TOMS RIVER – A Brick Township man has been convicted of orchestrating the murder of his father in what prosecutors described as a calculated-for-hire plot.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that a jury found Mark J. Austin, 34, of Brick Township, guilty of Murder and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon following a nearly five-week trial before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan.
Jurors determined beyond a reasonable doubt that Austin arranged and paid to have his father, Mark Richard Austin, killed inside his Acorn Drive home on September 7, 2019. Because the murder was procured by payment, Austin faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Sentencing is set for December 12.
Police were called to the home in 2019 and found the victim dead from blunt force injuries. Investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Brick Township Police, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit later uncovered evidence showing that Austin hired Jeray Melton, 34, of Salem City, to carry out the killing.
Both men were arrested days later and have remained in custody since. Melton previously pleaded guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter in 2020 and awaits sentencing.
“Justice was served today. This defendant orchestrated a calculated and cold-blooded plot to take the life of another human being – his own father,” Billhimer said in a statement, thanking the jury and law enforcement partners for their work.
The prosecutor credited the trial efforts of Supervising Assistant Prosecutors Mara Brater and Meghan O’Neill and praised the collaboration of local, state and federal agencies whose work led to Austin’s conviction.
