Key Witness Takes Stand in Case of Five NJ Teens

A key prosecution witness is testifying in the case of a New Jersey man charged with murdering five Newark teenagers more than 30 years ago.

Philander Hampton took the stand Tuesday afternoon in state superior court in Newark.

He is testifying against his cousin, defendant Lee Evans.

Evans has pleaded not-guilty to murdering the five teens, who were last seen on a summer day in 1978.

Hampton, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, told police in 2008 that he and Evans lured the youths to an abandoned building and set it on fire. The bodies were never recovered.

The disappearance of the teens was once one of New Jersey's longest running cold cases.

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