GUILTY NJ - Carolyn Byington, 26, killed inside her home, Plainsboro, 10 June 2019 *Arrest* #2

[acutename]

Or maybe he made a pass at her then tried to get her on the couch or to her bedroom, etc., and it when horribly downhill from there.
I wonder if he returned to work after lunch... If not, LE may have put him on the "list" that very day. I would think LE talked with her co-workers asap -- maybe one or more of them knew she was meeting him at her apt? If so, hmmmm, he might have been put at the top of the list...

maybe he actually said something ..shall we say "off color" about her to another co-worker(s) and they thought it was inappropriate? just a thought.

 

[reallyplainsboro]

We haven’t seen the case go to trial, but let’s say they have the right guy, which it appears to be at this time.
I think the scenario would be he routinely stalked her at lunch-time and had some sexual fantasies while sitting in his Honda Civic, maybe even tried to bump into her at a place or two or ten. ‘Yay, she is getting Panerra Bread today, guess I am too!’ Im suspect those meet ups we awkward and didn’t go anywhere. He bitterly continued to stalk her and have fantasies. He lost his mind when he saw her go into her house and took the opportunity to wait outside her door and get himself in there. She didn’t want him and he lost his mind even further.
He might have snapped when he finally saw her at her house.
There would have to be some serious stalking slash fantasies going on for him to act out all this rage toward her. Obviously, if he was stalking here he could have transferred rage based on an unhappy marriage. Let’s face it, he’s been over eating for a while and the sex and routines in the marriage probably wasn’t what it used to be.
He had a fantasy in his head which were never going to be realized and he lost it.
They had been working together for three years, plenty of time for him to pick up the habit of watching her at lunch.
He might have picked up his wife in the cafeteria at school.
Just awful. I’m saddened that the DNa was inclusive and police are still seeking information but I am so glad there has been an arrest in this case. I’m hoping the car matching his description has license plates on it as well.
Also, I would like to see some photographs of the hands while injured. If that raised red flags with co workers they easily could have taken a picture their phone.
Police charged him with Murder One, so they have to have more evidence than we know about.
In cases like this we wish cell phones could be monitored like they say they are on tv. The apt complex tenants need security cameras so a copy cat can’t happen again. Horrifying for any single woman. Just sickening.
This case is so disturbing on so many level. I’m sure Tuesdays detention meeting will have a lot more evidence.

 

[reallyplainsboro]

Also, I haven’t heard any mention of fingerprints.
The weapons charge stemming from the incident, so do they have the receipt for the knife or blade or did he still possess the actual murder weapon and how did they tie it to the scene so quickly? Why ask about circumstantial evidence, hire a lawyer but keep the murder weapon for months?
I’m guessing co-workers supplied his dna/fingerprints to cops prior to arrest.
His DNA could not be excluded.
Meaning trace amounts present or it was mixed with other unknown DNA. Or it couldn’t be excluded for other reasons? Lawyers say can not be excluded is inconclusive and there has to be other evidence. If they had his prints don’t you think they would have put that out there?

 

[gitana1]

Motive theory - he's been married for just over a year and they have a new baby. His wife has probably cooled towards him, especially when we consider that there was a dark side to him that was gradually becoming more apparent to her. So he turns to the friendly look-alike at his office as a kind of replacement wife. But when Carolyn consciously or unconsciously rejects him, the anger of a second rejection sparks the murderous rage. He can't take it out on his wife, but he can take it out on the replacement.

It's a horrible case but will be interesting to see what motivated this weirdo.

 

[TruthIsStranger]

This seems to be the year of stupid, stupid murderers--first Chris Watts, then this guy. We can't all be above average, can we?

So he wasn't good looking, in shape, interesting, rich, brilliant, charming, artistic, or creative (you need at least ONE to attract the opposite sex, imho). He had anger issues, road rage issues, and he vandalized co-workers vehicles--so he had a few personality disorders, too (one of which was being a psychopath). Plus, he was married with a kid. There's no way she had an affair with him. Why would a stunning, single, educated, successful, upper-class-background, twenty-something, childless woman want anything to do with him?

Yes, back in the day, in graduate school, when I was considered easy on the eyes, I dated a poor, unattractive, skinny, short, guy who had a very different background than I did. He grew up in a trailer in rural North Carolina, said "ohl" (one syllable), not "oil" (two syllables), and was bi-polar--and I fell madly in love with him until he dumped me. However, he was also charming, intelligent, hard-working, on his way to being highly educated, and extremely creative. He's a brilliant poet who's gone on to publish 3 or 4 books, and at the age of 48, he married a woman who is 20 years younger, brilliant, and gorgeous. So, yes, superficial "mismatches" happen, but there's usually a good reason/explanation behind them.

