5-13-2022 10:35pm

Bound Brook Man Convicted of Murder in Late April

Donnella Tilery Editor

Somerset County Prosecutor's Office

April 27 at 3:19 PM · APRIL 27, 2022 NEWS RELEASE

BOUND BROOK MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERSOMERVILLE, N.J. - Somerset County Acting Prosecutor Annmarie Taggart, and Somerset County Prosecutors Office Chief of County Detectives John W. Fodor announces that on April 26, 2022, defendant Ryan D. Keogh was found guilty of 1st-degree Murder; 2nd-degree Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose; 3rd degree Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution; 3rd degree Endangering an Injured Victim; 4th degree False Swearing (4 of 5 Counts); 4th degree Tampering with Physical Evidence; and 4th degree Unlawful Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Magazine, following a six week jury trial in Somerset County. Defendant Keogh was acquitted of one of the counts against him – a sole count of 4th degree False Swearing. The Honorable Peter J. Tober, Somerset County Presiding Criminal Judge presided over the trial. The trial began on March 7, 2022 with jury selection and ended with the jury’s return of verdict on April 26, 2022. After the verdict, the defendant was remanded to the Somerset County Jail where he will be lodged pending sentencing. Acting Prosecutor Taggart stated Ryan D. Keogh was arrested for the aforesaid charges on February 14, 2019 and has been held in detention in the Somerset County Jail since that date. Defendant Keogh’s conviction stems from an investigation that began at 7:36 p.m. on January 9, 2019 when the Middlesex Borough Police Department received a 9-1-1 call reporting shots fired and found a gunshot wound victim at a residence on Farm Lane, Bound Brook, N.J. Middlesex Borough authorities relayed the call to the Bound Brook Police, who responded and located victim Terrence C. Coulanges, age 29, of Old Bridge, outside the residence with gunshot wounds to the right thigh and left chest. Responding officers, along with medical personnel, initiated life saving measures and subsequently transported the victim to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, N. J. where he was pronounced deceased.Detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Investigation Unit, along with detectives from the Bound Brook Police Department, responded to the scene to conduct further investigation. Investigators interviewed numerous neighbors who reported hearing what turned out to be gunshots at 5:45 p.m. The investigation determined that defendant Ryan Keogh, along with other family members, left the residence on Farm Lane for a period of time after Mr. Coulanges was shot and before a 9-1-1 call was placed at 7:36 p.m. After defendant shot Mr. Coulanges, the police were not called until 1 hour and 51 minutes had passed. Mr. Coulanges was found to have died as the result of gunshot wounds to the chest and thigh. The Medical Examiner found the cause of death to be gunshot wounds and homicide to be the manner of death.The defendant was arrested on February 14, 2019 following an investigation conducted by several law enforcement agencies, namely, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Crimes Scene Investigation Units, the Bound Brook Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This matter was prosecuted by Acting Assistant Prosecutors Frank Kolodzieski and Natacha Despinos Peavey. On the Murder charge, the defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of 75 years imprisonment with 85% of the term to be served without parole under the No Early Release Act. On the charge of Possession of Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, the defendant faces a prison term of 5 – 10 years with a maximum of 5 years to be served without parole. This charge implicates a Graves Act sentence which has a mandatory imposition of parole ineligibility fixed at one-half the sentence imposed by the Court, or 42 months, whichever is greater.On the Hindering One’s Own Apprehension or Prosecution charge, defendant faces a prison term of 3 – 5 years with up to half the term without parole.On the charge of Endangering an Injured Victim, defendant faces a term of 3 – 5 years in prison with up to half the term without parole. The service of the sentence for Endangering an Injured Victim must, under New Jersey Statutes, be served consecutively to the sentence imposed for the Murder, the crime that rendered the victim Terrence Coulanges physically helpless. For each of the 4th degree False Swearing counts, defendant faces a maximum of 18 months in state prison. For the 4th degree Unlawful Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Magazine charge, defendant faces a maximum of 18 months in state prison. Judge Tober will impose sentence on June 10, 2022.