Four from Sayreville area charged in double murder

Robbery is alleged
to be motive in killings
of uncle and nephew

By jennifer dome
Staff Writer

Robbery is alleged
to be motive in killings
of uncle and nephew
By jennifer dome
Staff Writer

Four local men have been charged with murder after they allegedly robbed and beat two people during a business scheme in Sayreville, and then drove to Jersey City where they set a car on fire with the victims inside.

Steven Reid, 26, of Sayreville, turned himself in to police last week after learning that authorities were looking for him, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward J. DeFazio said. Authorities had previously apprehended the other three suspects — Reid’s brother, Paul Reid, 36, of Sayreville; Zaid Tariq, 20, of the Parlin section of Sayreville; and Tariq Maqbool, 25, of the Parlin section of Old Bridge.

The suspects are being held at the Hudson County Corrections Center, Kearny, each in lieu of $5 million bail.

The two victims’ "extensively burned bodies" were found in a Mitsubishi Montero by Jersey City firefighters after 1 a.m. Nov. 1, DeFazio said.

Joony M. Ahn, 45, of Maple Glen, Pa., and his nephew, Mun H. Ahn, 28, of Flushing, N.Y., reportedly traveled to Sayreville on Oct. 31 to purchase telephone cards with $300,000 in cash in their possession. Joony M. Ahn reportedly operated his own telephone card business and was put in contact with the suspects in order to purchase cards from them, DeFazio said.

"There was a plan to rip off the two victims," the prosecutor said. The Prosecutor’s Office would not comment on whether they believe the suspects had intended to murder the victims prior to the incident.

The Ahns met the four suspects at the Prefered (sic) Wireless store, located on Washington Road in Sayreville. Borough records indicate that Paul Reid and Tariq own the business, which has been operating for only four to six months, selling cellular telephone contracts, according to information provided by Sayreville police.

The victims were physically assaulted at the store, and a gunshot was fired during the altercation, though no one was hit by the bullet, DeFazio said. Authorities believe that the victims were bound and placed in Joony Ahn’s vehicle, which was then driven to Duncan Avenue in Jersey City.

There, the suspects doused the vehicle and the victims with gasoline and set it on fire, DeFazio said. One of the victims is believed to have been still alive when the fire began, the prosecutor said.

Investigators from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Homicide Squad traced the vehicle to the victim’s home in Pennsylvania, and with the aid of the Sayreville and Old Bridge police departments, they were led to the four suspects.

The bail for the suspects was set at $5 million because of their backgrounds, according to DeFazio. The four men are not originally from the United States, he said. The Reids are natives of Jamaica, and Tariq and Maqbool are from Pakistan.

Authorities have recovered $170,000 of the cash that was taken from the Ahns. The whereabouts of the remaining cash that was stolen is still under investigation, DeFazio said. The Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating the telephone card business that the men were involved with.

The felony murder case will be tried in Hudson County, since the bodies were found in Jersey City, DeFazio said.