New Jersey murder suspect arrested in Wicomico Co.

SALISBURY, Md. – A New Jersey man was arrested in Salisbury earlier this week on murder charges.

Just after 12 p.m. Tuesday, Lakewood Township Police responded to a Lakewood, New Jersey residence to conduct a welfare check on 60-year-old Betty Perry. Officers made entry into the home and found Perry on the floor of the bedroom, deceased.

Further investigation revealed that Perry and 59-year-old John Filistovich were living together and in a dating relationship. Further investigation revealed that a 2015 Hyundai Elantra belonging to Perry was not at the residence.

That same day, detectives in New Jersey received information that Maryland State Police troopers had encountered Filistovich on the side of the road near Salisbury, in the victim’s vehicle. Filistovich was taken to a nearby medical facility and charged with theft in connection to the unlawful taking of Perry’s vehicle.

On Wednesday, a post-mortem exam of Perry revealed that the cause of death was blunt-force injuries to the head, neck, and chest with asphyxiation.

Filistovich was released from the medical facility on Thursday and taken to the Wicomico County Corrections Center, where he remains awaiting extradition back to New Jersey.