The Princeton soccer star accused of savagely killing his younger brother and eating his eyeball made his first court appearance.
Matthew Hertgen, 31, looked dazed as he sat through his first appearance virtually on Thursday morning at Mercer County Court.
He faces charges of first-degree murder, weapon-related offenses, and animal cruelty for the murder of his brother Joseph Hertgen, 26, and the killing of their family cat by setting it on fire on Saturday night.
Matthew, wearing a blue anti-suicide garment, appeared bewildered and remained silent during the entire 20-minute court session. His brown hair was messy, and his long beard was unkept.
During the hearing, his lawyer Jason Matey requested a one-week postponement to allow time for preparation and review of the evidence. Assistant Prosecutor Tim McCann also supported this request.
Judge Amber Gibbs said the three -day statutory adjournment will adjourn to next week on Thursday, March 6 at 11am.
Matey asked McCann to turn over any additional discovery so he can review before he meets with Matthew on Tuesday ahead of the hearing.
Before the session adjourned, Maddy told his client; ‘Matt I will see you Tuesday, March 4th. You can leave the booth.’
If convicted, Matthew faces 30 years to life behind bars.
Police believe he ripped out his younger sibling’s eyeball and ate it, as a bloody knife, plate and fork were discovered near Joseph at the scene, a source told the New York Post.
Princeton Police responded to a 911 call reporting that there was a fire and a dead body within one of the residences inside the Michelle Mews Apartments, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
When officers responded to the scene, they found Matthew, who had called 911, in the residence along with the beaten and cut up body of the victim and a dead cat.
DailyMail.com learned that Matthew – who attended the ritzy private college Wesleyan University – had schizophrenia and was in and out of mental hospitals prior to his brother’s murder.
Police believe Matthew used a knife and a golf club to brutally assault and murder his brother, who worked as a banker after graduating from the University of Michigan.
On Wednesday, two men from Servpro Cleaning Company made three trips from apartment 621 carrying different contents from inside.
As they loaded the items into the truck a DailyMail.com reporter approached to inquire if they were cleaning apartment 621. They did not respond, but when asked to nod if it was the right apartment, a man did so before driving off.
The two man crew was there for about four hours on Wednesday and spent several hours there on Tuesday as well.
A woman who lives in the building said that building management sent a letter out on Monday morning regarding the tragedy but little was shared.
‘They didn’t give any details or give any people’s names and then shortly after you see all the articles that came out. It is terrible,’ said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
She said that she never saw any of the family members but said that the apartment would be too small to have four people living in that unit.
Another woman, who has been living in Princeton for more than 40 years said she heard about the crime and called it ‘unbelievable.’
Recalling the age of the older brother, who is 31, the woman added: ‘t’s a typical age for mental illness to emerge between 23 and 33. It’s just textbook for men and women.’
One couple, who lives nearby Michelle Mews said they were ’shocked’ about the gruesome crime.
‘It wasn’t very Princeton-ey,’ said the husband. The wife chimed in, ‘Oh Lord. That brother had some much rage. I want to know what the motive was.’
A realtor for the area told DailyMail.com that the apartment the brothers were living in was a rental.
The monthly rate is between $6,000-7,000 a month. He said he believes the apartment was in the mother’s name and they have had it for a while.
The Hertgen brothers were raised in the quaint coastal town of Toms River by their multi-millionaire tech mogul father David and mom Debra.
Their father, David Hertgen, is the president and CFO of business internet provider WiLine Networks, according to his LinkedIn.
They also have a third brother, David Jr., who works for their father’s company. He lives in a Greenwich Village apartment in New York City.
DailyMail.com went to the corporate headquarters of WiLine Networks on Tuesday night but the offices were closed. Someone in the building said that there is usually one to two people at the office until 9pm but the offices closed early.
When contacted by DailyMail.com, the brothers’ father David and older sibling David Jr. did not respond.
The affluent brothers grew up in a four-bed, three-bath mansion in Toms River, New Jersey, which was kitted out with a swimming pool in the backyard.
Online records show the home, which is worth an estimated $1.2 million, was sold in 2018. According to records the parents were living in the unit since 2018 which coincides with the selling of their mansion that same year.
David is a registered Democrat, but in 2023, he donated $1,000 to West Virginia Republican senate candidate Alex Mooney, records show.
This is a breaking news story.
