Man pleads guilty to North Hanover murders

Three consecutive life terms recommended for triple homicide

By: Eve Collins
   A man accused of murdering three people in North Hanover Township early last year pleaded guilty on May 8 to three counts of felony murder, said county prosecutors last week.
   Prosecutors have recommended that Brian J. Tykot, 36, of Monroe Township receive three consecutive life sentences for his involvement in the deaths of Gary Nevius, 49, Edward Nevius, 43, and Jill Fort, 46, at their home in the California Village Trailer Park on Cookstown-New Egypt Road on Jan. 5, 2002.
   By entering the guilty plea through an agreement with prosecutors, Mr. Tykot has avoided the death penalty, said Jim Ronca, the deputy first assistant prosecutor assigned to the case. The charges of felony murder — deaths that take place in the course of another crime — do not carry the death penalty, he said.
   Three consecutive life terms is the recommended sentence by prosecutors, Mr. Ronca said. Prosecutors have dismissed all other charges brought in the indictment, including the capital murder charges, he said.
   Sentencing will take place on May 29 by state Superior Court Judge John A. Almeida, county officials said. Mr. Tykot would have to serve 62.5 years for each charge, and would be eligible for parole in 187 years, Mr. Roncas said.
   "This incapacitates him to the point where he will be in prison and cannot victimize more innocent people," Mr. Roncas said.
   State police detectives charged Mr. Tykot with the murders on Jan. 10 after an investigation. County prosecutors said Mr. Tykot committed the murders during a robbery armed with a shotgun and knife and that he stole money and collectible items from the mobile home.
   An acquaintance discovered the three bodies and contacted police from a nearby diner, said police. Initial investigation of the mobile home by police showed forced entry and that victims had died as a result of being shot, county prosecutors said.
   A trial date had originally been set for September. Mr. Tykot was originally charged with three counts of capital murder, and prosecutors had said they would seek the death penalty, but because of his guilty plea the charge was reduced to felony murder and the death penalty does not apply.
   Mr. Tykot also was charged with the three counts of felony murder based on the allegation that each of the victims was murdered during a robbery, first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in the second and third degrees, hindering apprehension in the third degree and contempt in the fourth degree.
   He is being held at the Burlington County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.