Man Who Pushed Raritan Woman To Her Death Sentenced

RARITAN, NJ — A Piscataway man was sentenced to 66 and a half years in a New Jersey state prison for the murder of a beloved 31-year-old Raritan woman by throwing her out of a third floor window on Halloween Night in 2016, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey announced.

Christopher Koller, 41, was sentenced Thursday in New Brunswick Superior Court for the murder of Beth Bezek following an altercation.

Koller received a 60-year prison term for the count of murder which is subject to the No Early Release Act where he must serve 85 percent of the term, or 51 years, before he can be released on parole. If parole is granted, Koller will be placed on five years of parole supervision.

Koller also received a sentence of 18 months for hindering his own prosecution, in addition to a five-year sentence for the possession and distribution of a controlled and dangerous substance (cocaine). These two prison terms are to run consecutive to each other, and consecutive to the 60-year prison term and to his Violation of Probation out of Somerset County.

Koller was found guilty by a jury on March 27. (See Related: Piscataway Man Found Guilty Of Raritan Woman's Murder)

Bezek, a Bridgewater-Raritan High School graduate, was visiting Koller at his Pond Lane home in Piscataway when he threw her out of his third floor window, according to evidence presented at the trial.

Bezek died from a severe blunt impact trauma to her head caused from the fall on Nov. 1, according to Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Lamountain and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Arabelys Santos.

Koller then left his home and drove to New Brunswick where he made an anonymous 911 call from a pay phone saying a girl was lying injured on Pond Lane. Police found Bezek lying dead outside his home at 1:04 a.m., according to the report.

Koller was charged following an investigation by Detective Joseph Reilly of the Piscataway Police Department and Detective David Abromaitis of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

• See Related: Body Found of N.J. Woman Known For 'Contagious Smile,' Who Made Others 'Rock'

(Image provided: Beth Bezek)

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