FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Two men charged in the death and dismemberment of a 55-year-old man requested public defenders during their initial court appearances Tuesday.
Matthew Cramer, 21, is charged with murder, resisting law enforcement using a vehicle and abuse of a corpse in the death of Shane Nguyen. He was ordered held without bail.
Jacob Carreon-Hamilton, 20, faces charges of assisting a criminal, resisting law enforcement in a vehicle and abuse of a corpse. His bond was set at $15,000.
Police found Nguyen’s body in black plastic trash bags in his van April 25, two days after he was reported missing, an affidavit said. An autopsy determined Nguyen died from blows to his head.
Cramer has told police he’d asked Nguyen for a ride from Elkhart back to Fort Wayne and that he planned to kill Nguyen before they reached Fort Wayne, an affidavit said. It’s unclear how the two men knew each other.
Cramer told investigators they went to the storage unit and put Nguyen in a choke hold until he was unconscious. Cramer said he then slammed Nguyen’s head on the pavement, the affidavit said.
Cramer told police he used a knife to cut Nguyen’s body while Carreon-Hamilton held the body, the affidavit said.
