Episode Details

11:16 pm Saturday night.  Princeton Police answer a 911 call about a dead body and a fire in an apartment building. The caller remains cryptic on the phone, not answering the dispatcher's questions about who is dead, why they are dead, who owns the apartment, and more. Police and first responders surround the building, but nothing could have prepared officers for what they found inside.   

Matthew Hertgen, 31,  answers the door for cops, who immediately see a bloody, unresponsive young man with clear blunt force and laceration injuries to his entire body. The young man is pronounced dead on the scene. Investigators note one of his eyes is ripped out and there’s a bloody plate, fork, and knife not far from his body. In addition to the knife, officers find a bloody golf club in the apartment, and what looks like the charred remains of a cat. The victim is identified as  26-year-old Joseph Hertgen.   

Matthew Hertgen is immediately arrested for the murder of younger brother Joseph. The discovery of the bloody plate leads officers to believe in addition to beating Joseph to death, Hertgen ate Joseph’s eye. Princeton PD has not revealed any potential motive for the gruesome attack on his brother and the family cat. Hertgen is additionally charged with animal cruelty, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.   

The Princeton community is shocked by the horrifying crime, calling the loss of Joseph devastating and incredibly tragic. A police source says no one could have predicted that something like this would happen. Matthew Hertgen comes from what appears to be a perfect, all-American family, with no indication he was capable of this level of brutality, much less against his own family.  

Joining Nancy Grace today:

• Sam Bassett - Criminal Defense Attorney at Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey, Former President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Educational Institute, Long-Time Faculty member of the Texas Criminal Trial College (Huntsville, TX),  MBFC.com, Facebook: MintonBassett, Instagram: @MBFC_Law
• Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski - Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides", darksides.podia.com,   YouTube: "Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski, Forensic Psychologist",
• Fil Waters - Former homicide detective for the Houston police department, President & CEO of Kindred spirits Investigations & Security, Inc., kindredspiritsinvestigations.com
• Dr. Jan Gorniak  -  Former Medical Examiner, Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (Las Vegas, NV), Board Certified Forensic Pathologist
• Karen Wall - Senior Local Editor at Patch Media, covering the Jersey Shore region, Website: patch.com, Twitter: @karenwall1966, Facebook: karen.e.wall, 

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