There are some developments to the two biggest on-going trials in northern New Jersey:

The Morris County murder trial of church custodian Jose Feliciano continued with the testimony of the church business administrator. The woman testified that Feliciano was kept on because he was only a few months away from retirement, in spite of poor performance. The church was hoping that Felciano would simply retire on his own when he reached 65.

The State is seeking to prove that Felciano killed the Reverend Edward Hinds when Hinds fired him after learning that Felciano had a criminal record. The defense has already admitted that Feliciano killed hinds, but is seeking the reduced charge of manslaughter, arguing that it was an attacked proved by the priest's request that Felciano perform unspecified acts. Presumably the defense will spell out exactly was those acts were in short order. There have been allegations of a homosexual affair between the two men.

According to the church official, Feliciano's supervisor wanted him fired for leaving the buildings dirty, but neither the official, nor Rev. Hinds wanted to fire the man.

It will be interesting to see exactly what "acts" the Reverend allegedly asked Mr. Feliciano to perform. In my opinion, these requests will have to be extreme in order to justify the killing.