Survivor says machete attack, sex assault preceded Newark, NJ, schoolyard shootings

Witness: Machete used in NJ schoolyard killings

NEWARK, N.J. — A witness says a machete attack and a sexual assault preceded the execution-style shooting of three of her friends in a New Jersey schoolyard in 2007.

Details of the brutal attack emerged from testimony of a fourth victim who survived. The woman, who was 19 at the time, is not being identified by The Associated Press because of sexual assault charges against two of the six defendants.

Thursday’s testimony was the first time she has spoken publicly about what happened. She has been testifying at the trial of the first of six defendants charged with the triple murder, Rodolfo Godinez (goh-DEE’-nez).

She has described how the four friends were set upon by a group of six men and described being slashed with a machete, then hearing gunshots.