Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on October 2, 2025, Mark J. Austin, 34, of Brick Township, was found guilty of Murder in connection with the death of his father, Mark Richard Austin, also of Brick Township, at his home on September 7, 2019, following a nearly five-week-long jury trial before the Honorable Guy P. Ryan, P.J.Cr.P. In rendering its verdict, the jury concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Austin procured the commission of his father’s murder by payment or promise of payment of anything of monetary value – an aggravating factor which requires that Austin be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole eligibility. The jury also found Austin guilty of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. Austin is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ryan on December 12, 2025.
On Saturday, September 7, 2019, Officers from the Brick Township Police Department were summoned to a residence on Acorn Drive and discovered the victim’s lifeless body with apparent blunt force trauma. Following a thorough and extensive investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit, Brick Township Police Department Detective Bureau, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, it was determined that Austin and Jeray Melton 34, of Salem City, had conspired to kill the victim. Mark J. Austin and Jeray Melton were charged accordingly and taken into custody on September 13, 2019, and have been incarcerated since that date.
Subsequent investigation determined that Austin agreed to pay Melton in exchange for killing his father. On October 7, 2021, Austin was indicted by a grand jury sitting in Ocean County on the charges of Murder, Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon.
On February 25, 2020, Melton pled guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter before Judge Ryan and is pending sentencing.
“Justice was served today. This defendant orchestrated a calculated and cold-blooded plot to take the life of another human being – his own father,” Prosecutor Billhimer stated. “We are grateful to the jury for arriving at the truth and holding Austin accountable for his actions. And we are hopeful this verdict delivers a level of peace and justice to the loved ones of Mark Richard Austin,” Prosecutor Billhimer concluded.
Prosecutor Billhimer applauds the outstanding efforts of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Mara Brater and Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Meghan O’Neill, who ably and skillfully tried the case on behalf of the State. The Prosecutor likewise extends his gratitude to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Squad, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crime Squad, Brick Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Brick Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, Salem City Police Department, New Jersey State Police Major Crime Unit, New Jersey State Police TEAMS Unit, New Jersey Department of Corrections, Port Authority Police of New York and New Jersey, Manchester Township Police Department, Millville Police Department, Bayonne Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for their collective and cooperative efforts in connection with this investigation – leading to today’s guilty verdicts.