Matthew Hertgen, the 31-year-old man named as the preppy murder suspect after allegedly ripped out and ate his brother's eyeball before killing him, attempted to kill himself in his jail cell on Thursday, February 27.
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According to the New York Post, Hertgen tried to kill himself at the Mercer County Correction Center. Just hours before his reported suicide attempt, Hertgen appeared in court virtually, wearing an anti-suicide vest. He stood there in silence as his defense attorney and the prosecutor asked for a one-week delay. Judge Amber Gibbs agreed to their request and set Hertgen's next in-court appearance to March 6.
Matthew Hertgen was charged with murder after he allegedly killed his own brother on Saturday, February 22. According to the Post, the alleged murder took place at the Hertgen family home, which is located in Princeton and valued in millions of dollars.
Allegedly, Matthew Hertgen used a golf club and a knife to murder his brother, Joseph. Police would state that following the murder, Matthew set the family cat on fire and tore out his brother's eyeball. Officers found a bloodied fork and plate alongside Joseph's body, leading them to believe that Matthew consumed the eye after allegedly killing his brother.
Disturbing Details
Chillingly, Matthew Hertgen had posted a disturbing poem months before his brother's death. In it, he wrote that he could "see the knives sharpening." Moreover, he would write that "someone" sitting in a room with blood oozing from his eyes, getting "redden by the minute," and that he could "barely keep his eyes open."
One day before the alleged murder took place, Hertgen posted a selfie of him lying on the floor, posing alongside a cat toy. A day later, he would call 911 and report his brother's death, also stating that there was a fire in his house. He was arrested and charged then, but a motive remains unknown at the moment.
Matthew and Joseph Hertgen both studied at Toms River North High School, becoming soccer players in separate college teams. Joseph's obituary describes him as a kind person, beloved by his entire family.
"He played on many sports teams, loved traveling with his friends, and always enjoyed a good game of ping pong or chess," the obituary reads. "He was such a kind person, had a great love of life and his smile brightened every room."
Send her to court, then Prison for a minimum of 20 years, each count.