2 men plead not guilty to burning 5 New Jersey teens alive in alleged drug dispute

Men accused of killing 5 NJ teens plead not guilty

NEWARK, N.J. — Two men have pleaded not guilty to burning five New Jersey teenagers to death in 1978 in an alleged dispute over stolen marijuana.

Fifty-three-year-old Philander Hampton and 56-year-old Lee Evans appeared in court Wednesday in Newark in front of several dozen relatives of the victims. Their attorneys entered their pleas.

A judge continued bail for both men at $5 million each. They are each charged with five counts of murder and one count of arson.

The break in one of the state’s longest missing-persons case came when a relative of one of the victims said Evans confessed to him 18 months ago.

Essex County prosecutors believe the boys were herded at gunpoint into an abandoned building and the building was set on fire.