Is Tiffany Valiante's Killer Walking the Streets?

Paul D'Amato (00:06.094)
I know you have a very sophisticated audience. If they were to read the complete file on this case, I'm sure 99 % of the listeners would conclude, you can't say this was suicide. Clearly, you can't specify the act of foul play, but you can't say it's suicide.

Tom (producer) (00:29.902)
Those are the words of Paul D'Amato, and I believe he's probably right with his estimate of the percentage of people who would think that you cannot declare this suicide. And that's merely looking at it from the shortcomings of the investigation as a suicide. If you were to allow yourself to explore the potential that this were a murder, you would start checking red flags off your list.

during the hours of the party from which Tiffany Valiente disappeared. How would you feel about someone in that circle disappearing for multiple hours during the time in question? You would include that in your murder investigation. What would you do if someone detailed their car the next morning? You would include that in your murder investigation. There are a myriad of plausible theories of murder that are at least as explainable.

as the suicide case put forward by the inept, tough to call it an investigation. It was really a decision not to make an investigation. And when their primary witness changed his story about what he saw four times as his train hit Tiffany Valiante. I'm Tom, the producer. It has been almost 10 years since the July 12th, 2015 death of Tiffany Valiante.

Tiffany was struck by a New Jersey transit train near her home in Mays Landing and her death was ruled a suicide by the medical examiner. There remain multiple theories that are undeniably plausible. Some of these

very plausible theories point to very dark places. And that's a conversation that's growing more and more active on this case with Netflix specials and Facebook groups. All types and capabilities taking an interest, digging through pictures and looking for video and walking the paths that make up the Tiffany Valliante mystery in South Jersey.

Tom (producer) (02:45.25)
The following is a conversation between Meg Horner and Paul D'Amato, the attorney for the Valiante family recorded in November, 2022. And this will be our first stop in new coverage of this case. This is the New Jersey Criminal Podcast.

Joining us is Paul D'Amato, attorney for the family, Tiffany's parents. Some of the things that you may hear will be disturbing or could be disturbing to our listeners. And so I would just suggest that listener discretion is advised. Paul, welcome.

Thank you. Thank you for being here in my law office today.

I appreciate you taking the time to share Tiffany's story with me. And I'm going to just ask you to jump right in and tell us about the day that Tiffany died, July 12th of 2015. What happened that day?

I would say within two weeks after her passing, Diana Steve-Valiante, Tiffany's parents, came to my law office and were adamant that their daughter Tiffany had not died by suicide.

 (04:03.31)
And I said to them, let me get certain files. The investigation done by the New Jersey Transit Police Department. Let's see if the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office was involved and let's get the file from the state medical examiner. So we sent letters out and I remember the Saturday after they were here, I had asked them to bring...

friends and relatives that were with Tiffany on the day and night in question and were close to Tiffany. So there must have been 22 people that showed up at nine o'clock and I started at nine o'clock and spent 15 minutes with each person. And that's how I learned what happened that particular day and night.

Everybody was consistent and when I interviewed these individuals, I was alone with them. And here's the synthesis of what everybody told me, that Tiffany was happy. She was in a fantastic mood because she was excited about going to college, a college that gave her a scholarship for playing volleyball, that she was excited about life.

She told some of the relatives that if college doesn't work out for me, then I want to join the Air Force because they have a volleyball team. And she said that eventually she would like to go into law enforcement like her Uncle Mickey, who was a New Jersey state trooper. What was important to me was that one of her cousins, I call him cousin Bob Valenti,

Paul D'Amato (05:51.544)
who was on the Unsolved Mysteries piece. When I brought him into my conference room to ask him about Tiffany, he very abruptly put his hand up and said, you don't have to ask me any questions whatsoever. I'm gonna tell you that my niece was murdered. And candidly, I was taken back. And I said, what's the basis of your opinion? He said,

I've been in corrections 22, 23 years. I'm trained to recognize depression in prisoners. I was with Tiffany up to about a half hour before she went missing. And there was no depression there whatsoever. One of the issues that I explored with the family was whether the fact

that Tiffany had come out as being a young, gay woman was an issue of controversy in the family and especially with the parents. They all indicated that they all sensed that she was gay, but that she had not admitted. And that when she admitted to everybody, they said, you know, no big deal, we accept it.

I think any parent initially has some concern, is this something that is a fleeting moment in your life or is this a commitment to a certain lifestyle? And the overall, the relatives that were close to Stephen and Diane said that within a short period of time, everybody had accepted it and said, this is the way it's going to be, then this is the way it's going to be.

So in talking with them, and especially Tiffany's sisters, Rachel and Jessica, I learned that everything was going rather smoothly. And Rachel and Jessica were extremely, extremely close to Tiffany. And they were absolutely adamant that she wasn't suffering from depression. and that

Paul D'Amato (08:09.654)
She wasn't drunk that night. She hadn't smoked marijuana that night. And then that leads us up to when a certain girlfriend of Tiffany's came to the home.

So let me just stop you real quick. just want to clarify one thing. You referred to Bob and you said cousin Bob. Was that cousin or uncle?

Their Uncle Bob's son is custody.

Okay. I just wanted to make sure that we were referring to the right person. So on that day, it's my understanding that there was a graduation party across the street from Tiffany's home at the home of her uncle. And it was a graduation party for her cousin who had also graduated from high school that summer, that month before. Not the same high school as Tiffany. And from what I...

I have heard it was a fairly large party that was attended by quite a few people. Was Tiffany there all day at that party or what time did that party start?

Paul D'Amato (09:11.326)
It started in the afternoon and she was there, I would say, at least by mid-afternoon and continued to be present at this party.

And I think it's important and we're going to get into this in a little bit, but the toxicology that was performed revealed that there was no evidence of alcohol or any type of illegal substance. Is that right? Okay. There came a point in time later in the evening, a little bit after, I think eight or nine, where a friend had come over to confront Tiffany.

That is correct.

Meg M. Hoerner (09:49.367)
along with the friend's mom. Can you describe what happened there and what happened as a result of that interaction?

I can say what certain people that were in attendance at that meeting have said. The friend accused Tiffany of stealing a credit card and using that credit card to buy various items. There is a dispute about how much it was. He says it was in excess of $300. And other people say it was less than $100. But nevertheless, this friend

was very upset at Tiffany. Now, what Diane said is that there was no shally coming from Tiffany, no argument. Rather, Tiffany was staring at her wondering why she was even bringing this up. Now,

But the friend does say that Tiffany was angry. Is that right? Okay. I just want to be clear on that. yeah.

She said.

(10:56.782)
She

He says that, but I'm telling you the other side of the story. here's what I learned as a of an investigation that was done by a retired police officer about this credit card issue. And I can't say factually this was the case, but other people have confirmed that if you and I are friends and you say to me,

Paul, can I borrow the credit card that your parents gave you? You take the credit card, you go out and you buy a couple items, you give me the credit card back. My parents, when they see the monthly statement, say, did you buy those things? I say, mom, dad, I didn't buy them. I don't know what that's all about. And apparently this retired police officer

confirmed that this was a very common event with this group of young people. Now again, I emphasize, I know for a fact that that happened, but some people say when trying to explain Tiffany staring at this young lady, it was more of like, you know the gig that's going on here, what is this all about? So.

Nevertheless, there was a disagreement. The friend and her mother left. And it's my general understanding that Tiffany's mom spoke with her again about it. Tiffany observed Tiffany in her vehicle, actually put the card in her back pocket, which is when Tiffany's mom knew that, you know, she had in fact had it and used it. And that's when Tiffany's mom went in the house to get

Meg M. Hoerner (12:49.4)
Tiffany's father. I am curious while I'm thinking of it, was that credit card ever located?

No, was eventually given back to the friend's mother.

By who? By Tiffany's mother?

I think so. I'm pretty sure I think so. Let's, I want to emphasize that Diane was upset with Tiffany. You know, having raised three daughters myself, when a child does something that's unnecessary because Tiffany had her own car, you get angry. It's a natural reaction to get angry. But as

has been adamantly stated by Steve and Diane. Yes, they were upset with her, but not to a point that it was such a horrendous event that Tiffany would decide to die by suicide by running into a train.

Meg M. Hoerner (13:49.72)
Tiffany leaves the property when Diane, her mom, goes inside to get her father. And there is a photograph that is captured, I would imagine it's the last photograph that we have of Tiffany, that's captured on the family's deer cam, which is located just at the end of the driveway. The time, and correct me if I'm wrong, the time of her leaving the

Property is about nine-third accurate

925, 926, around that time.

