Long Branch Man Charged In Cold-Case Murder: Prosecutor

LONG BRANCH—A 31-year-old Long Branch resident has been arrested and charged with the 2009 murder of another city man, according to Chris Gramiccioni, Monmouth County prosecutor.

Christopher Willis, 31, of Long Branch, faces a single count of first-degree murder related to the death of 37-year-old Norberto Nieves on Nov. 29, 2009.

Nieves, 36, of Long Branch, was shot and killed in the vicinity of 136 7th Avenue, and the Long Branch Police Department did an initial investigation, which yielded no arrests.

A cold case investigation turned up new physical evidence and testimonies, which added to the evidence from the original crime scene investigation and led to the arrest of Willis by local authorities and the United States Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to a news release.

Willis is currently in custody at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township, awaiting his first appearance and detention hearing.

If convicted, Willis faces a minimum sentence of 30 years without parole and a maximum sentence of life, subject to the "No Early Release Act" (NERA) requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Willis would also be under parole supervision for five years upon his release.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle, Director of the Cold Case Unit. It is still being investigated by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department.

Anyone with any information about the case can call Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Detective Wayne Raynor at 800-533-7443 or Long Branch Police Department Detective Todd Coleman at 732-222-1000.