Susp held in killing of N.J. hunter

A New Jersey man accused of beating and stabbing a hunter to death at a campsite in the southern part of the state has been caught in Pennsylvania after a massive manhunt, authorities said.

Shawn Massey, 38, was spotted in Bensalem, Pa., around 4 p.m. Tuesday — about 30 miles from the Berlin, N.J., campsite where hunter Joseph Bottino, 54, was found riddled with stab wounds and blunt impact injuries.

A Bensalem police officer recognized Massey from his wanted poster and took him into custody. He is expected to be extradited back to New Jersey in the coming days, said authorities.

Police had been searching for Massey since Dec. 23, after Bottino’s body was discovered on the edge of a forest on Watsontown-New Freedom Road, about 15 miles southeast of Camden, an area on the western side of the Pine Barrens.

Massey was immediately identified as a suspect in the hunter’s death, but when police went to question him, his relatives said they hadn’t heard from him since the gruesome discovery.

Massey was formally charged with murder last Saturday despite still being on the lam.

Officials said Massey suffered from mental health issues and had been “aggressive” in the past. He was released from the state prison at Fort Dix in March 2020 after serving 20 months on assault charges.

Bottino left behind a wife, a son and a daughter. Friends posted a fundraiser for the family’s expenses online, describing the Bottinos as “exceptionally kind and unfathomably strong.”