Okay. And I've looked at that picture and we can see what she is wearing. Her phone does appear to still be in her hand in that picture, although the phone is recovered not too far away from that location, discarded or dropped or thrown or placed along this property line. But Tiffany does appear to be looking towards her left as she's walking away. And I think she's wearing short sleeves. that?

I agree. Accurate description? Yes. So what happens between 9.25, 9.30 on July 12, 2015 and the time when they report, the family reports her missing to the police, which I believe was about 12.23 a.m.?

Paul D'Amato (15:15.688)
That's the big question. There are photographs that were taken by the deer camera that were not shown on the software where you see headlights at the end of both driveways. What I mean by both driveways, there is a U-shaped driveway. There were two deer cameras. And if you look at all of the photographs, you can see the headlights.

of several cars at the end of the driveways.

So in other words, just to clarify, the Valenti property has a U-shaped driveway with basically two ways to enter and two ways to exit. The party that was going on was across the street and to the left slightly. that accurate? And at the point in time that Tiffany leaves the property, which again is about 930, was the party across the street still in full force?

Correct.

Paul D'Amato (16:06.616)
Correct.

Paul D'Amato (16:15.49)
Yes, and that's a very important point. I know we're going to get into this, but arrangers were made for a bloodhound that was owned by the Atlanta County Sheriff's Office to track any scent from the point that you see Tiffany in the driveway as shown in the deer camera. And that bloodhound had

her walking down the street in front of her home, making a right and going at least a mile to Tilton Road, traversing Tilton Road, then going, walking towards the White Horse Pike, stopping, coming back now, walking towards Wrangelboro Road, and there's a shortcut you can take, and then walking on

Wrangler-Bowell Road to Genoa, I believe it is, and then coming to the railroad tracks and walking about a mile. The Bloodhound never followed the scent to the point of impact between Tiffany's body and the train. Now...

This is the problem. There had been almost three inches of rain. It was heavy downpours for, and we have the records to confirm the amount of precipitation. And I spoke to two active handlers of dogs that were in law enforcement and said with that much rain, that is not a reliable tracking.

by a dog, even a bloodhound.

Meg M. Hoerner (18:02.002)
Let's talk about that right now while we're talking about it or while you're talking about it. Ultimately, we know that

Tiffany was hit by the train at about 1110. And again, that was on July 12th. On July 17th, which would be three and a half to four days later, the Atlantic County Sheriff's Department did in fact bring out a bloodhound. And you had mentioned to me before that your

investigation had revealed that there had been at least one if not more than one rainstorm between the time of the incident and the time that the bloodhound went out.

It was definitely two rain storms.

Now, and I reviewed the report by the Atlantic County Sheriff's Office who handled the bloodhound and correct me if I'm wrong, but when he came to the house of Tiffany's, her parents' house on July 17th in the morning, he met with her uncle, who as you've said was a New Jersey state police trooper who lived across the street and whose house the party had been out.

Meg M. Hoerner (19:23.874)
he provided a scent article that he had gathered and placed into a clear plastic bag, a dirty pair of shorts. And he had told the sheriff's officer that he had gathered that without contamination and that she was the only one that used or touched that particular article of clothing. And so, you know, and we can just kind of walk

through the map here, it appears that the bloodhound basically went down her driveway, went up the driveway about 10 feet, turned and pulled hard back down the driveway to the street making a right. That's Mannheim Avenue, correct? And then took Mannheim to Dracera and then made a right down Dracera towards Tilton Road and ultimately

went down Tilton Road, trailed back and forth to the intersection, but then cast up and down the northbound wood line, picking up a scent and pulling down a concrete path leading to Wrangelboro Road. Now you and I went out there last week and there is a concrete path that connects Dracera, presumably the back of Wrangelboro Road. The report indicates there's a retention pond

there and there was a very strong scent pool in that particular area and started to cross over the airport fence line, then pulled hard down the wood line along Wranglerboro towards South Genoa, going to Genoa and Allo and then trailing from Allo towards the driver tracks where

the bloodhound took a sharp turn heading down the tracks westbound. And as you indicated, took those tracks about a mile to a switch in the tracks and then continued to pull past the switch about 25 yards, but then went back east and stopped. and I'll just note that the report seems to indicate that the officer who conducted this particular trail with his bloodhound

Meg M. Hoerner (21:38.796)
was unaware of where the incident occurred. And the report seems to suggest that the bloodhound stopped about 2,000 feet from the impact site, although there is an indication that after impact, the train did in fact travel for about that distance, about a half mile. And so the report seems to suggest that the bloodhound

came to a stop at the point where the train would have come to a stop. Is that an accurate depiction of what the bloodhound revealed?

You accurately stated what the report said.

I'm curious, has anyone measured that distance? If we presume that that is the path that was taken, how far is that path? Do we know?

Because my the path that the bloodhound took. the question that I would have is the if you presume that Tiffany did in fact travel along this path that the bloodhound suggests that she did, how far of a distance is that?

Paul D'Amato (22:56.43)
I measured it with my odometer at about four and a half miles. Some people have said it's five miles, some people say it's four miles. It's somewhere in there. But when I did it with my odometer, I had about four and a half miles.

Okay. Because my question would be if, uh, if we know the time that Tiffany left the house, uh, again, 9 25, 9 30, uh, and we know that the time of impact was about 11 10, uh, that's about an hour and 40 minutes. Is that a doable distance for her to have walked? And we'll get into in a couple more minutes about, you know, the fact that her shoes were found in a totally different location. So I want to.

put that on the shelf for a minute, but do we believe that had she walked that distance that that distance could have been traveled in that timeframe? And so, and I know, you know, we can talk about bloodhounds. Have you done any research on the reliability of bloodhounds? Because some people say they are very reliable that holds up in a court of law, but then the question becomes whether or not the rain would have interfered.

Well, as a former prosecutor, haven't you been involved in the discussions of the reliability of polygraphs? Some people swear by them, and yet when I did criminal defense work, I had two separate clients that, quote, passed the polygraph, but subsequently admitted being responsible for the particular crime.

It's the same thing with bloodhounds. If you go on the internet, there are many, many articles criticizing the reliability of the hounds. As I said, I spoke to two active persons in law enforcement that were handling dogs. And when you, what I've learned is that when you use a dog to do tracking, it has to be very structured as to how you're doing it.

Paul D'Amato (24:59.382)
what the weather is like and so forth and so on. So there's serious questions about it, but see, here's the problem. And this has always affected my analysis of the case. My interviews of so many people, friends of Tiffany's,

So.

Paul D'Amato (25:24.354)
Tiffany's grandmother, who's passed such a lovely woman, her, the aunts, the uncles, the cousins, the coach of volleyball at Stockton University. Everybody said she had a tremendous fear of darkness. Now, and I accept that. I accept that. You can't have that many people knowing that and then turn around say, it didn't exist.

In fact, there's an actual psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM called ennictophobia, a fear of the dark. Now here's the problem. Why is that important? If you or anyone goes out there at night and you leave the Valente property, Mannheim, and then you come to Drasseria, there is no artificial illumination whatsoever on Drasseria. It is pitch black.

And as you know, because you've read the reports, there was no moonlight whatsoever that night. In fact, when I have been in my car and I'm on Drosirio driving to Tilton Road, I stopped my vehicle, I turned the headlights on. You can only go a couple of feet because you have no idea where you're going.

And I'll just note for the listeners that at the one of the last episodes in this series will be clips from Paul driving me various ways to the point of impact because there are different ways to get to the point of impact. And I think that's important to note. I wanted to go over what the bloodhound revealed,

When you took me to the point of impact, I think there's at least three different ways that you can get there. and the reason that that's important to know is because I mean, we'll get into this in a couple of minutes, but Tiffany shoes and her headbands, which she was not wearing when she was killed, were not found in the path of the bloodhound.

Paul D'Amato (27:29.646)
That's right. That's right. And if I may, if any of your listeners go to where the railroad tracks intersect with Genoa Avenue, which runs from Wranglerbury Road to the Whitehorse Bike, if you stop at those tracks, exit your vehicle at night and you look down, it would be, I would say, northwest on the tracks.

It is absolutely pitch black. You can't see anything. And the question would be, if one takes the position that she did walk, why would she walk all the way down there? If it was her intent to take her own life, why did she have to walk down that area? I don't think it's logical.

