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Kenneth Saal, 33, formerly of Lindenwold, also admitted burglary and stalking in connection with the murder of Carolyn Byington, 26, of Plainsboro, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.
During the plea, Saal stated that in April 2019 he copied the victim’s house key while she was at work and used the key to enter her apartment on multiple days in the following months, Ciccone said.
He recounted how he planted hidden surveillance cameras to record her in her home without her knowledge. Saal then described how he brutally murdered the victim on June 10, 2019, when she came home unexpectedly during lunch and discovered him in her home.
Saal also pleaded guilty to a plot that was discovered last month by the Prosecutor’s office. Saal admitted that in an effort to derail his trial that was originally scheduled to commence on Dec. 5, he conspired to hire someone to commit a copycat murder to make it look like the true killer of Byington had not yet been apprehended, Ciccone said.
He also acknowledged that as an alternative, he conspired to have one of two witnesses who were going to testify at his upcoming trial killed, and have their murder staged as a suicide with a note claiming responsibility for Byington’s murder, Ciccone said.
“Securing justice for the victim in this case would not have been possible if not for the collective efforts of Sergeant David Abromaitis, Detective Paul Kelley of the Prosecutor’s Office, and Sergeant Timothy McMahon of the Plainsboro Police Department,” Ciccone said. “We are grateful for their work and the work of other members of the various law enforcement agencies who assisted throughout the investigation of these crimes.”
The plea agreement calls for a 55-year state prison sentence. Sentencing is set for Jan. 23, 2023.
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