Temple Student's Accused Killer Blames Roommate: Report

PHILADELPHIA – Accused murderer Joshua Hupperterz said it wasn't he who killed 22-year-old Temple University student Jenna Burleigh and that his roommate was the person who cut her life short in August 2017.

According to NBC10, the attorney Hupperterz, 29, of Philadelphia, Tuesday told the court his client did not kill Burleigh in his North 16th Street home on Aug. 31 after meeting her at a bar near Temple University.

Rather, the attorney argued, it was the roommate of Hupperterz who killed Burleigh after Hupperterz and Burleigh started fighting about sex.

The outlet reports the attorney said Burleigh stabbed Hupperterz, then his roommate intervened and strangled her to death.

According to NBC, Hupperterz's roommate will testify in court.

Hupperterz Tuesday pleaded guilty to abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence charges, but he pleaded not guilty to murder and possession of an instrument of crime.

He is also accused of using a Lyft rideshare care to move Burleigh's body from Jenkintown, Montgomery County to Hawley, Wayne County where he hid her body on his grandmother's property.

Burleigh's cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma and strangulation.

Hupperterz rejected a plea deal at his hearing on Dec. 3, opting to stand trial.

Image via Philadelphia Police