And she, now I'll note that I read one of the depositions of one of her friends who indicated that she didn't know that she was afraid of the dark. Be that as it may, it was dark and the question becomes, we know that she didn't have her cell phone with her and so there would be really no way for even to see where she was going. Is that correct?

And she was a typical teenager, but so possessive of her phone that she bought a special covering for her cell phone so that when she was taking a shower, she could talk to her friends in the shower. She would never be without that cell phone. And so your audience understands that if you go to the end of the Volante driveway and you make a right on Mannheim,

She was.

Paul D'Amato (29:19.092)
I would say about 15, 20 feet, Steve Alente found the phone on their property, about five, six feet off the road.

And that phone was seized and ultimately searched by the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office. And we'll get into that in a few minutes. Just returning to our timeline for a moment, the point of impact is about 11, 10 p.m. She's reported missing around 12, 23 a.m. And then her uncle arrives on the scene of the accident, not until about 1.30, and then is able to let the officers there know that

his niece had just been reported missing. There seemed to me to be a disconnect between departments, right? Because at the point in time that the parents report her missing to Hamilton, she's already been killed. presumably that agency, it just surprised me that it's not that far.

that there wouldn't have been that knowledge that this accident had occurred. But be that as it may, another hour goes by, uncle's out searching, still searching for her at 1.30 in the morning or so, and introduces himself to the officers who are on the scene, which I think was in the area of Genoa and Aloe, and he identifies Tiffany. And so...

There is a medical examiner that comes out and ultimately we can talk about the, I'll put in air quotes, the autopsy that was done. It was not a complete autopsy. So, and because there's, I think it's really important to go through this timeline because there are some items that are not found for several weeks. You will hear attorney Paul DiMatto driving me in his vehicle as he gives me what he refers to as the tour.

Meg M. Hoerner (31:20.876)
He will be driving me around the area near the scene of the incident in which Tiffany Valente was struck and killed by a New Jersey transit train on July 12th of 2015. In this first clip, Paul and I have left his office and are driving towards the Valente home.

So here's the thing that we did. The application is to see if have.

Right over the FAA. one of the things as part of our initial investigation, that these surveillance cameras along Wrangelboro Road footage, you know, should have picked up different, in fact, had walked from her home, which we don't believe at all, but they had no surveillance cameras at all.

Because if they did, the

if she

Meg (32:08.046)
So.

So we're on Chilton Road approaching Wrangelboro. I'm going to take you to the Valente home. Diana told her because they have surveillance cameras outside their home. I said, I said, you might see me. And she said, no problem. What complicated case is this?

the room I spoke to.

Paul  (32:27.288)
This that.

10, 12 days after Tiffany dies, the Atlanta County Sheriff's Office brought a bloodhound to the home of Steve and Diane Valente. And they wanted to see where the hound would take them. The hound took them on a trip of about four and a half miles. what I'm gonna show you, what the bloodhound said,

We're gonna do today

was the

Paul D'Amato (33:01.774)
I hope it was second here.

Yeah, the luxury pair.

likely pass.

Paul D'Amato (33:07.488)
All right, now.

This screen here.

has no artificial illumination whatsoever.

And this is for Sarah.

And the reason this is significant is that the family and friends and coaches of Tiffany Valente knew she had an unusual fear of the dark. There's actually a psychiatric diagnostic name for it. It's called nyctophobia. And when she would sleep over at her girlfriend's home, Tiffany would say,

Paul D'Amato (33:45.87)
keep the lights in the hallway on, a light in the bedroom. She wouldn't even walk in the home unless it was well illuminated. And on the night in question, there was no moonlight whatsoever. Now this is Mannheim, and down here is where Tiffany lived.

And that night she had been at a birthday party right across the street at her cousin's home. And...

And no sidewalks. I've no no sidewalks, no street lamps.

Yeah, none.

That's right. So.

Paul D'Amato (34:25.792)
If you were to come here at night when there's little or no moonlight and you turn off your headlamps of your vehicle, it's pitch. You won't even drive three or four feet. That's how dark it is back here.

Now, would you like to see the beautiful memorial that the family built for her? Okay, let's go out. Yeah.

love that.

Yeah. All right. So, you see the deer camera. Okay.

I see it. Was that there at the time? Yes. OK. that's the camera that was referenced.

Paul D'Amato (34:59.201)
Now.

Yes, will you see her walking? And this is right here.

That's right in the driveway.

Now, okay, I've had emails from people

all through Europe, Australia, all

Paul D'Amato (35:13.4)
around the United States. Okay. And we've had contacts, have retired law enforcement.

the site that we've contacted us saying for free.

Welcome to

Paul (35:29.006)
The photo that you see in the unsolved mysteries piece of Tiffany walking down the driveway and try to answer it. There appears to be a face. So when you see Tiffany look to her left, why was she looking to her left?

And I'll show my

Paul D'Amato (35:47.118)
the person.

Okay

Meg (35:56.514)
Did somebody call her? We never picked that up before.

have to take another look at that. Now the party was directly across the street to the left in that direction. When I initially saw that surveillance photo, I thought it was further down the road. I didn't realize it was like here in the drive.

Okay, so now Tiffany, who's afraid the dark, well, not allegedly, we know she came to the end of her driveway. Theories, it's just not my theory, this is the theories of many, people, especially people retired from law enforcement that

See soon.

Meg (36:25.495)
What is this?

Paul D'Amato (36:35.768)
contend that when she came down

And here she was picked up in a vehicle. The vehicle, unless she knew the people. As she was transported to the point of impact, as opposed to walking to the point of impact. So the majority of people are convinced that is what happened. But. Well, through this, the investigation off that was conducted by the New Jersey Transit Police Department.

She would not have entered.

Paul D'Amato (36:45.889)
And then.

 (37:05.342)
is they're flying into the bloodhound saying that she walked almost five miles despite the fact that there had

and in two significant rains from the time of Tiffany's death until the bloodhound came out. But New Jersey Transit, they were not this, what they thought was a reliable bloodhound would not count.

Paul D'Amato (37:31.502)
Bye!

what 10 days after?

In a loving day, something like that.

Now, so imagine if.

If you're Tiffany, they'll say that you walked down this street here.

(37:46.518)
no lights and I'm this night and I've turned my headlights up and I can't drive now the right and we're gonna do that right now and we're gonna be driving out and road

What ham has your making?

 (38:01.954)
The early on checked all the rode to see if they had any surveillance and they had none.

Family.

on this

can

Neither on either side was the question was the party still going on at this point in time.

This way.

Paul (38:18.51)
very significant point. answer is yes. And there were 50, 60 people driving their cars to where the party was. So they would have seen it was 6'4", walking down the street.

I'm chillin'.

Paul D'Amato (38:30.924)
A girl that's almost...

people were still coming to the party or people were leaving the party.

the tummy to the party, which is a party and the party was going pretty strong.

Where were all of those cars parked on that roadway?

the roadway and a lot of it inwards down the driveway. It's a very long driveway to the home of her cousin. Now we're about to approach Tilton Road. The bloodhound that was from the Atlantic Sheriff's Office crosses the road left.

Paul D'Amato (38:59.534)
and make sure.

as if

Thanks for making this left or going down.

No, the bloodhound's making a left. Okay. And if we continue all the way, we would hit the white horse pike. And the bloodhound goes up to right about here. Let's say it's like about a hundred yards. But days later, Tiffany's shoes and her headband farther up, uh, Chilton road. I'm going to show you the location in a second. There's a cross.

found.

(39:36.706)
Yeah, right here.

Now.

Is there any significance to the location of where this crosses?

Well, let me see.

This is where the is about the location. Right. Okay. Now.

(39:56.194)
for mysteries.

Unsolved N-

(40:01.78)
Their analysis was that Tiffany in the vehicle was taken all the way up here.

In fact, let's do it. Because the people associated with Unsolved Mysteries didn't buy into the bloodhound, they thought that the analysis that was done by Uncle Bob, that's Steve's brother, they thought was a more reasonable explanation. So Uncle Bob has Tiffany in a vehicle driving.

Did not

Paul D'Amato (40:24.696)
And now...

toward a bridge up here, that bridge goes over the railroad tracks that the transit train was running on.

The bloodhound, does it continue down this road or where did the bloodhound take it?

Paul D'Amato (40:54.158)
you

to the point of impact. I have to explain how did she get there. She didn't drive there. She didn't take a bicycle. There were two surveillance videos.

One from a Hindu temple.

that I'm going to show you in another from storage facility. were the prosecutor's office, my investigator Tiffany Valenti shown at the relevant times.

from a analyzed by.