What boggles my mind, having followed true crime for years, is the timing of this (lunch time, broad daylight, in the middle of a workday, with a departure time the same as the victim's). This, paired with the premeditated nature of the crime, seems crazy.

The only explanation seems to be what some of you have already mentioned--this was the best he could do under the circumstances--but that leads to the question of WHY he would want to put himself in this extremely risky (to his freedom) position in the first place? Is getting caught stealing money (just using that as an example) so bad that you would kill someone and risk life imprisonment or the death penalty over it?! This isn't some career criminal with a history of extreme violence--this is an accountant who would probably have gotten probation. What the heck could have possessed him to want to do this AND to actually do it in such a risky way?

We may never know, but I can see how living an hour away from work with a wife and kid would have meant that he couldn't follow her around (and perhaps she rarely went out on the town), and he couldn't lurk around her apartment complex at all hours, hoping for a lucky break under the cover of darkness. He'd still have to break into her apartment or ambush her in the parking lot, which would be noisy and attract attention. Plus, his wife would have been calling him the whole time, wondering where the heck he was and what he was doing. She is probably nursing the baby at night, so she would know.

So, I can't begin to imagine how he convinced her to meet him at her apartment (unless he surprised her--I've read two very different accounts of where he was--outside her door vs. inside her apartment when she arrived).

What could he possibly have done to get her there? I would never meet a work colleague of the opposite sex at my apartment to "talk." That would be way too awkward, would lead to office gossip, and, besides, there are cafes everywhere for that, if necessary. But think about it-- how often have any of us been asked to have a "personal" talk away from the office with a work colleague of the opposite sex that you weren't close to or romantically interested in? I've never been asked to do this, and I can't think of anyone who has.

If I sensed that they were attracted to me, and that was what the talk was about, then I would politely decline or maybe say, "why don't you give me a call this evening." A phone call would be the "most personal" one-on-one arrangement that I would offer a male colleague, and only if it seemed absolutely necessary (and if I felt "safe" around him, in general). If a phone call wasn't good enough for him, that would set off alarm bells in me.

I wouldn't ask a man from work to help me move furniture, either. These are professionals, not college kids, and there are maintenance guys at an apartment complex that could help with that, or perhaps a trusted male or female neighbor. And if furniture is being delivered, those guys can help you move things around. Besides, I can move around 90% of the furniture in my family of four's home myself, and I'm a weakling. How often would a single woman in a small apartment need to move around super heavy furniture after she's gotten moved in and settled? And even if it were the case, why would you ask a professional work colleague? It just seems tacky and unprofessional to do this, not to mention the fact that the colleague could possibly get hurt if the furniture is that heavy--just a bad idea all around.

I'm astounded that no one had a doorbell cam that saw him in this day and age--surely they would have brought him in for questioning much sooner if they had footage. But thank goodness he did stupid things that got him caught.

I feel so sick and terrible for what she must have gone through--can you imagine? You've worked hard all of your life in school and at work; you're a good person; you're law-abiding, gentle, and caring; you don't hang out with criminals or engage in risky behaviors of any kind, and one day you go home for lunch and your co-worker brutally and painfully slaughters you with a knife after, perhaps raping you--and that's it. It's over for you. A complete stranger has ended your life in a horrific way, your family and friends are devastated and will never be the same...and for what?! Ugh! It's so unfair.

 

[lexinyc2013]

So from the various articles/reports, it's a little unclear what scenario may have taken place. Did he end up at her apartment by:

1 - Carolyn was taking the rare lunch at home, nothing to do with any set up, and he overheard this and spontaneously followed her home or got there first and was waiting for her. And just happened to have a weapon ready...

2 - He lured Carolyn home under some type of false pretenses that to her knowledge had nothing to do with him - made up an issue with her apartment, package she needed to sign for, some kind of file she needed to retrieve, etc - then followed her home or got there first.

3 - He asked Carolyn if they could meet outside of work during the day at her place to talk about something important - whether it was a work issue or relationship issue, etc.

4 - He offered to help Carolyn with something in her apartment - move a couch, hang a shelf - but when she told other coworkers she was going home for lunch, she didn't mention anything about KS to them. And also, one article says he followed her home which makes me think she didn't make a prior plan with him to come over.

4 - I have no idea... some other reason/scenario.... ?

