Names of elderly duo beaten to death with aluminum bat released

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has released the names of two elderly people it says were beaten to death with an aluminum bat in their Branchburg home this weekend.

A statement from the prosecutor's office Tuesday identified the couple as Louis Simon, 78, and his wife Beatrice Simon, age 65, both of 115 Readington Road.

The statement only identified cause and manner of death of both victims as blunt force trauma to the head, but the prosecutor's office has previously said it suspects Ezra Simon-Daniels, 20, beat the two to death with an aluminum baseball bat while they were lying in bed.

According to the prosecutor's office, police received a call from a distraught, blood-covered man early Sunday. They found Simon-Daniels in a parking lot, in a car nearby.

Simon-Daniels, 20, of Branchburg Township, New Jersey, faces two counts of first-degree murder, Somerset County prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano has previously said.

Simon-Daniels did not have any visible wounds on his body when he was found, Soriano said.

Readington police soon contacted Branchburg officers and asked them for help in conducting a welfare check at Simon-Daniels home. After knocking several times and getting no response, officers entered the home and found a man and a woman with significant blunt force trauma to their heads.

Although property records showed Louis and Beatrice Simon owned the home, authorities waited until after a medical examiner's report was conducted to release their identities.

Authorities have not specified the relationship between Simon-Daniels and the couple.