Paul D'Amato (41:22.14)
There's no.

Meg M. Hoerner (41:26.946)
Who obtained those surveillance?

the New Jersey Transit Police Department. There is a way that you can drive underneath this bridge. This bridge was a new bridge. If you go about a couple hundred yards to your right where the railroad track is, that's where the point of impact was. I'm going to show you something.

I've owned a lovely little home hangout.

Meg M. Hoerner (41:48.046)
Right down over here.

I'm good.

Paul D'Amato (41:54.68)
On the night he is

A detective from New Jersey Transit interviews a senior engineer.

What did you say? I saw the s- in here saw.

Same thing with student engineers.

We're right on top of her, she runs right out. They're put under oath. Several days later, we have the transcript.

Paul D'Amato (42:19.222)
And the senior engineer says, let me see.

everything went back was turned. right. A question he gave false information to the New Jersey Transit Detective. Let's talk about this student here that was really familiar with this particular track. He had been on it before, but he was not that familiar with it. He gave three different versions of what he saw. Version one.

The end of the night. Information.

Now, this is not.

 (42:48.558)
I saw her just when we were on top of her and she jumps out and runs out and her. Version two. I see something half a mile away. Then I see something a quarter mile away. And all of a sudden, the person is, I see a person standing, and then all of a sudden jumps onto the tracks.

And we.

Paul D'Amato (43:04.507)
And then, sudden.

Paul D'Amato (43:12.546)
Not moving!

 (43:17.998)
third version is I see a person with 13 feet on the tracks. Is it an impossibility? When you see the area I'm talking about, you're going to say, I don't buy that version.

and jump from the woods.

Paul D'Amato (43:27.182)
And we use

Meg M. Hoerner (43:33.59)
Were all three of those versions in the statement that was under Earth or were they three versions that were given in various statements?

One verse can-

first version is when the detective interviews him on the night in question. Now, what I'm doing is I'm making a run the way to a spike. I'm making a left on Cologne Avenue because we're going to get out of the car at the

and then the

Paul D'Amato (44:03.406)
tracks and

I'm going to show you why the student's version of seeing somebody a half a mile away, no validity whatsoever. Because of the support structure for the bridge, which is all concrete, you can't see it.

a quarter mile has the

Paul D'Amato (44:21.08)
Damn thing.

And you for yourself will see that in a moment.

Can you drive to the point of impact or not? So the location could have been accessible that night by a vehicle.

You can't. You can't.

Thank you.

Okay, so we're back in the car and you're gonna take me back in the direction that we just came to where the shoes were found.

Okay, so we're heading east on the Whitehorse Pike and we're now going to go on Chiltern Road.

So the path that we just traveled was a path that could have been taken if you presume that Tiffany got into a vehicle.

Yeah, you could get to the point of impact two different ways, actually three different ways.

Meg M. Hoerner (45:07.682)
And that was that was path number one. Yeah. So that location of the cross that you showed me a couple of minutes ago, that is where her shoes were found. They weren't found immediately, correct?

No.

I'm good. I want to say 10, 12 days later.

Paul D'Amato (45:29.056)
Now...

You know, people have asked about that. How convenient, how fortuitous that her mother would find the shoes. Well, there was a witness that came forward that saw Diane on the grass, all the way to screaming, I just found my daughter's shoes. And these shoes, we know for a fact that Tiffany was wearing them on the night in question because her sisters verified that she had them.

and her sister showed me a photograph that Tiffany took of her shoes at the party across the street for their cousin who had graduated from Holy Spirit High School.

So,

Those shoes were at the scene and articles of clothing on her body were also missing. New Jersey Transit immediately viewed this case as a suicide and did not treat it as a crime scene and contaminated the entire area by allowing people, including families, to walk all around the scene. It is noted that the

Paul D'Amato (46:11.982)
We're not done.

Paul D'Amato (46:30.19)
remember. Now, worthy bloodhound did not.

walk all the way up to where those shoes were. In fact, it was probably off by maybe about 300 yards. So the blood has turned around right about up here and starts heading back to Rangleberry Road. Now you'll see to your left an asphalt path.

town.

Meg M. Hoerner (47:05.39)
I saw that when we were coming out at end of our street. If you had stayed straight, you'd go right over to this path.

the blood over that path to Rydalboro Road. You come to this intersection, you will see that there is street light, but just here, once you drive away from this intersection, there's no more artificial illumination.

Hamlin.

Paul D'Amato (47:15.02)
Now, when you

Paul D'Amato (47:19.534)
Bye!

Meg M. Hoerner (47:27.31)
ask you a question. When you come out to the end of their street, and initially we made that left, but I did see that pathway straight across that you could walk straight across. What street is that? What street are we on here? Tilton. You cross over Tilton, take that path. So we would be now driving parallel out of that path. Does that path lead to the point of impact?

This is

Paul D'Amato (47:53.528)
Yeah.

Now the Bloodhound has her walking on the grass over here on Rattlesboro Ring. Bloodhound has her walking all along here, right to your left across the street there. We're coming up to the Hindu temple. We have the surveillance video from there. If she had walked the path that the Bloodhound said that she walked, that surveillance video would have picked her up.

right here.

Now, and now we're.

End.

The Bloodhound has her body left on General Avenue.

And but for one street light, it's completely dark.

This is a well traveled road. presuming that no one noticed anything.

No, can't. All right, so you'll, now the bloodhound has her walking in the grass, as you see on the left here.

And you'll know.

Paul (48:45.838)
Notice, no street lights at all.

is a dark road. No sidewalks.

No sidewalks, too. Now, if her shoes were found on Silk Road, she's walking this distance in her bare feet. There's the only street light right there.

It's the other direction to our shoes were found you would have had to make a left on Tilton Road to get to this location She would have had to make a right so it doesn't seem It seems doesn't seem as though she would have taken her shoes off at that location

Yeah.

Paul (49:14.574)
and then walked, you know. All right, now we're crossing Aloy Avenue. There is a storage facility from which they had the surveillance video.

No, on this any of this valence. Nothing. Now we're crossing over train tracks again. Where's the point of impact from this location?

Sure, we're gonna get out.

Yeah.

I'm gonna show you.

Paul D'Amato (49:38.312)
And other memorials.

We're going to go to this other they have for Tiffany, but, but she supposedly walked that road with stones. And I was, want you to get an appreciation of how far this is. Okay.

Keeping that.

Meg M. Hoerner (49:55.67)
Now we're back heading back on

And my

is pitch black. is just, it's horrible. That's why I refuse to believe that she walked in. There are people that are very few, you know, few people that say that must have been rather than 70 year old mother to admit that she's a gay woman. According to the family, male or females, grandma, aunts and uncles,

Now, you know, uh-huh.

Paul D'Amato (50:12.674)
that it might be traumatic for this.

that place.

Paul (50:27.574)
She was very secure with her position. It's like some people want to believe. spoke to both parties. Listen, we accepted it. Maybe this was just a passing interest.

Maddie.

Paul D'Amato (50:38.696)
at length and they should

They were, they so big.

Paul D'Amato (50:48.59)
And there were no reactions.

accepted it. There's no ramification, no punishment because she came out and said she was gay.

And although she had had a recent breakup, she had a new girlfriend.

right? Yeah, let me I.

I was told.

by reliable people that...

Tiffany was in demand by other young girls.

Some of them wanted to ask what it would be like to be with a

Experiment.

woman and others, you know, and so, hopefully,

I'm Tiffany. Supposedly, some of the girls I explained to their boyfriends were really upset that the fact that they had a relationship with Tiffany. Now, you saw how far we drove, right?

Sorry about that.

Meg M. Hoerner (51:42.882)
Right, we drove back down and you made a right into a little pathway. Where are we right now?

Okay, that's the Langston Electric Station here.

right back here and I'm taking you to the memorial that was

built by Tiffany's parents in

family members. Now, this is the memorial and

Paul (51:59.934)
You're free to take photographs if we can get out.

We have of the done but if in the

video, interviews that were by a detective in the United States Prosecutors Office.

And these individuals that the manager of the convenience center, they voluntarily change.

visuals that store he identifies. Oh, yeah. They came to came to the prosecutors over interview. But if you look at the transcripts of the interview spoken to each other beforehand, the four because some of the answers were exactly the same. So often asked, do you have an idea who's responsible for this? And I would be candid with you.

Paul D'Amato (52:22.988)
I'm sorry.

