The woman who claimed her boyfriend viciously burned and left her to die during a camping trip in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey made the story up, authorities said.
Chelsea M. Villano, 33, of Eatontown, NJ, now faces two counts of falsely incriminating another person, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The bizarre case began Oct. 15, when Plumsted Township emergency responders raced to the Pine Barrens after receiving a 911 call reporting a woman had been burned and abandoned at a campsite.
They found Villano burned and suffering from smoke inhalation, according to Patch.com. She was intubated and flown by helicopter to Temple University Burn Center in Philadelphia, where she was treated and released days later.
“Her injuries were more consistent with a blowback of fire,” Assistant Ocean County prosecutor Mara Brater said authorities were told, reported Patch.com.
“Had she actually been submerged or [had fire] blown in her face intentionally, her injuries would have been much more severe.”
Villano told detectives that her boyfriend, Justin D. Martin, 36, splashed her with alcohol, then “tried to kill her and put her in a fire,” while they were camping with another man before fleeing in a Chrysler 200, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Martin was arrested on Oct. 16 and charged with attempted murder and aggravated arson.
Three days later, Brater appeared before a Superior Court judge and asked that Martin be released, saying, “It was learned today that there are recorded statements of the victim indicating that this defendant didn’t have anything to do with the assault on her.”
On Oct. 23, the charges against Martin were dismissed.
Villano was released from the Ocean County Jail on Oct. 28, the prosecutor’s office told The Post.
The Pine Barrens are infamous as a mob burial ground, inspiring the famous episode of The Sopranos with the same name, along with the mythical creature, the Jersey Devil.
