Man Gets 40 Years In Bludgeoning Murder Of Kean University Student

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A New Brunswick man was sentenced Tuesday to serve 40 years in a New Jersey state prison for beating a Kean University student to death with a crow bar in a random attack nearly three years ago, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said.

Timothy Puskas, 41, was sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, who said the defendant must serve 85 percent of the term before he can be eligible for parole.

Puskas had been found guilty on Jan. 17. He was sentenced to 40 years for murder, 18 months for unlawful possession of a weapon, 5 years for the possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and 5 years for hindering his apprehension by lying to police during the investigation into the bludgeoning on Feb. 15, 2014 of William R. “Billy” McCaw, 22, of Gallatin, Tenn.

• See Related: Man Found Guilty in Bludgeoning Murder of Kean University Student

McCaw 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 Puskas, 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.

The sentences on the four counts are to run concurrent. The term also runs consecutively to a 7-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to a count of vehicular homicide.

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.

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.

(Image via Zeete)

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