Paul D'Amato (52:29.336)
Thanks.

especially you as an attorney would appreciate this. I really truly need to say that's responsible for this horrific event. You have to have something. It can't be mere suspicion. Their answers didn't sound right. that's why

I don't know. I really don't know. mean, you know, someone is...

them.

Paul D'Amato (52:59.862)
Or, you know...

Paul D'Amato (53:03.756)
the day comes.

that we learn exactly what happened. I won't be surprised because it could

than anybody.

Going back to those four people that were interviewed, someone overheard them speaking, is that right?

a manager.

(53:17.246)
a manager of a WaWa Overheard three of his employees talking about Tiffany was taking a

about gunpoint and so forth. And I never...

He called me to office. I speak to witnesses. I always use investigators. I don't want to be a witness to what they said.

understand that. Now how long after the incident did this occur?

You know, I haven't been in while. I don't-

53:49.738)
been asked that question. I know. When we go back to the office, I'll tell you. So I sent Chuck Atkinson, who used to work in the intelligence unit of the New Jersey State Police and who's now licensed private investigator. I said, you interview him. He generated a summary of what the interview was all about. The report to the LA County's prosecutor's office. And that's when they brought this individual. He was interviewed.

in and

And we have that in view.

store owner.

Yeah, okay, now we're gonna make right hand turn on the. Getting towards. And then I'm.

manager of the Wawa. The Chilton Road, the White Horse Pike, to Atlantic City. We're going to take you to an area which will be the third area that you can access the specific area where Tiffany's body came in contact with the train.

Now,

So there's three total places that could have, that location could have been accessed by. You got it. And I had asked you a few minutes ago when we were outside of the car, if the family had ever had a discussion with the kids about not walking along the train tracks because they had, or was there ever any indication that the train tracks were a location that Tiffany had gone to either on foot or in a vehicle? Yeah. And you had said no.

Every we spoke to said, this is this Delarados.

Okay.

Meg M. Hoerner (55:19.692)
We're turning in.

This is a foot yeah, the white horse pipe get out of the car here

Now, we're

and

Tell me what we're gonna say.

Okay, we are, walk 100 yards to the exact.

I think less than

point of impact.

between Tiffany's body. So I was first contacted by, took what we call the tour that I've taken you on. The gate that you see here was open.

and the train.

Paul D'Amato (55:49.048)
family and we

Paul D'Amato (55:56.31)
And we confirmed that on the day and night.

question, this gate was open. So if Tiffany was in a pickup truck, she could, the driver could have taken the right horse bike, move right back there. It's a level area. As you can see, the grass is manicured almost perfectly. That is a way they could have gotten there.

and draw a

area.

Paul D'Amato (56:20.811)
and that's

So we're back in the car and you just took me to the point of impact.

right.

which again, what would you say, maybe it's about 75 yards from the Whitehorse Pike? Head from the Whitehorse Pike to Atlantic City, but we're right to the location where I took you before.

Correct, I would say that.

Paul D'Amato (56:37.314)
Yeah. All right, so now we're heading east.

Thank you.

Paul D'Amato (56:47.352)
Sure.

One thing I wanted to point out that we discussed when we were out of the car was that they're very close to the point of impact. There was an axe that was recovered. And how far away from was it found, did you say?

I would say 50, 60 feet.

and it was found and it was taken into evidence, logged into evidence.

You

Paul D'Amato (57:08.638)
Jersey Transit and when court order requiring transit to send

I was able to get a-

the various articles of evidence to a private

DNA lab in Ohio and... Henning.

Dr. Julie, who is the executive director of the lab, any of the testing they did was caused trans-tropylenidemia.

call me up and say that

Paul D'Amato (57:35.414)
or not the, it had not maintained the evidence and.

I put most of it in bags.

plastic and mold developed and contaminated the evidence.

Okay, now what pieces of evidence other than the acts that you're referring to?

You know, you have the

Let me get everything for you.

I think that the one thing that's important, there has to be some indication of what happened to the acts while in evidence. They're got to still be there or there should at least at a minimum in my opinion be someone who could be assigned to look into that and determine what happened to it. So we're heading back to your office and returning back down on Tilton Road.

So the all your viewers are.

In the end, I think we're going to...

say that the investigation conducted by the New Jersey Transit Police Department has put Steve and the police in the situation where they are, which is that it's been a seven-year fight to get police to their door. You probably at this point, 50, 60,

Paul D'Amato (58:29.471)
that was conducted.

Paul D'Amato (58:34.254)
Steve and Diane Valencia.

Paul D'Amato (58:42.274)
Get information.

And I interviewed

Paul D'Amato (58:53.39)
Friends and relatives.

All of them, including Tiffany's volleyball coat. She wasn't depressed. was no reason that she would have to die by suicide.

All the inter from Stockton University have said she

Paul D'Amato (59:10.286)
So there were some young girls

that said Tiffany was unhappy.

But another friend said she would conveniently be the drama queen.

It was appropriate or we're helper advance our cause You know, I just That's so many people could be more out

So I can't believe.

Paul D'Amato (59:33.518)
more about her, you know, not being a Christian. You know, in my

I'm surprised.

I had a This case is one of three cases involving suicide that I've been involved in. I consider myself somewhat on If you look at the statistics that came by the United States Department of Transportation regarding verified suicide, railroad tracks, 95 % of the were

not that I'm an ex-sp- but well read on the end

that are main

Paul D'Amato (01:00:09.91)
of them are men. When women commit

suicide, there is usually drugs. It's some way that is less violent than having to stand in front of a train. a good medical examiner's office will have its investigators do a psychological autopsy of a decedent. So, that wasn't done in this case.

message

Paul D'Amato (01:00:27.118)
And you know

Paul D'Amato (01:00:36.835)
to

Paul D'Amato (01:00:41.87)
and we did everything that medical staff did.

That is, law firm, did everything the examiner's office would do because I had the protection of Louise Hausman, who was an investigator for the clinical examiner's office when it existed. And so we got...

Can I medic?

every single medical record on her. Any indication of absolutely none. Actual toxicological report.

there was a case of depression.

The end.

was negative. Given the fact that there was no observed depression in Tiffany, and the detectives of the New Jersey Transit Police Department, from that psychological autopsy, you know, they may have used a rape kit on her body which wasn't done.

for alcohol and drugs.

Paul D'Amato (01:01:28.204)
me.

Paul D'Amato (01:01:35.23)
And the... I will be with...

I'd be interested in your thoughts if you have time. You see the body itself, what you think, giving your background. Do you have a time in? No.

I was surprised that there was not a rape kit done. was now in the the medical examiner would have been in control of the scene initially.

Somebody examined his office much later after New Jersey Transit. New Jersey Transit was their first

Did the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office come in?

No. Tech didn't come out.

They were haunted.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:02:19.808)
No. never came out to the scene that night? I thought that they would have had to have come out to any death that was unexplained.

Nope, now surprise.

Paul D'Amato (01:02:28.61)
Yeah, now.

There is a

issue here.

I spoke to representatives of the prosecutor's office. Their position is it was an event that took place on New Jersey Transit tracks, and was in New Jersey Transit. New Jersey Transit Police Department has primary jurisdiction, along with the Attorney General's office of the state of New Jersey. These representatives from the county prosecutor's office said, if the Attorney General's office asked us to do certain things, we of course would have done it, but they never asked us.

screen.

By shaking the trees, we were able to get the prosecutor's office three days to investigate this case. They could have said no to me, but they didn't.

different times.

Paul D'Amato (01:03:17.26)
And to be fair to that office, they said, Paul, there's a lot of us, but we don't have evidence to take this to a grand jury and seek an...

Thanks here, but do any concrete-

statement against somebody. But they said, if you ever say anything, bring it to us and evaluate it.

Forget everything. Now.

I was interviewed by a song for hours.

Paul D'Amato (01:03:42.112)
mystery seven and half and and one thing said I

other thing brought out was F became the case and the prosecutor's office was conducting

Or for them to get a court order for cell phone records.

Symphony.

They had indicated that it was a

criminal investigation. They did, which they did.

Did the, and when was the CDW, the communication data warrant on her phone obtained? Right after?

No, no, no, here's not.

Another issue.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:04:20.11)
Because what I ask, before I forget, why I ask is because I was just curious if they were able to do any type of GPS location on where the phone had been, which they often do, at least in cases I have.

Yeah, couple years later. Let me go back a little bit. would frankly need

Later, periodically, with people in the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office. In one of my meetings, I want to say maybe the second year after Tiffany's death, I learned that the Northfield Office of the FBI, that they had one of their key persons do a triangulation with

That's what I was going to ask you. Did do that.

