Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Home Sweet Homicide: Dangerous Liaisons’ delves deep into the horrific murder case of 20-year-old Cody MacPherson. In September 2017, a night full of drinking and hanging out with friends ended up being his final one, as he was killed while asleep in his girlfriend’s house in Pemberton Township, New Jersey. Several months later, when his skeletal remains turned up, the police treated the case as a homicide. Since the episode also includes exclusive interviews with the victim’s loved ones, the viewers get an in-depth account of the case.
Cody MacPherson Went Missing From a Party Before Being Found Dead in a Wooded Area
Cody MacPherson was born in Mount Holly in Burlington County, New Jersey in 1997. He shared a close bond with his parents, Donald Shon MacPherson and April Lawon Berry and was raised alongside the support of his loving siblings—brothers Shon, Daniel, Seth, Jacy and Shane, as well as a sister, Maya. A devout Christian, he was adored by the community for his jovial nature and ability to always extend a helping hand to anyone in need. In his free time, he loved playing football and fishing and was quite passionate about theater arts. Cody enjoyed singing, was part of the choir, and knew how to play bass guitar. The young man wanted to join the military and had high hopes for his future.
He used to live in Portage, Indiana, with his mother and had recently relocated to Browns Mills in Pemberton Township, in his home state, where he was residing with his great-uncle. The 20-year-old was the father of an adorable daughter and desired to become financially stable to be able to give her all the good things in life. He was in a relationship with Caitlyn Huertas and was partying with his girlfriend and others on the night of September 23, 2017. Little did he know that it would be the last party he ever attended. When his mother could not contact him, and he left no messages on her phone regarding his whereabouts, she grew concerned.
When his stepmother, Missie, visited Caitlyn’s place to look for him, she was informed that he had already left the house to go to his great-uncle’s place early in the morning of September 24. Since he didn’t reach said relative’s place and had not been in contact with anyone since seemingly leaving the party, his family members got worried and reported him missing. An investigation was launched, and the police also undertook many searches, involving several canine ones, to track him down, but nothing yielded any significant results.
However, nearly six months later, there was a big update in the case. In March 2018, the skeletal remains of a person matching Cody’s description were found by an employee of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service in an isolated spot in Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in Jackson Township in Ocean County. Right before he could start a controlled fire in the area, he spotted the remains. On April 17, following a thorough medical examination — which involved X-rays and dental checks alongside DNA analysis — the nightmares of Cody’s mother came true when it was confirmed that the remains belonged to Cody MacPherson.
It was revealed that the 20-year-old father of one succumbed to the injuries he sustained in a brutal stabbing. He was reportedly stabbed several times, and the cause of death was determined to be a puncture wound in the left side of the stomach. The authorities stated that the killer/s then proceeded to toss his remains in the area where he was discovered. Following the discovery of the young man’s remains, law enforcement officials quickly started to delve deep into the intricacies of the case to look for evidence that could lead them to the killer/s of Cody MacPherson.
A Complicated Love Triangle Led to Cody MacPherson’s Death
The initial interrogation process that the police held with Cody MacPherson’s family and friends did not yield any leads or hints about the killer. But after months of chasing the truth, they finally received a groundbreaking testimony from the 16-year-old sister of Cody MacPherson’s girlfriend, Caitlyn Huertas. On September 23, 2017, Cody and Caitlyn had gathered at the latter’s house in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township alongside several other people, including her ex-boyfriend, Alan McGinnis, who also had two children with her.
After a night of hanging out and drinking, Caitlyn passed out while Cody had gone upstairs to sleep. According to the sister’s testimony, in the early morning hours of September 24, Alan told her that he was headed upstairs to stab Cody to death. She thought it was just a joke until he acted upon his words and actually stabbed him in the throat as he was asleep on the couch. Then, he allegedly dragged Cody outside and fatally stabbed him again in the chest before putting him in the trunk of his car and driving away. He stopped at his cousin’s place at around 3 am in the morning and asked if he had a shovel.
After dumping Cody’s body under branches in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area on South Stump Tavern Road in Jackson, Alan returned to the Pardee Boulevard residence to find the people of the house had already mopped up the blood and gotten rid of all the visible evidence, including the surveillance footage. Other pieces of evidence, like the knife, Cody’s cell phone, and clothes, were also destroyed. In the fear of Alan, the people who assisted him in clearing out the evidence lied to the police and covered up the crime. But they eventually came clean and testified against Alan.
With so much evidence against him, the investigators charged Alan with the murder and kidnapping of Cody MacPherson, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, improper disposal of human remains, and destruction of evidence on April 21, 2018. After Alan’s arrest, one of Cody’s brothers, Daniel, passed a statement regarding the tragedy. He stated, “On behalf of the family, we want to thank everybody for their efforts, time, and energy to help look for Cody and get info as the case went on,” the post read. “This is very hard for the family and I… Keep your family close, everybody. Talk to a family member you haven’t talked to in a while and tell them you love them.”
Alan McGinnis Remains Incarcerated in a New Jersey Prison
On December 10, 2018, Alan J. McGinnis pleaded guilty to murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, Cody MacPherson, by stabbing him in the neck, chest, and abdomen in September 2017. A couple of months later, on February 1, 2019, he was sentenced to three decades in prison without the possibility of parole. At present, he is serving his sentence behind bars at East Jersey State Prison at 1100 Woodbridge Road in Rahway, New Jersey.
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