Bordentown Township, NJ: Couple dead in murder-suicide

BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP - A young husband and wife were found dead in their township home Wednesday morning in what the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office is calling a murder-suicide.

The bodies of John Havens III, 30, and Kerry Havens, 29, were discovered at 7 a.m. in their Tantum Court home in the Grande at Crystal Lake development. Their two children, a 3-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy, were found in the home unharmed, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Authorities would not release information about how the murder took place or who killed whom pending the results of an autopsy.

One neighbor said he heard what he thought were four gunshots coming from the home before 7 a.m.

"It was three bangs, a pause, and then another bang," said Kevin Berman, who lives on Seneca Drive. "I didn't think they were gunshots at the time. I don't deal with guns, but in hindsight, that's what it sounded like."

Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said she had been awake since 4 a.m. and did not hear any noise coming from the home.

The bodies were discovered by the children's grandparents, who had gone to the residence to watch them while the couple were at work.

According to investigators, the couple had argued before the incident. There was no evidence that the deaths were caused by a third party, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Neighbors described the Havenses as high school sweethearts and "soul mates" who moved from Millstone, Monmouth County, to the Grande at Crystal Lake development in 2006, when the majority of the houses there were built.

John Havens worked as a mechanic for BMW and Kerry Havens was a nurse, neighbors said.

"They were very friendly and happy people," said next-door neighbor, Pete DiDonato. "Our kids would always play with their kids. From spring to fall, we were always over each other's houses. This is a big shocker to us. They're going to be missed."

DiDonato described the Havenses as happily married, but did say he sometimes heard the couple arguing.

"There were times they were struggling, like everybody else," he said. "I'm sure they could hear me and my wife arguing sometimes."

But over the past month, DiDonato said the couple's usual outgoing personalities had changed.

"They were just different," he said. "They seemed distant and really kept to themselves."

DiDonato also insisted that a firearm was not involved in the deaths.

"I'm almost 100 percent sure John didn't own a gun," he said. "I can't imagine that type of weapon being involved. John wasn't that kind of guy."

Other neighbors said they were shocked and alarmed when they awoke Wednesday to see several police cars outside the Havenses' home, which is at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac.

"This is one of those neighborhoods where everybody knows everybody else," Vince Mazzelli said. "You wouldn't think something like that could happen here. They were a friendly, nice, normal young couple. Well, at least I thought they were normal."

Another neighbor, who identified himself only as Ronnie, said he was jarred by the news.

"I woke up and there were all these police cars around," he said. "It was scary. It doesn't make sense. I just saw John while shoveling snow last week and he was always friendly and talkative."

Tantum Court resident Sean Burley said the incident was not typical for the neighborhood.

These are all good family people living here," Burley said. "There's no riffraff in a neighborhood like this. This is really crazy."