Yeah, it never left the area in the three cell towers which is the area that I took you to today

Meg M. Hoerner (01:05:14.796)
Okay, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't have been, it doesn't necessarily mean for sure that the phone was dropped by Tiffany at the location it was found.

Agreed, agreed, agreed. Now, here's something, I'm sorry, I'm gonna let them go. In the night in question, some of Tiffany's friends came to the Valenti home and Diane overheard one of the girls going, where's Tiffany's phone? And one of the girls was looking at the phone doing certain things.

this before or after shoot.

Taffer was known that she died.

So after her dad picked it up towards the end of the driveway, one of the friends took it.

Paul D'Amato (01:06:02.904)
It was in the house, they had learned that Tiffany had died, which I think was like.

was if

to midnight. her friends were seeing, looking at the phone, what they were doing, nobody does.

Yeah, I sometimes when a phone is searched you can still find deleted things that are deleted. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. So, but that is certainly interesting. I would be interested to see what if anything had been deleted if it was still able to be retrieved from the phone.

Well, I'll show you the cornerstone search. My file is like this. I may not be able to give you... What I want to do is I want to... What time is it? Okay. Yeah. Carolyn, my legal assistant is still here. There are certain things that she can photocopy while you and I are looking at the photos that were taken by the New Jersey Transit. I have read various journals as to...

Paul D'Amato (01:07:07.562)
What happens to the human body when it comes in contact with a train doing 80 miles per hour?

And that's something that we had talked about a few minutes ago when we were out the scene. What would you expect?

Yeah. Well, you would, from what I have read, you would see...

a body that was in little pieces all over the place. In this particular case, and I'll be curious about your reaction to it, it seems that her arms and her legs and head were like surgically removed from the torso. hold on a second, let me get over here before these other cars start coming.

Well, which I guess could be more consistent with her body being laid across the tracks or laying.

Paul D'Amato (01:07:50.318)
Or was an axe used to chop the body up?

Yeah, guess really the question becomes right now, what do you think law enforcement ought to do with the facts that they have? What hasn't been done that you're unable to do as a private citizen that law enforcement would have the power to do through search warrants, subpoena, et cetera? That's really what it comes down to because we talked about the body's been...

And our table has to be done. There are certain key people and in fact, Investigator Jim Brunnerstow is coming with me.

There.

is coming with me to the meeting with the Atlantic County prosecutor on November 16th. And we're gonna have a list of people that we think should be interviewed.

Paul D'Amato (01:08:37.501)
If one of her friends knew that Tiffany was going to commit suicide.

And maybe they have guilt that they didn't prevent it. Maybe they have guilt that they never told the family. Why can't just say now and say, listen, I can't stand you suffering any longer. Your daughter was going to take her own life. Why doesn't somebody come forward? And with all the media attention this case has gotten, I have asked over and over and over again that question and nobody comes forward, nobody.

Is it coming up?

Paul D'Amato (01:09:13.271)
Did you see the piece that was done on NJ.com?

Yes. Okay.

You see, that goes to the incompetency of the medical examiner's office.

does. It does. And I did read that and that touches on a couple different cases.

Yeah.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:09:31.678)
concerned obviously.

Paul D'Amato (01:09:38.892)
We had a local plastic surgeon look at a diagram that shows the cuts on Tiffany's body. And he said, these were manmade. This didn't come from the train.

And that's significant. I think the question becomes, are there any other trained fatalities that you can compare the results of the injury to, to see if this is ever...

Wow.

this type of injury has ever occurred. I'd be interested to see it.

Yeah.

Paul D'Amato (01:10:11.502)
Let me see if I can find the articles. I have so many articles on this and there's a great, if you go to our website, we have a whole section on Tiffany Valente. It has all the lawsuits, it has everything, but it also has some very good articles about how medical examiner's office, let me go back. There's a great article that says we don't have national standards on.

How do you classify a death as suicide, undetermined, accidental? We don't have national standards. So you have variations in offices within a certain state. That is a major...

We asked the important question of what happened to the shorts that Tiffany was wearing on the night that she died. We also review clothing and items that were found on the day of the incident, as well as items and clothing that were found in the days, weeks, and months to follow. We discussed the autopsy results and we review the black box from the train.

that struck and killed Tiffany. So let's just switch gears for a minute if we can, and let's just talk about the autopsy and what it revealed and how that ties into everything that we've talked about. Again, was there a full autopsy done?

No, there was what they call an external examination. Unfortunately, a rape kit was not used on the torso.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:11:38.894)
But they do take a DNA sample and they do a toxicology. Now, do we know any details about the DNA sample that was taken?

No, that's the problem. The investigative reports on New Jersey Transit are not detailed as you would see if an investigation had been conducted, say by the New Jersey State Police or even a local police department. And if I may, the major problem here is that the investigator, the detective from New Jersey Transit Police Department, he...

brought in right away that this was a suicide based upon the statements of the student engineer that was at the helm and the senior engineer. So on the night in question,

With no investigation, it was declared a suicide.

No investigation because it was released by someone in the New Jersey Transit Police Department to the media that Tiffany had committed suicide and it was in the newspapers the following morning. And there was no investigation done. So let's talk about what happens at the scene. So the student engineer says, we were right on top of this person and the person runs into the train.

Paul D'Amato (01:13:04.888)
The senior engineer says, I saw the same thing. Later, they're both put under oath and

It wasn't that much later. It was two days. Oh, no, I'm sorry the 18th of July. So if I'm not mistaken and so that would have been Within a week. Yeah

In a week, So the senior engineer, now that he's put under oath by the detective, says, I didn't see anything. Now, I don't know. I'm just an average lay person. I think if I give false information to somebody in law enforcement, am I potentially subject to being charged?

back was turned.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:13:50.018)
Well, it depends on whether or not he is actually gave that statement or for reading someone else's recitation of what he supposedly said. don't know if it was even recorded his initial statement at the scene.

It wasn't recorded, but he signed a card saying that's what he saw. So, so now we have to rely on the student engineer. And there are three different versions of what he saw that we could get into later. But what happened was the detective, instead of treating this as potentially a crime scene, accepted it as being a suicide and therefore

anybody was walking around the crime scene, they did treat it like a crime scene. And I think that is the beginning of the problem that the Valentis had in that there was not the appropriate investigation. And you mentioned the autopsy. What I have learned, and this is the, as a lawyer, this is the third suicide case that I've been,

involved in. I don't profess to be an expert in this area. I'm just sharing what I've learned as a result of three cases. So you do a psychological autopsy.

What is a psychological autopsy?

Paul D'Amato (01:15:12.418)
Well, you interview the family, you interview the friends, you get all available medical records, you talk to the teachers at the school. And let me add, ironically, there was a teacher that, who was very familiar with Tiffany at her school, that happened to be here for a deposition in another case. And when I was escorting the gentleman out, he said,

I knew this young lady, and I have to tell you, there's no way that I think she took her own life. And I have to say something to you. And here's what confounds me. It's been seven years. When one person come forward, and let's say they had evidence that it was suicide, that she died by suicide. Wouldn't she come forward so Steve and Diane don't have to suffer anymore trying to figure out

what happened to the daughter, not one person has come forward. And that's what's so troubling. And the problem that we face, and we'll talk about this at the end, is what can the family do now seven years later? I have some thoughts about that, but we'll wait and see.

And we'll just keep going along in our timeline. But I think it's very important to note, the one thing that troubles me the most is that they never recovered her shorts.

Very troublesome. question becomes how thorough was the search by New Jersey Transit Police Department that night and the next morning? Well, all I know is that relatives of Tiffany were out there early next morning, sadly picking up pieces of her body that had not been picked up by New Jersey Transit and other artifacts, a bracelet and things like that.

Paul D'Amato (01:17:18.198)
So because I wasn't able to do depositions in this case, where I could bring everybody here and ask them very specific questions about how the crime scene was handled, I only have to rely upon family members of Tiffany who were out there and said everybody was just walking around.

I want to focus in for a couple minutes on her clothing because I think that this is an important point to make. We can see from the deer cam photo what she's wearing and it appears to be blue jean shorts, slip-on shoes, a short sleeve shirt and a headband. And as I've already noted, her shorts are never found.

And her shoes are never found.

