Tragic Loss: The Murder of a Toms River Native

Tragic Loss: The Murder of a Toms River Native

Over the past year, a man who is accused of killing his brother in a Princeton apartment over the weekend posted some heartfelt poems about suffering and loneliness on social media.

According to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, Matthew Hertgen, 31, has been charged with murder in connection with the Saturday night murder of Joseph Hertgen, 26 at an apartment at Michelle Mews, off Paul Robeson Place close to Palmer Square.

Authorities said that after Matthew Hertgen called 911 to report a fire and a dead body inside the apartment on Saturday night, they discovered Joseph Hertgen dead along with a cat.

According to the prosecutor's office, Joseph Hentgen's body had lacerations and evidence of blunt force trauma, and investigators discovered a knife and a golf club. Officials said an autopsy was still being conducted to determine the cause of death.

Also, animal cruelty charge was brought after the cat's death in the apartment as well.

According to internet searches, the brothers, who grew up in Toms River with an older brother, seem to have shared the apartment; they both currently reside at the same apartment complex.

Both brothers played soccer at Toms River North, where they graduated in 2011 and 2016, respectively. They both went on to play soccer in college, Joseph at the University of Michigan and Matthew at Wesleyan.

When they were in eighth grade, a friend who knew both Matthew and Joseph recalled playing soccer and being in a band with Matthew.

"His parents were consistently very kind. The man wrote, "They just lost two sons, and I'm so sorry."

According to Joseph Hertgen's biography on soccer at the University of Michigan, he placed on the New Jersey Central II All-State team, made the Shore Conference First Team in the A South division, and won MVP and Offensive Player of the Year for his final season at Toms River North. He received academic honors while on the team, but injuries hindered his collegiate career.

In 2019, he was seen laughing and smiling with a teammate in a tweet from the Michigan men's soccer team account.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Joseph had been employed at Locust Point Capital since December 2023 as an analyst. After earning a degree in finance from Michigan, he had worked in Dallas.

The Wesleyan University men's soccer website's biography of Matthew Hertgen is lacking in biographical details and does not specify his major during his time there. There isn't much information available online about his activities since college.

He has happy pictures from his college days on his Facebook timeline. However, the last two years have seen only sporadic posts on Matthew's timeline, including two untitled poems that discuss heartbreak, loss, and the inability to escape the source of the pain.

Anyone with potential case information was asked to contact the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force Sgt. Will Jett at 609-331-5010 or Detective Karl Johnston at 609-439-5248.