Will Christopher Gregor testify at trial in murder of his son Corey Micciolo?

TOMS RIVER — With the trial of Christopher Gregor in the murder of his 6-year-old son dwindling down to its final witnesses, his attorney revealed today that the 31-year-old Barnegat man will give lengthy testimony in his defense next week.

"It's going to be a long day when he testifies,'' Gregor's defense attorney, Mario Gallucci, told Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan. 

Gallucci said if Gregor begins his testimony next Friday, "he could potentially go into Tuesday.''

The other two known witnesses left to testify are a medical expert for the state, who is scheduled to be on the stand on Wednesday, and Dr. Michael Baden, a renowned forensic pathologist, who is scheduled to testify for the defense next Friday morning.

Gallucci indicated to Ryan that Gregor will take the stand following Baden's testimony.

Gregor is charged with the murder of his son, Corey Micciolo, who died shortly after his father brought him to the emergency room at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford Township on April 2, 2021.

Gregor also is charged with endangering the welfare of a child related to an incident on March 20, 2021, in which he is seen on surveillance video from the gym in his apartment complex speeding up the treadmill on which Corey was running, causing the child to repeatedly fall off the machine face-first.

A forensic pathologist who previously testified for the state, Dr. Thomas A. Andrew,  told the jury Corey died as a result of blunt-force injuries to his chest and lacerations to his heart and liver occurring while he was in his father's care.

Gallucci told the jurors in his opening statement that Baden will tell them Corey died as a result of sepsis, likely caused by an infection such as pneumonia.

He indicated today that Gregor will likely be on the stand next Friday afternoon, after Baden finishes his testimony.

Baden, 90, was New York City's chief medical examiner from 1978 to 1979 and the host of the HBO television series "Autopsy'' for 13 seasons. He also served as chairman of the forensic pathology panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

After calling three witnesses to testify for the defense today, Gallucci indicated Baden and Gregor would be the final defense witnesses at the trial, which began April 30,

Two Barnegat police officers and a sergeant with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who previously testified for the state delivered brief testimony today.

Barnegat Patrolman Daniel Dugan and Patrolman Angel Roman, both being questioned individually by Gallucci, said they met with Corey's mother, Breanna Micciolo, on March 28, 2021, just days before Corey died, and were sent to Gregor's apartment to perform a welfare check on the child.

Both patrolmen testified that when they did, they noticed bruises on Corey's arms, legs and hip and a cut or abrasion above his eyebrow. Roman said he also saw a bruise on Corey's chest.

Gallucci asked Dugan if he observed anything suspicious, other than the bruises.

"Not between Mr. Gregor and Corey,'' Dugan responded. "They seemed to have a good relationship between each other.''

Roman testified he had seen Gregor and his son on a prior occasion on the football field at Barnegat High School.

"Gregor was throwing passes to his son on the field in the end-zone area,'' he said. 

Christine Lento, an assistant Ocean County prosecutor, asked Roman if he observed Corey suffer any injuries while playing football with his father.

"I think I saw him dive for a pass, but not appearing hurt,'' Roman responded.

Both officers testified they were required to report their observations during the welfare check to the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, but saw no need to take any other action.

Gallucci also recalled Detective Sgt. Raymond Coles of the prosecutor's high-tech crime unit to the witness stand. 

Coles testified last week for the prosecution about information he extracted from Gregor's cellular phone.

He said last week he learned that less than an hour after Corey died, Gregor searched for answers on the internet to the following questions, "Can your phone be traced in airplane mode?'' and "Can my car be tracked?''

The following day, Gregor searched for answers to what causes a rise in blood sugar in white blood cells, could internal bleeding raise your blood-sugar level, how does gastrointestinal bleeding happen and can a GI bleed be slow, Coles told the jury last week.

On April 4, 2021, Gregor sought answers on the internet to another question: "There was a murder determination from an autopsy - how long to file charges?' Coles previously testified. 

He also was on the witness stand last week when prosecutors played surveillance video from Southern Ocean Medical Center showing Gregor leaving the medical center, getting in his car and driving away less than 20 minutes after Corey was pronounced dead. 

Back on the witness stand today, being questioned by Gallucci, Coles reiterated that Gregor's phone pinged at 60,000 locations from New Jersey to the southwestern portion of Arkansas between the evening of April 2, 2021 and April 3, 2021. 

Then, the information from the phone indicated Gregor made a U-turn about 2:45 a.m. on April 3, 2021, and started heading northeast, back toward New Jersey, Coles testified. 

During cross-examination, Jamie Schron, assistant Ocean County prosecutor, asked Coles, "From the point where he was in Arkansas, he could have been in Mexico by Easter?''

Easter was on April 4 in 2021.

Gallucci objected to the question, and the judge sustained his objection, preventing the witness from answering. But by then, Schron had already made her point.

She had no further questions for the witness.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.