Well, not at the scene. Her shoes are found later. So her shorts are never found. There is a shirt that is visible in the scene photos, a black shirt. I don't know if there's ever been any confirmation as to whether or not that was the shirt that she was wearing. And the reason I asked the question is when I view the photo, it appears to be a long sleeve shirt that's found at the scene, but she clearly was wearing a short sleeve shirt.

when she left the property. So I had that question for you and I don't know if there was ever any testing done on that. Secondly, as you noted, the family continued to search the area and it was not until August 3rd of 2015, which would have been over what? couple, two, three weeks later. Exactly. Where Tiffany's shoes, her headband, a

Meg M. Hoerner (01:19:07.744)
sweatshirt, which you never see her wearing, and a, I'll call it a, a plastic key ring. It looks like the type of key ring that you get when you take your car in for servicing. It's a, you know, handwritten little key chain or key ring, as well as a, like a decal or, or all found down tilting route. and that

as I mentioned a few minutes ago was not in the path of the bloodhound. if even if you presume that the bloodhound was accurate, these items, the shoes, the headband, a large sweatshirt with Wilkes on it and this key ring and this little decal are found kind of off the path, which raises the question as to whether or not she in fact went a different route to the point of impact. Because again, you took me a couple of different ways.

And in addition, I noted in the discovery that I reviewed that four days after that, August 7th, there is a bloody towel found at some point in the area, not near the shoes, not near the point of impact, but still raising the question, was that ever examined?

The bloody towel was, and because that piece of evidence had not been properly maintained by New Jersey Transit Police Department, Dr. Julie Hennick, runs a, I would say the number one laboratory in the United States in Ohio, she called me up and said,

The towel is so contaminated because it was kept in a plastic bag. Mold develops and there was no reliability to the testing. That towel, so your listeners understand, if you go to the memorial for Tiffany, it was found as you are coming back from the dirt road onto the street. It was found on that area.

Paul D'Amato (01:21:17.804)
that would be on ALO Street. So Uncle Bob found it and he found it, I would say the day after the incident in question and New Jersey Transit took it and held it.

Did anyone ever do any testing, DNA testing on the shoes or on the headband or on this sweatshirt or this key ring, these other items that were found by Tiffany's mom on August 3rd?

Let's talk about DNA testing. I wrote a letter to a deputy attorney general that was representing the interest of New Jersey Transit. And I want to say something. I would not have been able to get as far as I did in terms of getting information and records. If it wasn't for the various deputy attorney generals I dealt with, they wouldn't admit it today, but they look at this investigation.

And they have the same troubling questions that I have. And I sense that that you have. So those individuals did write by the Valentis. Now, of course, we had to file for lawsuits in order to get everything that we were trying to do. But nonetheless, they stepped forward and the family and I are very appreciative of that. So so I wrote a letter to one of the deputy attorney generals and I said, what did you do with the DNA?

sample and did you test it against the evidence? One of which was an ax and she indicated, I'll find out. And the response was New Jersey Transit, we don't have to do that. We don't have to take the DNA from her body and test it against the articles, including the ax, because we know it was suicide.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:23:06.958)
Let's stop. I'm going to stop you right there. Let's talk about the axe. There was an axe found on July 16th, 2022. So it would have been four days, three and a half, four days after the incident. Where was the axe found and who found it?

I was pretty sure it was found by a detective of the New Jersey. And it was found from comparing the photos, I would say 20, 30 feet from the point of impact. That would be my best estimation.

and it's listed in evidence, what you're saying is, is it has been lost?

Thank

So, and I'll tell you how this happened. When I'm talking to Dr. Henick, whose laboratory is doing the testing, I said, well, what were the results with the axe? She said, what axe? We didn't get an axe. That's why I had to contact the Deputy Attorney General. And let me explain why Dr. Henick wanted to test the axe. If you look at the head of it, there's an orange substance on the head of it and even

Paul D'Amato (01:24:26.062)
on the handle and she said, look, it could be rust, but it could be blood and we should test it. So they lost an ax and I keep asking myself, how do you lose an ax? And there's been no explanation offered by New Jersey Transit.

It seems that there should be some way to determine where the break in the chain of custody was. But again, to be clear, it was not located on the night or even the morning of the incident. It was a few days later. Tiffany was cremated. Does that limit the ability of law enforcement to investigate this case? Or are there other things that you think can be done?

It clearly puts a limitation on the potential efforts of law enforcement going forward. let me speak to this cremation issue. Mickey Valente and Steve Valente, of all the Valente brothers, were extremely close. And Mickey, who I interviewed three different times,

was adamant that the reason he wanted the body cremated was he did not want his brother or sister-in-law to see the remains of Tiffany's body. And that's why he thought that he was looking out for his brother and sister-in-law's best interests. Some people have criticized

that he moved so quickly on that. It's not for me to say whether it was right or wrong. I'm just telling you what his position was as to why acclamation was done.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:26:12.502)
Paul, tell me about...

individuals that were overheard talking about the incident at a local Wawa. What happened there?

Okay, I remember the day, crystal clarity, that one of my legal assistants said to me, there's a gentleman that has some information about what possibly happened to Tiffany Valente, and he is the manager of a convenience store. at that point, I said to the legal assistant, I don't want to talk to him. I'll have one of our

licensed private investigators speak to him. And I asked Chuck Atkinson, who's retired from the intelligence unit of the New Jersey State Police, to meet with the gentleman and interview him and prepare a report. Chuck did that. And in that report, he states that he overheard three individuals saying that Tiffany Valente was taken by gunpoint and certain events took place.

I'm just going to interrupt you for a minute. How long after the incident approximately did this individual come forward? Because it wasn't right away. was a period of time.

Paul D'Amato (01:27:32.014)
several months, several months. I want to say 10, 11 months off the of my head. Now, so when I get the report and I told Chuck, I don't want you to do an extensive interview, just get the bullet points of it. And if there's something there, then let's have the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office. And I elected to send

that statement to the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office, at which time a detective interviewed this individual. We have that interview on video. I suggest he comes across as a very credible individual. To a limited extent, I vetted him by calling people that I know that knew him and said he's a very honorable, straightforward person.

So there's no doubt that he heard what he heard. He gave the names of these individuals.

And this was overheard in the store? Yes. Is this the Wawa that's close to the tracks at Tilton Road or is it a different one?

It's the one in May's Landing, so Route 50, I'm pretty sure that's it, yeah. Almost to the center of town. So the detective then brought in several individuals. They denied making the statements. They denied that what he was saying ever took place.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:28:51.928)
I understand.

Paul D'Amato (01:29:10.114)
I leave it for others that if you look at the transcripts of the interviews of these individuals, it seems that some of the responses to certain specific questions were the same. I don't know if they met ahead of time and came up with a uniform response that they would share with the prosecutor's office, but they all denied it. And the prosecutor's office advised me that there simply wasn't enough to take this matter to a grand jury.

What were any of those individuals at the party or connected to anyone at the party?

two of them.

was there ever any follow-up investigation done to your knowledge on those individuals after their interviews?

No, but I know, I understand something. The prosecutor's office told me what the prosecutor's office wanted to tell me. to this day, I don't know if I have a complete copy of the file of the New Jersey Transit Police Department. The same for the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:30:21.196)
They have no obligation to provide it.

Precise.

So I want to just go back for a minute and talk to you about just kind of itemize the, in your opinion, the items and the evidence that specifically were mishandled. You talked about the axe. We talked about this key, I'm calling it a key chain. It's a plastic key ring, I guess is a better description of it with some

handwriting on it pertaining to a vehicle. Was there ever any investigation done as to that particular vehicle? Because again, just going back to clarify, that key ring was found at the same time, the shoes, the headband, unknown sweatshirt, and presumably all in the same vicinity.

Based upon the file that I received as a result of a court order, there is no indication that New Jersey Transit did anything with those items that were found on Shelton Road.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:31:31.498)
Are they all still in evidence? As far as you know.

Yes, because after the testing was done at the laboratory in Ohio, it was agreed, and it was so stated in a court order, that everything was sent back to NeutroxyTrans.

Except for the axe because the axe was missing. Just talk to me again briefly. What testing was done? What were they able to do?

Well, you know, I don't profess to be an expert on DNA testing. And I spoke many, many times to Dr. Julie Henick, who runs the laboratory.

And this testing was done at the expense of the family, Yeah.

Paul D'Amato (01:32:10.274)
Yes, it's very simple how they charge $1,000 an item and the total bill was almost $10,000, which the Valenti family borrowed to be able to pay for it. I want to say something about pain.

