Somerset County officials announced that on April 26, defendant Ryan D. Keogh was found guilty of Murder, Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, Endangering an Injured Victim, False Swearing, Tampering with Physical Evidence and Unlawful Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Magazine, following a six-week jury trial in Somerset County.
According to Somerset County Acting Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart, Defendant Keogh was acquitted of one of the counts against him – a sole count of False Swearing.
After the verdict, the defendant was remanded to the Somerset County Jail, where he will be lodged pending sentencing.
Acting Prosecutor Taggart stated that Ryan D. Keogh was arrested for the aforesaid charges on February 14, 2019, and has been held in detention in the Somerset County Jail since that date.
According to Acting Prosecutor Taggart, Defendant 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, Bound Brook.
Middlesex Borough authorities relayed the call to the Bound Brook Police. They responded and located victim Terrence C. Coulanges, 29, of Old Bridge, outside the residence with gunshot wounds to the right thigh and left chest.
Acting Prosecutor Taggart stated that responding officers and medical personnel initiated life-saving measures and subsequently transported the victim to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced deceased.
Detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigation Unit and detectives from the Bound Brook Police Department responded to the scene to conduct further investigation.
Investigators interviewed numerous neighbors who reported hearing what turned out to be gunshots at 5:45 p.m.
The investigation determined that defendant Ryan Keogh, along with other family members, left the residence on Farm Lane for a period of time after Mr. Coulanges was shot and before a 9-1-1 call was placed at 7:36 p.m.
After the defendant shot Mr. Coulanges, the police were not called until 1 hour and 51 minutes had passed.
Mr. 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.
The defendant was arrested on February 14, 2019, following an investigation conducted by several law enforcement agencies.