New Jersey – In a chilling New Jersey case that captured national headlines, 34-year-old Mark J. Austin was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for orchestrating the brutal murder of his own father, 55-year-old Mark Richard Austin. A jury convicted the younger Austin in October 2025 on charges of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon. Prosecutors argued that the murder was a premeditated act, driven by money the son believed his father owed him and anger over past mistreatment during his childhood.
On January 11, a judge handed down the maximum sentence, emphasizing the “calculated and merciless” nature of the crime. Prosecutor B. Billhimer said the outcome “delivers permanent accountability” and guarantees Austin will “never again have the opportunity to harm another human being.” According to evidence presented at trial, the killing was part of a murder-for-hire plot that unfolded over the summer of 2019. Rather than confront his father directly, Austin enlisted the help of a former cellmate from a juvenile detention facility, 34-year-old J. Melton. Melton testified in court that Austin promised him $50,000 to carry out the murder.
On the day of the killing in September 2019, Austin allegedly drove Melton to the victim’s home. Once inside, Melton beat Mark Richard Austin to death with a baseball bat. After the murder, Melton said Austin reneged on the payment, instead offering him marijuana and a small amount of cash withdrawn from an ATM. Melton, originally charged with murder, later pleaded guilty in 2020 to aggravated manslaughter and awaits sentencing. He faces between 10 and 30 years in prison.
In an attempt to create an alibi, Austin sent a text to his father after the murder that read, “Dad, you want a cheesesteak? I’m at Geno’s,” referring to the famous sandwich shop in Pennsylvania. But prosecutors used GPS data to show that both Austin’s and his father’s phones were in the same location at the time — and that the elder Austin was already dead when the message was sent. Further evidence revealed that Austin tried to cover up the crime. Melton told investigators that Austin instructed him to strip off his bloody clothes, place them in a garbage bag, douse them with bleach, and dispose of them.
That evening, around 7 p.m., a friend discovered Mark Richard Austin’s lifeless body on a couch. Soon after, more friends and his ex-wife arrived and attempted to help, but he was already dead. Investigators later recovered the murder weapon — a bloodied baseball bat — and drug paraphernalia inside the home, though no direct connection between the drugs and the motive was established. During police interviews, Mark J. Austin claimed his father had asked him to pick up a stranger and stay at the house while he went to buy heroin. The defense argued that Melton acted alone in an attempt to steal drugs. The jury, however, rejected that version of events and sided with the prosecution’s argument that the murder was orchestrated by the son.
At sentencing, Austin read a statement denying involvement in the killing. “He was an amazing dad, an amazing grandfather, and that’s how he should be remembered,” he said of his father. But the judge remained unmoved, calling the crime both premeditated and cold-blooded. With the life sentence now imposed, Mark J. Austin is set to spend the rest of his life in prison — a fate that prosecutors say fits the gravity of the betrayal and violence he inflicted on his own family.
