Latest news with #JenniferSellitti
The Independent
05-08-2025
- The Independent
Shipwreck explorer Joe Mazraani dies on deep-sea dive to find lost Atlantic steamer
A respected scuba diver and shipwreck explorer died after a 'medical emergency' during a deep-sea expedition off the coast of Cape Cod. Joe Mazraani, a 48-year-old criminal defense attorney from New Jersey, was exploring a wreck 200 miles off the Massachusetts coast aboard his vessel, the D/V Tenacious, when disaster struck last Tuesday on the eastern edge of Georges Bank. The dive team was able to pull Mazraani back on board the boat before administering CPR, but were unable to revive him, his wife Jennifer Sellitti said in a statement on behalf of their company Atlantic Wreck Salvage. Mazraani's cause of death was not immediately clear. Sellitti, a top New Jersey public defender, said that a full investigation is underway and there is currently 'no reason to suspect diver error or equipment failure.' Mazraani had set out to identify a lost Atlantic steam ship submerged in 200ft of water called the 'Big Engine Steamer.' The wreck had been discovered previously during a search for Le Lyonnais, a French steam ship that sank in 1856, whose story was documented by Sellitti's recently published book The Adriatic Affair. Sellitti was reportedly on the boat when her husband died. 'He was kind, compassionate, and generous. A mentor and a student, a friend, brother, son, and partner,' she wrote. 'Whether motoring aboard D/V Tenacious, diving into deep and dangerous water, or defending his clients in court, Joe demanded the best of everyone around him.' 'I loved Joe fiercely, and he loved me back just the same. We were partners in everything—especially this,' Sellitti concluded. The New Jersey State Office of the Public Defender paid tribute on Instagram, mourning the loss of the 'cherished member of the legal and diving communities' alongside a photograph of Mazraani and Sellitti. After becoming a certified diver in the mid-90s, the Lebanese native had led dives to some of the hardest-to-reach wrecks on the Atlantic seaboard. The explorer used the DV Tenacious to locate several lost vessels in the North Atlantic, including the German submarine U-550, which was sunk off the coast of Nantucket in 1944 by U.S. Navy battleships. Mazraani also led expeditions to the SS Andrea Doria, RMS Lusitania, and HMHS Britannic, the sister-ship to the Titanic. Both Mazraania and Sellitti are U.S. Coast Guard licensed captains, according to their company's website. In his legal career, Mazraani co-founded the law firm Mazraani & Liguori LLP in 2006 after graduating from Seton Hall Law School in Newark. Mazraani helped free Timothy Puskas in 2024, who had served 10 years of a 40-year sentence when he was exonerated after being wrongly convicted for the 2014 murder of former Rutgers University student William McCaw.
Daily Mail
05-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Husband of top lawyer, 47, suddenly dies during deep-dive expedition to shipwreck in Cape Cod
The husband of a top New Jersey lawyer has tragically died during a deep-dive expedition to a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod. Joe Mazraani had successfully conducted countless dives in his work as president of Atlantic Wreck Salvage. On July 29, he was diving with a group from his boat Tenacious when he reportedly suffered a medical emergency. He was hauled back onto the boat and other divers attempted to perform life-saving measures, but he could not be revived. Mazraani's wife, New Jersey Public Defender Jennifer Sellitti, said 'all indications point to a medical emergency.' 'While we are choosing to keep the details private, we currently have no reason to suspect diver error or equipment failure,' she said. The group had been exploring an unidentified shipwreck referred to as 'The Big Engine Steamer' at the time of the tragedy. It was brought back in to New Bedford, Massachusetts the following morning. State and local police, as well as the US Coast Guard, are investigating the circumstances of Mazraani's death. The well-known maritime historian and technical diver had been a scuba diver since the mid 1990s and had cut his teeth wreck-diving off the coasts of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. He was also a criminal defense lawyer. 'Joe Mazraani was larger than life,' his partner said in a moving tribute. 'He was kind, compassionate and generous. A mentor and a student, a friend, brother, son and partner. 'Whether motoring aboard D/V Tenacious, diving into deep and dangerous water, or defending his clients in court, Joe demanded the best of everyone around him. Sometimes he demanded it grumpily – but he always demanded by example. 'He lived every moment fully, without compromise. He did not want to die doing what he loved – none of us do. 'He wanted to survive it, to grow old doing it. But when you live at the edge, sometimes the edge pushes back.' The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender paid tribute to Mazraani in a Facebook post on August 1, writing: 'With deep sadness, we share the loss of Joe Mazraani, beloved partner of Public Defender Sellitti and a cherished member of the legal and diving communities. 'Joe passed on July 29 in a diving-related incident, believed to be caused by a medical emergency.
