Man Indicted For Murder In Violent New Year's Day Attack In Marlboro

FREEHOLD, NJ — A man charged with the New Year's Day murder of a Marlboro resident at his home has now been indicted by a grand jury, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced.

Carl A. Richards, 39, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of George L. Mott III, 64, the prosecutor's office said. Richards and his family were living with Mott.

Mott was discovered unresponsive, sitting in his armchair, with severe trauma to his head, face and neck in the early hours of Jan. 1, authorities said. He was rushed to Old Bridge Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:49 a.m., authorities have said.

Richards is also charged with three counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child because his three children were present in the home at the time of the attack, the prosecutor's office said.

And an affidavit in the case recounts the violent scene the children heard as they hid in a closet and the aftermath they saw, all from their own statements.

According to the affidavit, Mott was like a grandfather to the children, as he was the longtime boyfriend of their late grandmother, Richard's mother.

The affidavit said the children said Richards told Mott after the attack was over, “You’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for these kids.”

On Monday, Jan. 1, at about 12:49 a.m., Marlboro police were called to Mott's Texas Road home in the Morganville section of Marlboro for an urgent request for medical attention for a male who had been assaulted at that location.

When police got there, the victim, Mott, was discovered unresponsive with severe trauma, the prosecutor's office said. Mott was rushed to Old Bridge Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:49 a.m.

An investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and the Marlboro Township Police Department revealed that after a verbal argument, Richards attacked Mott, repeatedly physically assaulting him, causing his death, the prosecutor's office said.

An affidavit of probable cause explained the scene at the home, according to authorities:

When police arrived, Mott was found to be in an armchair, semi-conscious, bleeding, laboring to breathe, and with obviously severe facial trauma.

At first, police were told by "witnesses" there was a dispute with Mott over his possibly stealing from Richards and his wife, and as a result Richards "beat the crap out of” Mott.

Richards provided multiple statements to law enforcement, both on scene and at Marlboro Township Police Department. While at first he indicated that Mott was the first to strike him, he later stated that he had tried to borrow a cigarette from Mott and when Mott refused, Richards confronted him about stealing cigarettes from his room.

Richards said he attempted to show Mott a bedroom video on his phone of Mott entering his bedroom without permission on a prior occasion, and in response Mott slapped the phone away from defendant.

Although he initially denied punching Mott, and stated he only slapped him, Richards then admitted to punching Mott a minimal amount of times, and then finally stated he punched Mott while holding him in a chokehold approximately seven to eight times, the affidavit states.

Richards described getting elbowed in the face by Mott while he had Mott constrained in the chokehold, and appeared to have bruised eyes.

During Richards' interviewed statement, he denied any "prior personal animosity against Mott and denied any prior motivation" for the attack.

The affidavit continues that there appeared to be a "clear delay" between the time of the injury and the time 911 was called.

Three cellphones were taken by authorities. The crime scene showed an approximate 15-inch smearing of blood uncovered beneath Mott's chair. Also present were multiple hand towels that appeared to have been used to clean up blood before police came, according to the affidavit.

After Richard's arrest and initial charge of aggravated manslaughter, the Office of the Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner found that Mott died of blunt force injury to the head and neck.

On Jan. 5, investigators additionally learned that Mott "sustained multiple fractures to his face, base of his skull, brain bleed, and fracturing to the hyoid bone with related hemorrhaging to the area," the affidavit states.

Also on Jan. 5, authorities took statements from Richards' three children who were at the home, along with their mother.

The children were present and awake in the home at the time the attack hid in a bedroom closet, authorities said in the affidavit.

Each child heard the attack, heard yelling and screaming, and ultimately saw the extensive injuries to Mott, whom they referred to as a grandfather. Each child described prior incidents of domestic abuse by Richards against their mother, and saw injuries inflicted by defendant to their mother, the affidavit said.

In addition, the affidavit said that after the attack Richards kept stating “he killed my mom” in reference to Mott.

They also described a prior incident in which defendant flipped over Mott's chair and started fighting, but Mott “didn’t fight back,” according to the affidavit.

The children described seeing the victim seated in his recliner when the defendant began to strike him while victim was seated. They said Richards said to Mott after the attack was over, “You’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for these kids,” according to the affidavit.

Richards has been incarcerated in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution since the incident. A a motion by the state to keep him detained was granted, the prosecutor's office said.

At the detention hearing, it was determined a video in the bedroom of Richards and his wife showed graphic evidence of the beating of Mott by the much younger and larger Richards, according to app.com, and Mott was the longtime boyfriend of Richards' mother.

Richards' wife, Amanda Richards, has already agreed to plead guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of their children. Her sentencing is scheduled for April 19.

An original charge of aggravated manslaughter had been upgraded to murder soon after the incident investigation, the prosecutor's office added.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin J. Sidley of the Major Crimes Bureau.

Richards is represented by Antonio J. Toto, Esq. of Monroe Township.