A Brick Township man has been convicted of orchestrating the 2019 murder of his father following a nearly five-week jury trial, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday.
Mark J. Austin, 34, was found guilty of murder and unlawful possession of a weapon in the death of his father, Mark Richard Austin, 61, who was discovered dead at his Acorn Drive home on September 7, 2019. The verdict, delivered before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, concluded that Austin arranged his father’s killing by promising payment — an aggravating factor requiring a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is scheduled for December 12, 2025.
According to investigators, Brick Township police officers responded to the Acorn Drive residence on the night of the murder and found the victim with signs of blunt force trauma. Following a joint investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit, the Brick Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, authorities determined that Austin conspired with Jeray Melton, 34, of Salem City, to carry out the killing.
Both men were arrested on September 13, 2019, and have been held in custody since. Prosecutors said Austin agreed to pay Melton in exchange for the murder. Austin was indicted on October 7, 2021, on charges of murder and weapons offenses.
Melton pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in February 2020 and is awaiting sentencing.
Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer praised the jury’s decision, calling the killing “a calculated and cold-blooded plot,” and credited multiple law enforcement agencies for their role in the investigation, including the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Brick Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Police, and the FBI.
so glad he didnt get away with this his father idiolized him its a terrible terrible thing that happened he must need a lot no one in his right mind could of done this horrible thing or could plan this unless hes got the devil inside hE WENT TO BETTER THEN USUAL schools not PUBLIC SCHOOLS HE DEFINITELY KNEW BETTER MAYBE A TO SPOILED BRAT or maybe his mom wanted him out of the house or he had to buy it ??? COULD THAT HAVE BEEN A MOTIVE ?