Suspect Charged in Fatal College Student Beating

Murder charges have been filed against a central New Jersey man accused in the fatal beating of a college student from Tennessee.

Middlesex County prosecutors say 38-year-old Timothy Puskas of New Brunswick was notified of the charge Tuesday at the county jail, where he's being held on an unrelated matter. His bail was set at $5 million, and it was not known if he has retained an attorney in the murder case.

Puskas is charged in the death of William McCaw, who was found dead in the backyard of a New Brunswick home on Feb. 15. But authorities have not said what spurred the killing.

Prosecutors say McCaw, a 22-year-old Gallatin resident, was a student at Kean College in north Jersey, about 25 miles away from where he was found. But he had previously attended Rutgers University and would often return to the New Brunswick area to visit friends.

McCaw had no connection to the people who lived at the home where he was found, and authorities have not said if that's where the attack occurred.

McCaw was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors have said he suffered blunt force trauma.

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