Strange texts and messages sent from victims phone take center stage at S.I. teacher slay trial – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Jessica Pobega said he was concerned about her best friend Jeanine Cammarata after the schoolteachers boyfriend told her he hadnt been able to reach her.

That was on April 1, 2019, and Pobega hadnt spoken with Jeanine herself in several days.

I was worried, so I tried to call her, Pobega testified Friday at the murder trial of Michael Cammarata, Jeanine Cammaratas estranged husband.

But her friend didnt answer her phone or respond to text messages, the witness testified.

So Pobega reached out on Facebook Messenger, even though she and Jeanine rarely communicated that way.

I asked her to call me to let me know she was OK, said Pobega.

The witness then tried calling her friend again.

Once more, there was no answer, but Pobega said she could see someone was texting her back on Jeanines phone.

That person wasnt Jeanine, prosecutors contend.

By that time, the 37-year-old New Brighton resident was already dead, prosecutors told jurors in their opening argument last week in state Supreme Court, St. George.

She had been killed late on March 30 by her spouse and his girlfriend, Ayisha Egea, near their Queens apartment, allege prosecutors.

Afterward, Michael Cammarata, 45, and Egea, 44, burned the victims corpse, Assistant District Attorneys Adam Silberlight and Timothy Richard said.

Cammarata was livid over divorce papers his spouse had served him a few days earlier, allege prosecutors.

The defense contends Egea was the killer.

BOYFRIENDS TESTIMONY

Following, on April 1, Michael Cammarata and Egea stuffed the victims charred remains in an Arden Heights storage facility, the same day Pobega received the text message from the victims phone, prosecutors maintain.

The content of the message was not explored, although the circumstances eerily echoed the prior testimony of the victims boyfriend.

He testified last week he received an unusual text from Jeanines phone on March 31 and a Facebook Messenger message from her account the next day.

The mans name is being withheld at prosecutors request for fear of reprisal.

The witness said he last saw the victim on the evening of March 30 when Jeanine dropped him off at home around 9 p.m. He said he and Jeanine lived together at his home, although she also maintained her New Brighton apartment.

Shortly thereafter, between 9:30 and 9:40 p.m., Jeanine texted him. She said she was going to pick up her two children from her husband at the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George, said the witness.

The boy and girl lived with Michael Cammarata and Egea in Queens.

Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Mario F. Gallucci, the witness testified Jeanine had never previously picked up her children at the 120th Precinct stationhouse.

According to evidence and testimony, Jeanine actually drove out to Queens and met her husband and Egea.

Jeanine did not return home that night, the witness testified, although he received an odd text from her late the next morning, he said.

Typically, theyd exchange brief one-line messages. However, this time the text was a paragraph long, said the witness. He said it referred to her reconciliation with Mike.

The witness said he received no other texts that day from Jeanines phone, and there was no response to his phone calls.

The next day, April 1, the witness said he tried all day to contact Jeanine via phone and texts, but to no avail.

However, sometime that day he said he got a weird message from Jeanines Facebook Messenger account.

It said she was OK, and shed talk to him when she could, said the witness.

I would never get a message from her from Facebook, he said.

When questioned by Gallucci, the man admitted to sending a number of texts to Jeanines phone on March 31, including a nasty one early in the morning.

Hey, where are you? I guess Im a jerk---, the text said. I guess youre playing family with Mike and the kids. Good luck in court and with whatever youre doing.

Several days earlier, Jeanine Cammarata had filed for divorce against her husband, prior witness testimony revealed.

Gallucci also dug into the mans criminal history, seeking to undermine his credibility.

The witness admitted to being convicted of disorderly conduct in three separate cases last year in Brooklyn. In two of those cases, the witness was initially charged with criminal contempt for disobeying an order of protection.

The witness also acknowledged he has a rape case currently pending on Staten Island and a misdemeanor assault and menacing case pending in Brooklyn.

On the advice of his lawyer, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when queried further about those cases.

The man said he did not receive any incentives from prosecutors to testify.

The trial resumes Tuesday before Justice Mario F. Mattei.

Only Michael Cammarata is on trial. Egea will be tried separately.

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Strange texts and messages sent from victims phone take center stage at S.I. teacher slay trial - SILive.com