Man sentenced for deadly attack on Warren County, NJ mom and son

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for a deadly attack on an elderly New Jersey woman and her son in 2021.

Kyle Kaspereen, 26, pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated assault in October and was delivered his sentence on Wednesday, according to the Warren County Prosecutor's Office.

Washington Township officers were called to a Wayne Street home on Nov. 30, 2021, for a report of a vicious assault. Upon arrival, they found 84-year-old Elaine Trachin unconscious, and found her son, 53-year-old William "Bart" Trachin critically injured, taped to his wheelchair with a garbage bag over his head.

Elaine Trachin did not survive the attack. William "Bart" Trachin did survive but passed away recently.

Authorities say Kaspereen, of Easton, was deleting text messages and calls from his phone while he was being interviewed by police. A review of phone records the day after the attack revealed that Kaspereen had been going back and forth with William "Bart" Trachin regarding a motorcycle that Trachin owned.

Kaspereen's phone was found to be pinging from the scene of the attack at the suspected time of the attack, according to authorities. And on his phone, authorities say, Kaspereen had searched the internet about information on murder investigations, how to use a credit or debit card without a PIN, and whether there had been any murders in Washington.

Video surveillance from hours after the attack showed Kaspereen dropping a phone into the Delaware River while waking a bridge from Phillipsburg into Pennsylvania — William "Bart" Trachin's phone and Elaine Trachin's wallet were missing from the scene.

A search of the Delaware River discovered William "Bart" Trachin's phone in the area that the surveillance footage had captured. Also, a search of Kaspereen's apartment revealed an unused, discarded trash bag that was consistent with the bag found over William "Bart" Trachin's head at the crime scene.

Kaspereen was charged on Dec. 9, 2021 with the murder of Elaine Trachin and the attempted murder of William "Bart" Trachin.

William "Bart" Trachin passed away on Oct. 24 of this year. According to the prosecutor's office, it is not expected that there will be additional charges brought against Kaspereen because of Trachin's death — authorities can't say with certainty that the attack in 2021 was the cause.

Kaspereen must spend 30 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

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