Michelle Lodzinski trial moved to January

• Jury selection will begin Jan. 12, 2016 for Michelle Lodzinski's murder trial
• Lodzinski is accused of killing her 5-year-old son in the early 1990s
• Lodzinski is being held at the county jail on $2 million bail

NEW BRUNSWICK – The trial for Michelle Lodzinski, the former South Amboy woman accused of killing her 5-year-old son Timothy Wiltsey more than 20 years ago, is now set to begin in January.

During a scheduling conference Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves here, a Jan. 12, 2016 trial date was set.

Nieves anticipates jury selection will take five days and the trial is expected to last two months. The new January trial date replaces the original October 27 trial date.

Nieves said he trying to move the case along pending the motions before the court.

Lodzinski, dressed in green prison clothing, said nothing during the scheduling conference.

Although the trial won't begin until the new year, aspects of the case will get underway next month. Nieves set a Sept. 23 date to hear a motion from Lodzinski's attorney, Gerald Krovatin, to dismiss the indictment against his client, in part because of the length of time it took to bring the indictment.

Timothy Wiltsey's murder, one of Middlesex County's oldest unsolved cases, dates back to the early 1990s.

Last year Lodzinski was charged with the murder of her young son, a kindergarten student who reportedly disappeared from a Sayreville carnival on May 25, 1991.

Some of his remains were found in April 1992 in Raritan Center in Edison, an area where Lodzinski once worked.

Lodzinski, a single mother of two teenage sons and a former South Amboy resident, was living in Florida last year when she was indicted on the murder charge by a Middlesex County grand jury.

She was arrested in Florida on Aug. 6, 2014 on what would have been Wiltsey's 29th birthday. Lodzinski has long been considered a possible suspect in her son's disappearance and death, was brought back to New Jersey last fall. Krovatin, entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Lodzinski, 47, has been housed at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick since her arrest. Her bail was set at $2 million.

Nieves said the state alleges Lodzinski made a number of contradictory statements to police when the case began. Some of those statements were tape recorded. Provided the motion to dismiss the murder indictment is not granted, those statements are scheduled to be reviewed starting Sept. 24.

Assistant Prosecutor Scott LaMountain has previously said the state plans to introduce nine oral and written statements from Lodzinski. Some of the statements were on cassette tapes while others are in police reports.

The oral statements have been converted onto newer technology and cleaned up. Part of the motion will also deal with whether the statements are clearly audible.

Other motions are scheduled to be heard in October.

Last fall the Prosecutor's Office revealed that a blanket was recovered with Timothy's remains. Lodzinski told police at that time that she did not recognize it, but during a 2011 cold-case review, a relative and babysitter said they did.

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com