Man Found Guilty in Bludgeoning Murder of Kean University Student

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - A New Brunswick man — already out on bail for striking and killing a bicyclist with his car — was found guilty Tuesday of beating a Kean University student to death with a crow bar in a random attack nearly three years ago.

The Kean University student, William "Billy" McCaw, 22, of Gallatin, Tenn., was walking back to a friend's house from a Rutgers fraternity party at 3 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2014. That's when he encountered Timothy Puskas, 41, prosecutors said. McCaw had been a student at Rutgers, but had just recently transferred to Kean before he was murdered. Puskas was neither a Rutgers nor a Kean student.

McCaw was walking through the backyard of a home on Hartwell Street when Puskas approached him from behind, severely beat him with a blunt object, reportedly a crow bar, and fled, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said.

The attack that night was totally random, Prosecutor Carey said.

Investigators determined that Puskas was angry, believing his roommates and friends had been stealing from him. He took out his aggression on McCaw, who had no connection to Puskas or his roommates, prosecutors said.

Hours passed before a neighbor saw McCaw's body lying in the snow and called police. The 22-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

“There is no justifying such a brutal and senseless murder,” Prosecutor Carey said. “However, I hope that the guilty verdict gives Billy’s family and friends some sense of closure and peace.”

The trial began on October 26 of last year and the jury deliberated for about 14 hours over six days before finding Puskas guilty Tuesday.

At the time of the homicide, Puskas was free on bail he posted after he was charged in 2012 with committing a vehicular homicide by striking a bicyclist in New Brunswick. Puskas was sentenced to a seven-year prison term in September 2016 after he pleaded guilty to a count of reckless manslaughter in that incident.

He will now be sentenced to 30 years to life for the McCaw murder.

He was also charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and hindering his apprehension by lying to police.