James Koedatich

James Jerold Koedatich (born June 12, 1948) is an American serial killer who kidnapped and murdered two young women within a two-weeks span in Morris County, New Jersey, in late 1982. Following his arrest, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, but was resentenced to life in prison in 1990. Prior to the murders, Koedatich murdered his roommate in Florida, for which he served eleven years in prison, and while in prison he killed his cellmate, but that was ruled to be self-defense.

Early life
Koedatich was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1948, the son of Julia and John Koedatich, and was raised alongside brothers John Jr., Michael, and Jeffrey. Their father, John, was alleged to have been very abusive and would regularly beat, kick, and slap his wife. In 1956, after Julia was hospitalized, John Sr. left the family and began a relationship with another woman. Afterwards, Julia raised the kids by herself and worked three jobs. She eventually began a relationship with a man named David Baldwin.

As for James Koedatich, he would be detained in 1967 at age 19 for unlawfully using a dangerous weapon and sentenced to serve a year in prison. After his release he would be arrested several more times for petty crimes before moving to Florida in 1971.

Murders
While in Florida, Koedatich shared an apartment with 40-year-old Robert J. Anderson in Surfside. On June 7, Koedatich was arrested for armed robbery, and while awaiting trial he managed to escape the county jail. On June 13, Koedatich strangled Anderson to death and hid his body in a closet. He was later arrested and convicted of second-degree murder, receiving 15 years in prison. He served his sentence at Florida State Prison in Raiford.

On September 4, 1973, during his prison term, Koedatich fatally stabbed fellow inmate Jerry Kent Barber, who was serving twelve years for kidnapping. Barber's death was ruled to have been self-defense on Koedatich's part and thus he was not charged. In 1982, having spent eleven years in prison, the Florida Parole Board granted him parole, and in August he was officially released from prison. After his release he moved back to Morristown. On November 23, 1982, Koedatich came across 18-year-old Amie Hoffman. Hoffman, a cheerleader for Parsippany Hills High School, was leaving her job at a mall in Hanover Township, when Koedatich abducted her and threw her into his vehicle. Once in a secluded location, he sexually assaulted Hoffman before stabbing her to death, then disposing of her body in the Mendham Reservoir in Randolph Township. Her body was transported by the naturally moving water into a water holding tank, where it would be found two days later. During the subsequent autopsy, semen belonging to Hoffman's killer was located in her body. There were eyewitnesses who were found in the investigation, and they gave a description of the vehicle that the suspect drove. Police also located tire tracks the killer's car left behind.

On December 5, 1982, Koedatich abducted another woman, this time 25-year-old Deirdre O'Brian at knifepoint after running her off the road. Once at an Interstate 80 rest area, he raped, and stabbed her repeatedly before leaving the area. O'Brian was found alive on the side of the road by a truck driver, and was rushed to the hospital where she died.

Arrest
In January 1983, Koedatich brought himself to the investigators' attention by claiming he was stabbed by a female individual while driving alone at night. As part of regular police procedure, they seized to question him about the attack. Detectives soon noticed Koedatich's car matched the description of the car seen abducting Hoffman, as well as his tires corresponding with tire tracks found at the scene. Thinking it might just be a coincidence, they inspected Koedatich's wounds, but in a turn of events, it was found that the wounds were self-inflicted. Koedatich, now a suspect, claimed that he was driving around the area Hoffman was abducted in the night of her murder, but a few days later on January 18, he was arrested by authorities, and charged with two counts of murder.

Trials and imprisonment
Both trials for Koedatich ended in guilty verdicts, despite his claims of innocence. He was sentenced to death, and resided on New Jersey's death row. However, in 1990, Koedatich's case was brought forward by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, which overturned his original sentence, and he was resentenced to life imprisonment. In 2011, Koedatich contacted the heads of the State's Department of Corrections, requesting to be moved to a prison in Illinois to be closer to his family, however Commissioner Gary Lanigan rejected the proposal. In 2017, Koedatich communicated with the Innocence Project, requesting with discovery of new DNA evidence could be used to clear his name. In the meantime, Koedatich remains in a New Jersey prison, with the latest parole date set for 2038, when he would be 90 years old.

In media
Koedatich's crimes are featured in the episode "Fatal Error" on the television show The New Detectives. In 2022, the case was featured in an episode of Canadian tv show Finally Caught titled "Hoffman-O’Brien".

Crimes are also featured on the tv show ‘’Paranormal Witness’’ S3 E14 “Through the Eyes of a Killer”. Told through the perspective of some of the lead detectives on the case and psychic Nancy Weber.