If she wasn't expecting him, but if he knocked on her door, it's possible she didn't think she had any reason to fear him, even if she found it odd that he showed up, and just let him in. In most cases, especially in a professional/corporate type job, my personal feeling (right or wrong) is that you kind of think your coworkers are vetted and safe -- meaning they've been screened by HR, passed a background check, you know who their boss is, you know how and where to find them, you've known them for several years, you often know a little bit about their family life. Meaning, that "stranger danger" warning alarms in your head may not be instantly going off without time to process and reflect. It's like oh, you know this person.

From what was reported in the articles, it just said she was going home for lunch that day. It seems like if it was something like "oh I gotta get this file" or "Ken said he would help hang a shelf for me," she might have told another coworker the reason for her rare lunch at home. So that makes me think she was lured home under false pretenses, then maybe opened the door to him not thinking he was there to kill her. Or was it just a total coincidence that for some reason she decided to go home for lunch that day, and he somehow heard this and had a weapon ready to follow her home...that seems less likely.

Just trying to make sense of it... what do you all think?

As far as knowing her address, my previous place of employment had an employee address book you could request for the purpose of sending Christmas/holiday cards. You could opt to have your information not included in this, but from what I remember, most people were listed. It seems all kind of crazy and unsafe now looking back, especially as I was a young, 20 something year old single woman at the time in a total sports/entertainment male dominated industry in New York City, but yea, any employee there could have requested an employee address book!

I have no other theories unless it was drugs, which I think is pretty much much 100% unlikely with Carolyn. LE must know if the two of them were friends or if he was pursuing her from co-workers. I also hope her parents/family know more about the motive from LE. It is mind boggling. I wrote early on here that LE must have right away cleared all co-workers because really I thought it beyond unlikely that another co-worker of same age would go to the colleague's home at lunch time and kill her.
Boy was I wrong.
The guy is a total either sociopath or psychopath. Can't make sense of his insane actions. Wouldn't surprise me if there are other crimes in his past that he got away with.

 

[Inthedetails]

I have no other theories unless it was drugs, which I think is pretty much much 100% unlikely with Carolyn. LE must know if the two of them were friends or if he was pursuing her from co-workers. I also hope her parents/family know more about the motive from LE. It is mind boggling. I wrote early on here that LE must have right away cleared all co-workers because really I thought it beyond unlikely that another co-worker of same age would go to the colleague's home at lunch time and kill her.
Boy was I wrong.
The guy is a total either sociopath or psychopath. Can't make sense of his insane actions. Wouldn't surprise me if there are other crimes in his past that he got away with.

I don't set a sociopath vibe from this guy - more like a loser who is easily offended and acts out on grudges. In this case, something wounded him so much that he killed.

I think it was something at the work place - an upwardly-bound, attractive, smart woman put him down professionally (or he perceived that she put him down or left him out in the workplace). I don't think it was lust, but more hatred of successful women in general and her specifically.

Just a hunch.

jmo

 

[gitana1]

We haven’t seen the case go to trial, but let’s say they have the right guy, which it appears to be at this time.
I think the scenario would be he routinely stalked her at lunch-time and had some sexual fantasies while sitting in his Honda Civic, maybe even tried to bump into her at a place or two or ten. ‘Yay, she is getting Panerra Bread today, guess I am too!’ Im suspect those meet ups we awkward and didn’t go anywhere. He bitterly continued to stalk her and have fantasies. He lost his mind when he saw her go into her house and took the opportunity to wait outside her door and get himself in there. She didn’t want him and he lost his mind even further.
He might have snapped when he finally saw her at her house.
There would have to be some serious stalking slash fantasies going on for him to act out all this rage toward her. Obviously, if he was stalking here he could have transferred rage based on an unhappy marriage. Let’s face it, he’s been over eating for a while and the sex and routines in the marriage probably wasn’t what it used to be.
He had a fantasy in his head which were never going to be realized and he lost it.
They had been working together for three years, plenty of time for him to pick up the habit of watching her at lunch.
He might have picked up his wife in the cafeteria at school.
Just awful. I’m saddened that the DNa was inclusive and police are still seeking information but I am so glad there has been an arrest in this case. I’m hoping the car matching his description has license plates on it as well.
Also, I would like to see some photographs of the hands while injured. If that raised red flags with co workers they easily could have taken a picture their phone.
Police charged him with Murder One, so they have to have more evidence than we know about.
In cases like this we wish cell phones could be monitored like they say they are on tv. The apt complex tenants need security cameras so a copy cat can’t happen again. Horrifying for any single woman. Just sickening.
This case is so disturbing on so many level. I’m sure Tuesdays detention meeting will have a lot more evidence.

I looked up murder one in NJ. There's three ways to get there: He killed her during the commission of a felony like robbery, he purposefully killed/caused serious bodily injury or knowingly killed her/caused serious bodily injury.

