SOMERVILLE, NJ (Somerset County) – A Bound Brook man was found guilty Tuesday of murdering a Middlesex County man at a Farm Lane home in 2019, according to Somerset County Acting Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart.
Following a six week jury trial in Somerset County, Ryan D. Keogh, 31, was found guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution, third-degree endangering an injured victim, fourth-degree false swearing (4 of 5 Counts), fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine, Taggart said.
Keogh was then remanded to the Somerset County Jail where he will be lodged pending sentencing, Taggart said.
Keogh was acquitted of one count of fourth-degree false swearing, Taggart said.
The Honorable Peter J. Tober presided over the trial which began on March 7 with jury selection and ended with the jury’s return of verdict on April 26.
Keogh’s conviction stems from an investigation that began at 7:36 p.m. on January 9, 2019 when the Middlesex Borough Police Department received a 9-1-1 call reporting shots fired and found a gunshot wound victim at a residence on Farm Lane in Bound Brook Borough, Taggart said.
Middlesex Borough authorities relayed the call to the Bound Brook Police, who responded and located Terrence C. Coulanges, 29, of Old Bridge outside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds to the right thigh and left chest, Taggart said.
Responding officers, along with medical personnel, initiated life saving measures and subsequently transported the victim to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick where he was pronounced dead, Taggart said.
Investigators interviewed numerous neighbors who reported hearing what turned out to be gunshots at 5:45 p.m. The investigation determined that Keogh, along with other family members, left the residence on Farm Lane for a period of time after Coulanges was shot and before a 9-1-1 call was placed at 7:36 p.m., Taggart said.
After Keogh shot Coulanges, the police were not called until 1 hour and 51 minutes had passed. Coulanges was found to have died as the result of gunshot wounds to the chest and thigh. The Medical Examiner found the cause of death to be gunshot wounds and homicide to be the manner of death, Taggart said.
Keogh was arrested on February 14, 2019 following an investigation conducted by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Crimes Scene Investigation Units, the Bound Brook Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Taggart said.
On the murder charge, Keogh faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of 75 years imprisonment with 85% of the term to be served without parole under the No Early Release Act.
On the charge of possession of firearm for an unlawful purpose, Keogh faces a prison term of 5 – 10 years with a maximum of 5 years to be served without parole. This charge implicates a Graves Act sentence which has a mandatory imposition of parole ineligibility fixed at one-half the sentence imposed by the court, or 42 months, whichever is greater.
On the hindering one’s own apprehension or prosecution charge, Keogh faces a prison term of 3 – 5 years with up to half the term without parole.
On the charge of endangering an injured victim, Keogh faces a term of 3 – 5 years in prison with up to half the term without parole. The service of the sentence for Endangering an Injured Victim must, under New Jersey Statutes, be served consecutively to the sentence imposed for the Murder, the crime that rendered the victim Terrence Coulanges physically helpless.
For each of the false swearing counts, Keogh faces a maximum of 18 months in state prison. For the unlawful possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine charge, he faces a maximum of 18 months in state prison.
Judge Tober will impose sentence on June 10, 2022.
