Jeremy Allen, of East Quogue, begged Christopher Hahn, of Hampton Bays, to die in alleged killing captured by surveillance system, DA says

An East Quogue man begged his friend to die after he beat him for six hours, placed a bag over his head and stabbed him in a killing captured by his home surveillance system last month, prosecutors said at his arraignment on upgraded charges Thursday.

Jeremy Allen, 43, of Oakville Avenue, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, 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 State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead.

"'Die,'" Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro said Allen could be heard saying on the surveillance video. "'It's not so hard. Just die.'"

Police and prosecutors have said Southampton Town police responded to Allen’s house about 9:52 a.m. Sept. 28, after receiving a call from a handyman who discovered Hahn’s body under a tarp on the back patio. A Labrador retriever owned by Allen had pulled at the tarp, revealing the victim’s feet.

Tomaro said Allen had beaten Hahn for several hours beginning at midnight before he dragged him onto the back patio and continued beating him with a baseball bat. Allen eventually tied a plastic bag over Hahn's head and took a seat nearby, Tomaro said.

"He sat in a lawn chair and watched him try to breathe for approximately eight minutes," Tomaro said of Allen.

He returned with a large filet knife about 6 a.m., she said, stabbing him to death in front of the camera. Hahn's blood was found on furniture in the living room, on walls and a ceiling, Tomaro said.

The prosecutor then alleged that after killing Hahn, Allen sent a text message to the handyman asking him to help clean up the blood. When the man arrived and saw the body, Allen told him he had to stay, Tomaro said.

The handyman left the house in the quiet Oakville Estates neighborhood south of Sunrise Highway, saying he needed to get cleaning supplies, Tomaro said. He instead called police.

Defense attorney Colin Astarita, of Hampton Bays, declined to comment outside of the courtroom.

Speaking before Mazzei, Astarita said his client has been treated for psychiatric issues and alcoholism. Tomaro said the two men had been drinking at a bar earlier in the evening of the alleged beating.

Several of Hahn's family members, who wept throughout the proceeding, declined to comment afterward.

Astarita previously said that while prosecutors described his client as a friend of Hahn since high school, 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 after first planning to attend a 12-step meeting together, Astarita said on Sept. 29.

Allen has worked as an electrical contractor, according to court and Southampton Town building records.

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 a preexisting order of protection.

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.

Allen is due back in court Nov. 14.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.