Dr. Jonathan Nyce of Jacobs Creek area is being held on $2 million bail.
By John Tredrea
A crime that has profoundly shocked Hopewell Valley culminated in the Sunday afternoon arrest of Dr. Jonathan Nyce, 54, a Keithwood Court resident who has been charged with murdering his 34-year-old wife, Michelle Nyce.
Authorities say Ms. Nyce died of blunt trauma to the head. Her husband is being held on $2 million full cash bail at Mercer County Correction Center, located north of Titusville.
The three Nyce children are staying with relatives, township police Capt. George Meyer said Monday. The oldest child is a sixth-grader at Timberlane Middle School. The other two children attend Bear Tavern Elementary, in fourth grade and kindergarten.
Capt. Meyer said Dr. Nyce was arrested Sunday afternoon at police headquarters, where he had come voluntarily in response to a call from the police. The arrest followed what Capt. Meyer characterized as an "extremely intense investigation" by township detectives, the state police’s Major Crimes and Crime Scene units, and the Mercer County prosecutor’s office.
Ms. Nyce’s body was found in her Toyota sport utility vehicle Friday morning by PSE&G workers, who called the police immediately, at 8:43 a.m.
"The PSE&G employees saw a vehicle down an embankment off Jacobs Creek Road," near the Nyce residence, Capt. Meyer said. "The vehicle was actually in the creek, in about 10 inches of water," he said.
Township Patrolmen Michael Sherman and Louis Vastola were dispatched to the scene. Capt. Meyer said they could tell Ms. Nyce was dead as soon as they saw her. He added that, "for suspicious reasons that can’t be divulged now," they felt her death was not the result of a vehicular accident. "They quickly sealed off the area. The Mercer County prosecutor’s office and state police Major Crimes Unit were contacted immediately," Capt. Meyer said.
Quickly obtaining search warrants, investigators searched the crime scene, the Nyce residence and several vehicles, said Capt. Meyer, who said he could not divulge any information about those vehicles. The findings of the investigation resulted in the murder charge of Dr. Nyce, he said.
Authorities say Michelle Nyce was last seen alive Thursday night when she left her job at Macy’s in the Quaker Bridge Mall. She worked part time for Macy’s as a beauty consultant.
Her husband is a former chairman and CEO of EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cranbury. He was a professor at East Carolina University for several years.
The Nyce family moved to Keithwood Court in 2000 after residing in Plainsboro. Their Keithwood Court home has been on the market for several months, with an asking price of $1.6 million.