HACKENSACK, N.J. — Maybe it was just the look on his face.
Friends and relatives of the victims expressed little conso-lation at watching a seemingly unfazed Joseph Mathai Pal-lipurath brought to court Friday in Paterson, N.J., on charges of killing two and critically wounding another at a Clifton, N.J., church.
“I didn’t see any remorse in his face,” said Jimmy Alum-moottil, of Stockholm, N.J., the uncle of Dennis John Mal-loosseril, one of the dead.
“It was disappointing. He was standing there like he had a victory, already,” he said.
“His head was held high. He was so calm and collected, as if he didn’t do anything,” added Sajan Idicula, of Lake Hopat-cong, N.J., a friend of Malloosseril.
Pallipurath pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in state court on two counts of murder, one count of attempted mur-der, one count of unlawful possession of a handgun and one count of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose. He is accused of shooting his estranged wife, 24-year-old Reshma James, and two bystanders at point-blank range two weeks ago. James and Malloosseril, 25, of Hawthorne, died. Silvy Perincheril, 47, of Hawthorne, remains in a medically in-duced coma at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Pater-son after receiving a head wound.
The defendant appeared unemotional and spoke loudly and clearly when answering several routine questions from state Superior Court Assignment Judge Donald Volkert Jr. The judge granted a request by John Latoracca, Passaic County, N.J., chief assistant prosecutor, to raise Pallipurath’s bail from $2 million to $5 million. Latoracca noted the defen-dant has no ties to New Jersey, has relatives in both Califor-nia and India, and visited India as recently as six months ago. Between that and the seriousness of the charges, the risk of flight was great, he said.
“This is an exceedingly strong case for the state,” he told the judge before a courtroom filled with about 30 victims’ relatives and congregants of St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox Knanaya Church.
The judge also agreed to hold a hearing in about a week so that defense attorney Moses V. Rambarran of Hackensack, N.J., can try to argue that bail down. Rambarran said he had only recently taken on the case, and only met with his client at about 5 a.m. Friday. He said he hadn’t even seen a copy of the criminal complaints until Friday’s arraignment proceed-ings.
“We will focus on the facts of the case, and only that,” the defense attorney said outside the courthouse after the hear-ing, attended by a large contingent of media.
Latoracca said outside the court that Pallipurath was born in India and came to the United States as a teen. He said he does not know much about relatives in Sacramento, Calif., and India. “I don’t think they have the means to post a $2 million bond, but it wasn’t a chance we wanted to take,” he said in explaining his request to raise bail to $5 million, cash only. “I just think he’s an inordinate flight risk.”
The case now awaits grand jury action. If an indictment is returned, Latoracca said, it should be within three to four months.
During the 20-minute arraignment, parishioners grimaced and lowered their heads. Many searched for a view of Pal-lipurath as he stood quietly by his lawyer’s side. “It’s horrible to see,” said Sahn Idicula, a member of the Clifton church where the shootings took place. “This guy, he didn’t have any remorse in his face.”
“He deserves what the judge gives him,” said Mohan Pun-noose, 48, a parishioner from Montville, N.J., who sat with his wife in the courtroom. Church clergy sent out e-mails to pa-rishioners encouraging them to attend the arraignment.
“It’s anxiety-provoking,” said Jacob Perincheril, 22, the eldest son of the wounded Silvy Perincheril, during the ar-raignment. “I’ve never been in a situation like this.”
The younger Perincheril attended on behalf of his father, Cherian, who remained at the hospital, where his wife is still in the intensive care unit. On Friday morning, doctors ran a CT scan of her brain, her family said.
Last week, James’ body was flown back to India, where her parents and 19-year-old brother live in the southern state of Kerala. They held her funeral Tuesday, according to rela-tives. James’s parents last saw her in the summer, when James and Pallipurath traveled to Kerala to receive counsel-ing for their troubled marriage, said Tom Joseph, 26, a cousin living in India.
Parishioners are trying to reconstruct their lives after the traumatic event. Jacob Perincheril’s two younger brothers recently returned to classes at Penn State and Rutgers Uni-versity after days spent camped out by their mother’s bed-side.
“We need some closure,” Jacob Perincheril said after the arraignment. “My mother needs it. Reshma’s family needs it. We all do.”
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