Every person involved in this case, the investigators, Dr. Donald Jason, Louise, Houseman, on and on, all the people that looked at this file and critiqued it, including myself, we did everything pro bono just to help the family because it cries out for help. And let me say something to you. I can't tell you the number of retired police officers that

over the years, came to this office, sat in one of our empty offices, and spent days going through the file and looked at it. And objectively, here's what they say. Anything's possible. We know that. Anything's possible. They said, based upon the written records and the investigation that we did subsequently, you can't say it was suicide. Now, I, by process of elimination and

relying on certain basic premises. I have concluded in my mind that she was the victim of foul play. What that foul play is, is pure speculation. We have no idea. and Louise Hausman, who was an investigator for the Atlanta County Medical Examiner's Office, she shared with on several occasions the discipline that must be applied

when trying to analyze this case. And she said, there are certain premises. And here's the fundamental.

Paul D'Amato (01:34:02.722)
based upon everything that I've shared with your listeners so far and taking over hundred people on the tour as I did with you.

99 % of the people do not believe that she walked there from her home to the point of impact.

And you're saying that because of a combination of the distance, the darkness, no shoes, presumably because the shoes were found at a totally different location and the fear of the dark.

That's it. Now, if you don't want to accept those premises, then you can conclude whatever you want to conclude. But that also, I'm relying upon two dog handlers. One was with the local police department and one was with the New Jersey State Police. so...

that caught into question the reliability of the bloodhound.

Paul D'Amato (01:34:56.364)
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

What about the nature of her injuries? Has there been any discussion or research or investigation regarding whether or not her injuries are consistent with someone who was hit by a train?

You know, it's interesting. You and I have discussed that. And I have two books that you're probably familiar with. It's Medical Legal Investigation by Switzer. Right. And they really don't talk about that too much. And in going on the Internet over the years, and I was checking my file, there's not any

There's not an abundance of definitive articles as to what a body will look like after it's been hit by the train.

And the reason I say that is because in reviewing the autopsy, it makes note of, and again, I will apologize to my listeners and this is difficult for many people to hear, but I think it's important to explain they were cuts. They were cut. Yeah. And so does that also add to your concern that this was not a suicide?

Paul D'Amato (01:36:18.99)
Now, the cuts on the body that are noted in a diagram that was made by the State Medical Examiner's Office makes this case even more problematic. And I want to explain why. The student engineer gives three different versions, one of which

is in a report. And I'll find this. I'm going through the file here as we're talking. And he's quoted as saying by one of the detectives that a certain person jumped out of the woods 13 feet onto the tracks. That's one of the versions. The version on the night in question, we didn't see anything until we were right on top of her and she

comes on to the tracks. The third version comes from when he's interviewed under oath and we have the transcript of that. And he talks about seeing something a half a mile away and then a quarter of a mile away. When I took you to the intersection of the tracks on the Western side of Chiltern Road and the bridge that

goes over the tracks, the student engineer would not have been able to see anything because of the concrete abutments supporting the bridge. So for him to say, it was an overpass, and thank you, I complicated it, okay. So here's what is so interesting, in his sworn statement,

There's an oeuvre. Yeah.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:38:13.454)
this sworn statement just for the record was taken on July 22nd of 2015. So about 10 days after the incident, I'm not mistaken.

Right. So he says in part, I'm going to quote this, and initially, you know, I, that distance, it was approximately maybe like a half a mile to a quarter mile away. It was pretty far away. I couldn't discern what it was specifically. Then he says, as I come closer, approximately a quarter mile away or a little closer to that, I notice the position in dark. He says, I noticed a human being in a crouch.

position in dark clothing. Now, this is totally contrary to what he said on the night in question and as contained in the report of one of the detectives about seeing someone jump 13 feet.

We also said she has dark shorts on and she didn't have dark

So here you have a student engineer and I suspect this was his first time having an encounter like this. Yeah. And, and so therefore he is sufficiently traumatized by the event.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:39:26.316)
and hopefully has left.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:39:33.73)
to talk a lot about witness recollection and how things can be skewed when there's a traumatic event. there's, there are studies done on that. I also want to point out while I'm thinking of it as the, was the black box, so to speak, we call it the black box for the train was downloaded. And I did look at that. Was there anything in that download that was of significance? I mean, I noted just very quickly that it looks like there was the horn was blown.

and then four seconds later the break was applied. that, was that an accurate review?

But as Louise Hausman said, the student engineer said that he rang the bell and there was no evidence that that had been done.

Is there a bell different from a horn?

I thought there was, you know.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:40:19.404)
Yeah, I didn't know that. I don't know if that would have been documented in the block.

I thought there was some indication that the student engineer said that he did something and I believe the engineer backed them up, but there was no record of it in the black box.

I had read an article recently that raised that question and I wasn't sure if that would have been reflected in the black box download. The black box download does seem to suggest that the horn was blown, but again, I don't know if there's a separate bell or whatever that would have been listed. the other thing, so that was a piece of forensic evidence that was looked at. There was a cell phone extraction completed on Tiffany's phone. Was there anything of

interest in that that was relevant or not.

Well, okay. What we learned is as a result of a meeting with one of the assistant county prosecutors.

Paul D'Amato (01:41:19.998)
They had arranged for the local FBI office to see where this cell phone went. Right. And it never left this particular area that we're talking about. That's number one.

They can triangulate the location.

Meg M. Hoerner (01:41:36.536)
So can we presume that she, that it was either dropped or thrown or placed on the ground right when she left the property?

That's the premise that I've been working with. All right. Now, when you look at some of the text messages, there are different individuals, and this really comes from the family, that when they heard Tiffany was missing, people are reaching out to her to get any kind of response. And there is no indication, and this is also based

and

Paul D'Amato (01:42:14.984)
in speaking with the people that telephoned her that she ever responded to them.

Okay. Okay. Let me ask you a question. Was there ever any suggestion or thought on your part that this could have been a, uh, an incident that was similar to other murders that had occurred in the area? Is that something that you've looked into or is that just pure speculation at this point?

Well, we have, since the showing of the Unsolved Mystery Piece, received an email from a woman that said that she had seen the show and recites a violent act upon her body and how her shoes were taken by the assailant. I don't want to talk too much about that because what we're doing is we're collecting

all of these comments from people. And if somebody in law enforcement is interested, then I want that agency to have the opportunity of interviewing everybody as opposed to having one of my investigators do that. We're kind of in a holding pattern.

But the investigation is not open at this point.

Paul D'Amato (01:43:33.002)
Now, and you know, we're hoping that the appropriate law enforcement agency will decide to open it up. Now, let me tell what I learned. On the night in question, officers from Galloway Township came to the scene because the incident occurred in Galloway Township. But shortly thereafter, detectives from New Jersey Trans Police Department came to the scene. And according to the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office,

The Attorney General's office in the New Jersey Transit Police Department had primary jurisdiction because it was a New Jersey Transit train and New Jersey Transit tracks. So Galloway said goodbye and that night the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office was contacted, but a decision was made. was no need to come out that night. Now, I want to...

make a comment that I think is really important, especially to your listeners. As we accumulated evidence, we gave it to the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office. every occasion, they acted on it. They said, okay, we'll reopen the investigation. And that should be known. Secondly, my last meeting in their office is whatever you bring to us that in your mind thinks has some credibility, we will look into.

Are you asking the public to come forward if they have any information? that what the family wants at this point in time?

Absolutely, absolutely. I am 100 % convinced that there are people that know something. And if you have evidence that is credible that Tiffany took her own life, I think you have an obligation to come forward and tell the Alina County prosecutors that office that. Or alternatively, if you have information, even though it could be hearsay upon hearsay,

Paul D'Amato (01:45:31.81)
I would encourage you to contact the Atlanta County Prostitutes Office. And the reason I say that office is

There have been some comments that the violence to Tiffany took place not on the tracks, but some other location. And that would give a basis for the Atlanta County Prosecutor's Office to become involved. New Jersey Transit Police Department has indicated by its silence over the seven years that it has no desire to reopen this case.

They've deemed it a suicide and they're not backing on that.

Yeah. And that, let me say something. I know you have a very sophisticated audience. If they were to read the complete file on this case, I'm sure 99 % of the listeners would conclude, you can't say this was suicide. Clearly you can't specify the act of foul play, but you can't say it's suicide.

Tom the producer:

Again, we ask if you have any information about the death and disappearance of Tiffany Valiante, please contact the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. Furthermore, if you're a law firm or lawyer who's interested in podcasting, check out LegalPodcasting.com or shoot over to NJ Criminal Podcast and fill out a contact form there.