A Long Island man has been indicted in the brutal torture and murder of his longtime friend late last month, officials said Thursday.
Jeremy Allen, 43, of East Quogue, is accused of beating Christopher Hahn, also 43, over the course of several hours, hitting him with a baseball bat, putting a plastic bag over his head, then “sitting on a lawn chair a few feet from the victim watching him struggle to breathe for approximately eight minutes,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Allen allegedly then stabbed the victim to death with a knife from his home.
The two men, who had been friends since high school, arrived at Allen’s residence late on Sept. 27 after spending the evening at a local bar. That’s when the night of horror began, prosecutors said.
According to investigators, sounds captured by a security camera indicate that Allen brutally beat Hahn for about 18 minutes.
A few minutes after the alleged beating, security footage shows Allen “dragging the badly bruised and semi-conscious Hahn onto his rear deck” and leaving him there struggling to move.
Allen is later seen on camera returning with a baseball bat and beating his friend in the head and body.
When Allen realized the victim was still alive, he left the deck again and returned with a plastic bag, according prosecutors. After placing it on Hahn’s head, he secured it with a loose knot and sat down to watch his friend gasping for breath.
That’s when he used a large knife and “slowly stabbed Hahn in the neck 10 times,” officials said, adding that he stood over the victim and watched him die — six hours after the alleged torture began.
Later that morning, Allen allegedly asked his handyman to clean the home. The handyman saw “blood throughout the house” along with the victim’s body, which had been covered by a blanket. He then fled the scene and called police.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was also captured on security camera footage begging his friend to die.
“It’s not so hard. Just die,” Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro alleged he said, reported Newsday.
Allen was arraigned on Thursday before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. He’s due back in court on Nov. 14.
Allen faces life in prison if convicted on the top charge.
