The missing Manhattan woman found stuffed inside a trash bag in New Jersey may have been murdered by her own son after she threatened to throw him out of the house, prosecutors say.
Authorities discovered 65-year-old Paula Chin's corpse hidden in the curbside garbage pile outside a home she owned in Morris Township, New Jersey, on Tuesday. Police subsequently arrested one of her sons—22-year-old Jared Eng—and two of his friends.
The NY Daily News reports that Eng appeared in court Thursday morning, where he was arraigned on charges of concealing a corpse and evidence tampering. The women who allegedly helped him—21-year-old Caitlyn O'Rourke, Eng's girlfriend, and their friend Jennifer Lopez, 18—face the same charges, but authorities believe Eng bears responsibility for the killing itself. He does not currently face murder charges, although according to the NY Post, prosecutors expect those will come shortly. They suspect Eng slashed his mother's throat during an argument, after she told him he had to move out.
"I didn't," Eng reportedly said as officers led him out of the 1st Precinct on Wednesday night. "I love her very much. She gave me everything."
Eng reportedly admitted to investigators that, on January 31st—the day his mother was killed—he made a trip to New Jersey to pick up an antique coin collection, which he planned to sell for rent money. He allegedly added that he and Chin had argued over his staying in her apartment, but denied killing her. He said he hadn't seen his mother since the 31st. (A family member reported her missing to the NYPD on February 4th.)
Footage from the Vestry Street building's security cameras suggests otherwise: On the date of the murder, Eng can reportedly be seen dumping a big black duffel bag into the trunk of his family car. Investigators say they recovered a black duffel, full of blood-soaked clothes and tape, at the house where they found Chin's body. When they searched her Vestry Street apartment, they allegedly found the remains of a bloody mess someone had apparently tried and failed to clean up.
O'Rourke allegedly told police that Eng slit his mother's throat, enlisting her and Lopez to help him get rid of the body. Prosecutors say they have obtained text messages between Lopez—who wrote that "the hardest part" of the ordeal "was backing the car up," according to the Daily News—and Eng that support the accomplice idea. According to the Post, O'Rourke also told investigators that she and Lopez knowingly helped move the body, and that she washed a bag of laundry at Eng's New Jersey house.
Eng is being held without bail, while Lopez and O'Rourke are being held on $100,000 and $25,000 cash bail, respectively.
