Jeremy Allen, of East Quogue, charged with killing friend, Suffolk prosecutors say
An East Quogue man beat his friend for six hours before stabbing him to death in a killing captured by his home surveillance system early Saturday morning, prosecutors said at his arraignment in Southampton Town Justice Court Sunday.
Jeremy Allen, 43, of Oakville Avenue, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Christopher Hahn, 43, of Hampton Bays. Allen was remanded to the Suffolk County jail by Southampton Town Justice Adam Grossman.
"He stabbed him with a large knife in the head and neck," Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro told the judge.
Police and prosecutors said Southampton Town police responded to Allen’s house about 9:52 a.m. Saturday, after receiving a call from a handyman who discovered Hahn’s body under a tarp on the back patio. A dog owned by Allen had pulled at the tarp, revealing the alleged victim’s feet.
Tomaro said Allen had beaten Hahn for several hours beginning at midnight before he dragged his "defenseless and helpless body" onto the patio and continued beating him with a baseball bat. He later returned with the knife, she said, stabbing him to death in front of the camera.
"The video is brutal and heinous to watch," Tomaro said.
The prosecutor alleged that after killing Hahn, Allen sent a text message to the handyman asking him to help clean up a mess. When the man arrived and saw the body, Allen told him he had to stay, Tomaro said.
“ ‘Now you can’t leave,’ ” Tomaro alleged Allen told the worker. “ ‘Now you have to help clean up the house.’ ”
The handyman left the house in the quiet Oakville Estates neighborhood south of Sunrise Highway, saying he needed to get bleach, Tomaro said. He instead called the police.
Allen was taken to Southampton police headquarters, where he was questioned and placed under arrest, defense attorney Colin Astarita, of Hampton Bays, told reporters.
Astarita said that while police and prosecutors described his client as a friend of Hahn, he believed the pair to be longtime acquaintances who had only recently been back in touch with each other. He said Hahn had come to his client’s house despite being told to stay away.
The two ended up drinking together at a bar Friday night after first planning to attend a 12-step meeting together, Astarita said.
"The two of them became very intoxicated," Astarita said. "At some point there was an altercation that grew more violent."
Astarita said it’s his understanding that Hahn "injected himself into" the life of Allen, who he believes may have a self-defense claim.
"He was in his own home," Astarita said, adding that he doesn’t know why the altercation between the men occurred.
Allen, clothed in a Tyvek suit, shook as Tomaro read through the charges and discussed his extensive criminal history during the proceeding. His lip quivered and he appeared to choke back tears when he saw his mother sitting in the front row of the courtroom.
Tomaro said Allen’s most recent arrest for criminal purchase of a weapon came in May, when he attempted to buy a shotgun in Riverhead, but was unable to do so due to prior criminal convictions.
"That [effort] was thwarted by the employees of Dick’s Sporting Goods," Tomaro said.
Allen also has a pending rape case in Southampton Court involving a child under 15 years old, Tomaro said. He has multiple DWI offenses dating to 2007 and is currently on probation for a 2022 drunken-driving conviction in Ulster County, the prosecutor said. Prosecutors intend to present the homicide case to a grand jury on Wednesday, the attorneys said.
Allen’s mother declined to speak with reporters as she left the court Sunday.
After investigators on Saturday combed through the house where Allen lives alone, things had returned to normal by the following morning.
A neighbor declined to comment after watching the investigation unfold the day before.
Allen is due back in court Friday, though the attorneys said his appearance would likely be waived pending grand jury indictment.
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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