It seems like they have murder and then manslaughter. No second degree.

It doesn't really address premeditation. He just had to know he was killing her (or causing serious bodily injury) or purpose to do so, in that moment, it looks like.

New Jersey Criminal Homicide

 

[ilovechili]

Wow.

Having followed from the beginning, the case was slow, no news and we were just trying to keep it alive. I was checking it if not daily, then every other day, same thing, no news.

I get on yesterday after all of the time the website was down and the last I checked, and the first few posts were pretty much what we have been doing and I thought nothing new, sigh, I was going to switch cases, read one more post down and saw that there was an arrest!!

So happy to hear this. From yesterday until today I have been trying to catch up, it is now a lively thread. If you have a lot of "likes" some are from me yesterday and today, I was hitting "likes" to all. I finally gave up in the last several pages on a mission to just catch up.

I have a lot to say and agree with just about every post I read over at least 10 if not 15 or more pages but I just wanted to celebrate the arrest instead of making this post lengthier. I can do that in future posts.

In every case, where things are silent, I start doubting LE. Even though I am proved wrong quite often, as we were here, in the next case I will start to wonder again if things are silent.

It seems as though all along they were on it.

Kudos to LE and to all for keeping this case alive here.

Justice for Carolyn.

 

[human]

He has what seems to be a beautiful wife and a new baby.

Remember how the hot car guy was always texting beautiful young women and they were meeting him?I think Harris was the name

Guys think they are hot even when they are not.

The going home for lunch when it was not usual throws me.

Did he watch her every movement? How would he know she is going home instead of to Starbucks, for instance?

 

[PastTense]

One thing some of you are forgetting: they both started working for the company in 2016. He didn't get married until the following year 2017. So they could have dated occasionally for a few months while he was still single before the marriage.

 

[MissyMom]

I looked up murder one in NJ. There's three ways to get there: He killed her during the commission of a felony like robbery, he purposefully killed/caused serious bodily injury or knowingly killed her/caused serious bodily injury.

It seems like they have murder and then manslaughter. No second degree.

It doesn't really address premeditation. He just had to know he was killing her (or causing serious bodily injury) or purpose to do so, in that moment, it looks like.

New Jersey Criminal Homicide

Murder-Purposely

 

[MissyMom]

I still tend to think this was work related somehow or, if not, a case of him hoping for some type of relationship with her.

He married his wife in 2017, but they were together for a long time before getting married. I believe I read since High School.

 

[zecats]

One thing some of you are forgetting: they both started working for the company in 2016. He didn't get married until the following year 2017. So they could have dated occasionally for a few months while he was still single before the marriage.

He and his wife went to high school together and had been dating since 2008, quite a while before marrying.

Kenneth Saal: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com

 

[borndem]

Did the apartment have a washer and dryer in her unit? He could have had spare clothes. It seems like he should have been bloody and leaving a trail if he had to ho back to his car should have drawn attention. It's possible he was prepared and was just waiting for the right time.

I don't know -- after murdering someone, I would GTH outta Dodge asap. Was he smart enuff to think to bring a change of clothes? If so, change clothes, get a paper or plastic bag or pillowcase, etc., dump your bloody murder clothes into it and throw it in a dumpster after you get about 15--20 miles away from her place. If no clean clothes, wash up the best you can and GTH outta Dodge. Minutes at a murder site are dangerous to the perpetrator. Whatever he did, he was able to get outta there and was "invisible" -- in his mind only -- at least for several days -- smug as a bug in a rug -- smarter than everyone -- for a few days. Then slam-bang, in the slammer. What a pity. What an idiot. Thinking with the wrong "brain."

 

[MissyMom]

A new article from today, but no new information. Plainsboro murder: Detention hearing Tuesday for Lindenwold man accused of killing coworker on lunch break

 

[gitana1]

Murder-Purposely

So he wanted to kill her and intended to do so. It doesn't mean he had to do much planning. I guess they don;t care about that. But to prove he had a purpose, there must be evidence of planning, I think?

 

[zecats]

So he wanted to kill her and intended to do so. It doesn't mean he had to do much planning. I guess they don;t care about that. But to prove he had a purpose, there must be evidence of planning, I think?

Just entering her apartment in possession of a weapon perhaps? Maybe wearing gloves? (No fingerprints evidence reported.) Also he may have had a change of clothes?

 

[lexinyc2013]

This seems to be the year of stupid, stupid murderers--first Chris Watts, then this guy. We can't all be above average, can we?

