SAVAGE SLAY
Son sliced mom’s throat, bagged body: sources
A 22-year-old man slashed his mother’s throat inside their Tribeca apartment, then toted her body to a suburban New Jersey home where she was found stuffed inside a garbage bag, police sources said Wednesday.
Investigators believe Jared Eng dumped the lifeless remains of mom Paula Chin at the family’s second residence in ritzy Morristown, N.J., located on a wooded lot off a two-lane road.
NYPD investigators were scouring the 65-year-old victim’s car and her downtown apartment for evidence in the shocking disappearance and death.
The killing followed an argument over money, sources said, although there were possibly other motives for the horrific slaying in a family that appeared almost perfect from the outside.
“I just feel bad because I know Jared from a kid,” said Robert Jones, a maintenance man at a neighboring Tribeca building. “They’re like family to me. … . It shocks me that he would do something like this.”
Eng was arrested along with his girlfriend, 21-year-old college student Caitlyn O’Rourke, and 18-year-old Jennifer Lopez. No charges were immediately filed in the killing, with Eng and the others instead accused of concealing a corpse.
The New York City medical examiner will perform an autopsy on Chin because Manhattan prosecutors “have strong evidence she was murdered there,” said Aja WorthyDavis, spokeswoman for the ME’s office.
The Morris County (N.J.) medical examiner will transport the victim’s body to Manhattan, reversing the 35-mile path that police believe the killer took after slicing open Paula Chin’s throat.
Eng and the others were busted in Lower Manhattan after his mother’s body was discovered at the secluded suburban residence in the upscale Jersey town.
He denied killing Chin as he was led from the 1st Precinct stationhouse Wednesday night. “No, I didn’t. I love her very much. She gave me everything,” he said.
O’Rourke and Lopez said nothing as they were led from the precinct.
Police say the victim was reported missing by concerned family members Monday. The last time anyone had seen her was last Thursday at the home on Vestry St. in Tribeca, cops said.
O’Rourke’s brother said Wednesday he believed Eng was dating his sister but knew nothing about the arrests. Facebook photos from last year indicated the two were romantically linked.
“This is the first I’ve heard about this,” the brother said. “I haven’t even talked with my sister, she’s at college.”
Both O’Rourke and Eng go to SUNY New Paltz, according to their Facebook pages.