MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN CYBER SLAY CASE
An East Windsor man pleaded guilty today to aggravated manslaughter in the
1996 killing of a man he met through a sex “chat room” on the Internet,
Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto announced.
George
“Chip” Hemenway (DOB 1/16/57), of the first block of Jeffrey Lane, had been
indicted on murder and weapons offenses in the Jan. 4, 1996 death of Jesse M.
Unger, 38, of Mark Twain Drive in Hamilton.
The
plea agreement does not mandate a specific sentence. As a result, Hemenway faces
15 to 30 years in prison. Assistant Prosecutor Brian C.
McCauley, who prosecuted
Hemenway, will seek the maximum 30-year term when Hemenway is sentenced,
Giaquinto said.
“We
believe that this plea agreement is the appropriate resolution of the case. We
have discussed this plea with Mr. Unger’s family and they concur,” Giaquinto
said.
Unger,
whom Hemenway allegedly lured to the basement of his East Windsor home, was shot
in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. During his bail hearing, it was disclosed
that Hemenway confessed to police who had videotaped the statement. Hemenway was
allegedly angry with Unger over Unger’s alleged mistreatment of a male
juvenile.
Hemenway
was also indicted on charges that he tampered with physical evidence by trying
to dispose of the corpse and for trying to hide the victim’s van and by filing
a false police report that implicated another person in the crime.
Two
others, Michelle R. Benson (DOB 3/12/71), of the 400 block of Hudson Street,
Trenton, and Timothy Brown (DOB 7/15/72), of Westlake Avenue, Hightstown, were
also indicted on charges of tampering with evidence for trying to help Hemenway
dispose of the body.
According
to police, Benson and Brown also met Hemenway and Unger through the same “chat
room” they all had accessed using the Internet provider, America Online, a
commercial computer service that connects users to a network through their phone
lines.
Benson
and Brown were accused of helping Hemenway cover Unger’s corpse with lime and
wrap it in a tarp. The trio had tried to carry the body upstairs but found it to
heavy and left it in the basement.
While
Hemenway asked the pair to come to his home to help him with a task, he did not
tell them in advance what he had wanted them to do and it was Benson who later
called police and reported seeing a body in Hemenway’s basement.
Benson pleaded guilty to the fourth-degree offense of tampering with physical evidence on Nov. 9, 1996, while Brown pleaded guilty to the same charge on Dec. 12, 1996. Under the terms of their plea agreements, both Benson and Brown would receive probation, provided they gave truthful testimony against Hemenway during his expected trial. Now that Hemenway has pleaded guilty, Benson and Brown will receive probationary terms.