Prosecutor: 31-Year-Old Man Arrested, Charged in Father’s May Murder

A Matawan man has been arrested and charged with killing his father in May in the home they shared, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Monday. 

Kenneth Knapp, Jr., 31, has been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree desecration of human remains in connection with the death of his father, Kenneth Knapp Sr., 58.

On Sunday, May 1, Matawan police responding to a request for a welfare check at a residence on the 200 block of Matawan Avenue found the body of Kenneth Knapp Sr. in the basement. Both the cause and manner of death were initially listed as pending following an autopsy, but the finalized autopsy report issued last month revealed that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma, with the manner of death being homicide.

An investigation involving members of the MCPO Major Crimes Bureau and Matawan police led to Knapp being identified as a prime suspe­­ct.

He was found and taken into custody without incident on Friday, Aug. 19 at a location in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township, Somerset County. Knapp was then transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI), where he is being held pending a detention hearing to take place in Monmouth County Superior Court.

Anyone with information about this matter is still being asked to contact Detective Joseph Mason of the Matawan Police Department at 732-566-1010 and/or MCPO Detective Brian Migliorisi at 800-533-7443.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office