good work up of her character for the prosecution. Jealous, controlling, emotionally abusive, narcissistic perhaps.
 
I'm seeing lots of comments here and elsewhere about "but why do this, why not just give the mom full custody?!"

Valid question. IF this man is in fact guilty of killing his own son, it's pretty obvious if his thoughts went THERE, as a solution to his teenager gf problems, he wasn't thinking rationally about custody, child support, etc. Or maybe he did consider child support and didn't want be locked into that? Maybe in that state of mind he just went ahead and decided making Brendan go away would solve all sorts of problems. There's also the possibility it wasn't planned at all, but just happened in a momentary fit of jealousy/anger/paranoia about his gf.

Considering how close that boy was on the couch, to DJ's bedroom door - and the 4.5 hour window from the last time we know he (dad) was awake until he called 911, I do believe his killed his boy. Unless he confesses, we'll probably never really know what happened or why.
It is a valid question, but I think if he gave up custody of his son completely he would lose the love and $upport of his family, if you know what I mean.

I think that and keeping his girlfriend were his priorities, so in his sick mind this was the only way to maintain the relationships that were important in his life.



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
I listened to the hearing yesterday and came away believing the Prosecutor did not show all her cards...I feel there is more and considering the teenage girlfriend's social media posts--LE early on had a sense of what might have happened and took their time to make a case they could make stick.

Women have killed or pimped or harmed their children for their lovers and DJ is a dad who likely did the same-- I suspect drug usage or mental illness is going to be part of this case somewhere as there is no rational explanation--but for them to charge Murder 1--there HAS to be more evidence--circumstantial or not--likely as others have suggested-TEXTS? I hope they are tapping his and his girlfriend's phones--the FBI IS involved, right? :thinking:

I agree, I think there will be mental illness or some sort of temporary insanity plea.

From what I saw in the beginning, he was supposedly a good dad who loved his son a lot. I heard he had a lot of photos of them together on his profile.
 
A seventeen year old child doesn't like children.
Ironic.

Jealous, petty, controlling piece of ****. The both of them.



She doesn't have to enjoy children; but I know what you mean about her being one (a spoiled, attention-seeking one) herself. It's pretty clear why she doesn't enjoy them. This relationship should not have made it beyond the first date. His being committed to a child should have been a first-class, A#1 deal breaker for her, right off the bat.
 
How crazy!!!! Murder your own child to be with a teenager?? Why not just let Grandparents have him on the weekends? Oh, maybe Grandparents wanted him involved in the child's life, and he was going along to please them, but his lust for a teenager was greater than the live for his son. Devastated. We've seen cases of women killing their child to be with a man (Susan Smith) but I can't recall a case like this!!!!!

I pray his parents don't feel guilt for taking Brendan to his Dad's that evening. They couldn't have known he would kill Brendan to try to keep a teenager around.

Always a path a destruction left by evil deeds of one person!!! If that gf had anything to do with this, I hope her charges are soon. Why would she have written that stuff otherwise? Maybe knew afterwards? How do you continue a relationship with someone who killed their child to be with you???
My guess is that DJ had to pay child support and the GF didn't like money being taken away that could be spent on her so simply letting this baby stay at his grandparent's house when she was around wasn't enough for her. That is just my opinion of course and it's pure speculation. Still, I can't imagine every putting anyone before my children. I am married but if I was involved with someone and they didn't like my kids they would be on the curb so fast it would make their head spin.
 
I agree 100% about the prosecutor not showing all her cards. She did make a comment about the text messages exchanged between DJ and the girlfriend, saying some of them were "unbelievable" or something to that effect. Could be incriminating. I'm extremely anxious to see what they discussed in those 9,000 texts. The girlfriend sounds like she has a lot to feel guilty about on her blog. Hopefully they can question her and get a good work up of her character for the prosecution. Jealous, controlling, emotionally abusive, narcissistic perhaps.

Based on the limited amount of info we have on DJ and the teen GF, they both seem immature and self centered and narcissistic.
 
It is a valid question, but I think if he gave up custody of his son completely he would lose the love and $upport of his family, if you know what I mean.

I think that and keeping his girlfriend were his priorities, so in his sick mind this was the only way to maintain the relationships that were important in his life.



Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Didn't DJ work for his dad? If so then if he gave up custody of his son his parents probably would not have been too happy and there is a high probability that daddy might have fired him and cut him off financially. DJ didn't seem to have much going for him as he was only 22 and I think I read somewhere that he dropped out college. If that's the case then it's likely that his daddy was paying him much better than any other job would have paid him.

I also found a FB page for DJ Creatro. Not sure if it was really his or not but there were photos for Brendan when he was much younger than 3 and they were posted years ago so that increases the likelyhood that it wasn't a shill account but still I have no idea if it was really DJ's account or a shill account. On the account there were public photos with pot references. If DJ was a stoner then he would have likely been drug tested any other job he could have gotten, other than for daddy, and if he frequently smoked weed then he would have failed a drug test. All this is speculation and just my opinion or course.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
73
Guests online
889
Total visitors
962

Forum statistics

Threads
589,923
Messages
17,927,722
Members
228,002
Latest member
zipperoni
Back
Top