A 25-year-old East Amwell Township man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 63-year-old father, who was found dead with serious head trauma inside a home on Iron Horse Drive on Thursday, November 12, 2026, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office has announced.

Source: Englebrook Independent News

John Knipe Jr., 25, of East Amwell Township, was charged in connection with the death of John Knipe Sr., 63, according to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson. Prosecutors say the younger Knipe also faces attempted murder and assault charges involving a second victim who survived the incident.

The case began with a 911 call on November 12, when a woman reported a medical emergency at 17 Iron Horse Drive in East Amwell Township. State Troopers from the New Jersey State Police Kingwood Station responded to the residence.

On entering the home, troopers found the elder Knipe deceased with serious head trauma. A joint investigation by the New Jersey State Police and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office identified his son as the suspect, prosecutors said.

The charges in his father's death

In connection with his father's death, Knipe Jr. was charged with first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to the prosecutor's office.

Source: New Jersey Hills / Hunterdon Review

A second victim who survived

Prosecutors also charged Knipe Jr. with first-degree attempted murder, second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree aggravated assault, and third-degree terroristic threats, involving a separate victim who survived. The prosecutor's office did not identify the second victim or describe that person's injuries in its November 12 announcement, and it did not specify the weapon allegedly used or a suspected motive.

Knipe Jr. is being held at the Warren County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court. Hunterdon County does not operate its own long-term jail for defendants held in cases of this kind, and Warren County is the neighbouring county to the northwest.

The Lambertville-New Hope Rescue Squad and a Hunterdon Medical Center Mobile Intensive Care Unit assisted in the emergency response. In their initial announcement, authorities indicated that nothing suggested an ongoing danger to the public.

What happens next

The investigation remains ongoing. A first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court is the next step, where the charges are formally presented and the question of pre-trial detention is addressed under New Jersey's bail-reform system. First-degree murder is the most serious criminal charge under New Jersey law.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact New Jersey State Police Major Crimes North Detective Buonomo at (609) 690-3420, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office Criminal Investigations Unit at (908) 788-1129, or the Hunterdon County Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-321-0010. Prosecutors said anonymous tips will remain confidential.

East Amwell Township is a small, largely rural community in Hunterdon County, in western New Jersey, an area of farms and small villages where a homicide investigation of this kind is a rare and deeply unsettling event for residents. The county sits within commuting distance of New Jersey's larger Punjabi and South Asian communities in central New Jersey, and the case has drawn attention across the region.