Princeton, New Jersey, known as a high school star student, he is currently accused Kill his brother The cat from the “Madness Fit” family is scheduled to appear in court on Monday afternoon.
Matthew Hertgen, 31 years old He was accused of murder His 26-year-old brother, Joseph Hartgen, is said to be a knife and a golf club at his family's Princeton apartment. He is also charged with animal cruelty related to the death of a cat.
Monday's hearing in Mercer County Superior Court is a pre-announcement meeting and, according to the court, is a procedural hearing that is likely not lasting.
Earlier this month, Hertgen agreed to be detained before trial. That is, the prosecutors did not need to provide evidence to prove he should be detained in prison before trial.
Princeton Preppy Murder Victim received warning text from other brother time before killing
Matthew Hertgen will appear at a pre-trial detention hearing at Mercer County Criminal Court in Trenton on Thursday, March 6, 2025. Hertgen has been accused of killing his younger brother, Joseph Hertgen in February. (Fox News Digital's Stephanie Keith)
Princeton police initially reported a fire and his brother's body at the Michelle Muse Apartment complex on February 22, 911 calls from Matthew at about 11:16pm.
When the dispatcher asked Matthew how his brother was injured, he said, “I'm not going to go into more details now.”
That night, when police arrived at the grizzly scene, they found Matthew in the residence along with his brother's body. He suffered a serious head injury. Police also found a full set of blood with tools and plates “bloody”;
Princeton Preppy murder suspect's parents are no show of court appearance of the son of the accused murderer
Photos from Joseph and Matthew Hartgen's High School Yearbook
Investigators also found a dead Ottoman cat that appeared to have been partially burned.
While interviewing Matthew, who apparently had his hand cut, he told police he “gotten like maybe 40 minutes ago.”
Princeton Preppy Murder Savage Timeline May Strengthen Madness Defense for Suspicious Brothers: Experts
February 26th, 2025, Princeton's Michelle Muse Housing Complex. Matthew Hartgen is said to have killed his brother Joseph inside their apartment. (Kevin Downs from Fox News Digital)
The murder detective also interviewed Matthew's other surviving brothers. He told police the 31-year-old suspect had been suffering from mental health issues for about five years.
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According to court documents, the brothers had seen Matthew while experiencing depression episodes and “terrifying visions” while experiencing depression episodes and “terrifying visions.”
The Princeton man is said to have killed a former star athlete brother, cat before sharing a creepy poem on social media
Hartgen appeared in court on March 6 for a detention hearing, according to David Germain Law's CEO and former New Jersey prosecutor David Germain.
David Hertgen, left, Debra Hartgen and David Hartgen Jr. will be attending Joseph Hartgen's funeral at St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church on March 1, 2025, on the Toms River, New Jersey. (Fox News Digital's Stephanie Keith)
However, during the hearing, no evidence was presented as Hartgen agreed to pretrial detention. This means that the prosecutors did not need to provide evidence to prove why they should be detained in prison before trial.
None of Hartgen's family members were in court for the hearing. He is scheduled to return to court on March 24th.
A photo from the 2011 Toms River North High School Yearbook shows Matthew Hertgen playing football for his school team. (Retrieved by Fox News Digital)
“That's very disturbing. We don't see much murder like this,” Germain told Fox News Digital. “You know it's very personal. …I'm a prosecutor, I've dealt with a lot of murders…and as a defense attorney, I deal with murders too. And you're really scary, graphic, of these types. A violent crime…I feel that this individual definitely has some kind of mental illness. ”
The Princeton man was accused of killing a former star athlete brother, a golf club cat and a knife near an Ivy League school
Germain, who is not involved in the case, said he would request a mental health assessment from the suspect.
Senior photo of Joseph Hartgen in the 2016 Toms River North High School Yearbook (Retrieved by Fox News Digital)
Joseph Hertgen has been declared dead at the scene, and the results of his autopsy are pending. Local and state officials are investigating the death of the 26-year-old as a murder.
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Matthew Hertgen and his brothers have left. The 31-year-old is accused of killing his younger brother, Joseph.
Joseph and Matthew Hartgen were high school and college star soccer players. They were both athletes at Toms River High School, and Matthew continued his studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Joseph Hertgen was hired to play football at the University of Michigan.
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“If that's the case [the] Defence counsel, I wouldn't fight that. I'll say, what do you know? I think there are mental issues,” Germain said.
The office of public defense attorneys representing Hertgen told Fox News Digital that the attorney had not commented on the pending case.