So he wasn't good looking, in shape, interesting, rich, brilliant, charming, artistic, or creative (you need at least ONE to attract the opposite sex, imho). He had anger issues, road rage issues, and he vandalized co-workers vehicles--so he had a few personality disorders, too (one of which was being a psychopath). Plus, he was married with a kid. There's no way she had an affair with him. Why would a stunning, single, educated, successful, upper-class-background, twenty-something, childless woman want anything to do with him?

Yes, back in the day, in graduate school, when I was considered easy on the eyes, I dated a poor, unattractive, skinny, short, guy who had a very different background than I did. He grew up in a trailer in rural North Carolina, said "ohl" (one syllable), not "oil" (two syllables), and was bi-polar--and I fell madly in love with him until he dumped me. However, he was also charming, intelligent, hard-working, on his way to being highly educated, and extremely creative. He's a brilliant poet who's gone on to publish 3 or 4 books, and at the age of 48, he married a woman who is 20 years younger, brilliant, and gorgeous. So, yes, superficial "mismatches" happen, but there's usually a good reason/explanation behind them.

What boggles my mind, having followed true crime for years, is the timing of this (lunch time, broad daylight, in the middle of a workday, with a departure time the same as the victim's). This, paired with the premeditated nature of the crime, seems crazy.

The only explanation seems to be what some of you have already mentioned--this was the best he could do under the circumstances--but that leads to the question of WHY he would want to put himself in this extremely risky (to his freedom) position in the first place? Is getting caught stealing money (just using that as an example) so bad that you would kill someone and risk life imprisonment or the death penalty over it?! This isn't some career criminal with a history of extreme violence--this is an accountant who would probably have gotten probation. What the heck could have possessed him to want to do this AND to actually do it in such a risky way?

We may never know, but I can see how living an hour away from work with a wife and kid would have meant that he couldn't follow her around (and perhaps she rarely went out on the town), and he couldn't lurk around her apartment complex at all hours, hoping for a lucky break under the cover of darkness. He'd still have to break into her apartment or ambush her in the parking lot, which would be noisy and attract attention. Plus, his wife would have been calling him the whole time, wondering where the heck he was and what he was doing. She is probably nursing the baby at night, so she would know.

So, I can't begin to imagine how he convinced her to meet him at her apartment (unless he surprised her--I've read two very different accounts of where he was--outside her door vs. inside her apartment when she arrived).

What could he possibly have done to get her there? I would never meet a work colleague of the opposite sex at my apartment to "talk." That would be way too awkward, would lead to office gossip, and, besides, there are cafes everywhere for that, if necessary. But think about it-- how often have any of us been asked to have a "personal" talk away from the office with a work colleague of the opposite sex that you weren't close to or romantically interested in? I've never been asked to do this, and I can't think of anyone who has.

If I sensed that they were attracted to me, and that was what the talk was about, then I would politely decline or maybe say, "why don't you give me a call this evening." A phone call would be the "most personal" one-on-one arrangement that I would offer a male colleague, and only if it seemed absolutely necessary (and if I felt "safe" around him, in general). If a phone call wasn't good enough for him, that would set off alarm bells in me.

I wouldn't ask a man from work to help me move furniture, either. These are professionals, not college kids, and there are maintenance guys at an apartment complex that could help with that, or perhaps a trusted male or female neighbor. And if furniture is being delivered, those guys can help you move things around. Besides, I can move around 90% of the furniture in my family of four's home myself, and I'm a weakling. How often would a single woman in a small apartment need to move around super heavy furniture after she's gotten moved in and settled? And even if it were the case, why would you ask a professional work colleague? It just seems tacky and unprofessional to do this, not to mention the fact that the colleague could possibly get hurt if the furniture is that heavy--just a bad idea all around.

I'm astounded that no one had a doorbell cam that saw him in this day and age--surely they would have brought him in for questioning much sooner if they had footage. But thank goodness he did stupid things that got him caught.

I feel so sick and terrible for what she must have gone through--can you imagine? You've worked hard all of your life in school and at work; you're a good person; you're law-abiding, gentle, and caring; you don't hang out with criminals or engage in risky behaviors of any kind, and one day you go home for lunch and your co-worker brutally and painfully slaughters you with a knife after, perhaps raping you--and that's it. It's over for you. A complete stranger has ended your life in a horrific way, your family and friends are devastated and will never be the same...and for what?! Ugh! It's so unfair.

 

[lexinyc2013]

All so very well said, Truth... You make a lot of good points.
That is what is so beyond sad -- this young girl's life who was such an amazingly good citizen, volunteered in any spare time she had for others, fought for her life with a life saving brain surgery when she was very young... She simply goes home on her lunch time break and this freak of nature psychopath brutally murders her. Beyond comprehension. Beyond unfair.