2 men accused of killing 5 New Jersey teens in 1978 set for 1st court appearance
By APWednesday, March 24, 2010
Men accused of killing 5 NJ teens due in court
NEWARK, N.J. — Two men accused of burning five teenagers to death in a dispute over stolen marijuana in 1978 face arraignment in New Jersey.
Fifty-six-year-old Lee Evans and 53-year-old Philander Hampton are expected to make their first appearance Wednesday in Essex County court.
They are each charged with five counts of murder and one count of arson and are being held on $5 million bail each.
The break in one of the state’s oldest missing-persons cases came when a relative of one of the victims said Evans confessed to him 18 months ago.
Prosecutors say the boys were herded at gunpoint into an abandoned building that the suspects then set ablaze.
Police never connected the fire with their disappearance.
