The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A 45-year-old Brooklyn, NY man faces life in prison after his March 3 conviction for the 2023 murder of a township man.
Jurors found Daniel Matthews guilty of 1st Degree Murder, 1st Degree Robbery, 2nd Degree Conspiracy to Disturb Human Remains, 2nd Degree Disturbing Human Remains, and two counts of 3rd Degree Hindering Apprehension after a two-week trial in Superior Court, Somerville.
Prosecutors proved that Matthews strangled 46-year-old Artis Timothy Young at Matthews’ family home in Franklin during a robbery that involved a large quantity of marijuana.
According to police Young was reported missing by his family at about 6:23 p.m. December 30, 2023. The family reported that Young was last seen on December 29.
Township police determined that Young had plans to meet with Matthews on December 29.
Early on December 30, Young’s body was found in Brooklyn by New York City police. Township detectives were contacted by NYC police after positive identification was made.
An autopsy was conducted by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled that Young’s death was caused by strangulation.
Matthews and another man, Andrew Mumby, were identified as suspects in Young’s death after the autopsy, police said.
Mumby has already plead guilty in the crime, police said.
Police said that after the murder, Matthews and Mumby transported Young’s remains in the trunk of Young’s own vehicle to the location in Brooklyn, New York where Young’s body was discovered. Surveillance video showed both men at multiple locations with the victim’s car in the 12 hours after the homicide, with Matthews often in possession of cleaning supplies for the car.
Matthews’ cellphone placed him at the scene of the killing, the disposal of the body, and the abandonment of the victim’s car, police said.
Forensics evidence was recovered placing the victim’s blood and DNA in the trunk of his car, on the floor of the garage at the Matthews’ family residence in Franklin Township, and on the sweatsuit Matthews was wearing on the surveillance video in the case, police said. Matthews’ own DNA was also found on that sweatsuit with the victim’s blood. A witness testified that the homicide occurred during a robbery connected with a large quantity of marijuana that evening.
Matthews’ sentencing is scheduled for April 25.
The investigation was conducted by the Franklin Township Police Department, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, and the New York City Police Department, with assistance from the New Jersey State Police and the FBI.
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