NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Perkiomen Township man is on trial for first degree murder, accused of beating his girlfriend to death in his apartment.
Prosecutor Christian Taffe said around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, William Carey, 47, hit his girlfriend Jessica Zipkin, 34, in the back of her head about 20 times with a hammer. He then allegedly took his bloody clothes next door into the basement of the Duck Inn Taproom on Gravel Pike, where he worked as a handyman and barback, put them in a trashbag and asked a cleaning lady to toss the bag in the dumpster.
Taffe said Carey worked his shift at the Duck Inn that night, though coworkers said he was mumbling and out of sorts. He went back to his room, then returned to the bar around 1:30 a.m., saying his girlfriend was dead in his apartment.
The bar’s owner called 911 and checked surveillance video, which Taffe said showed Carey wearing clothes that matched what was found in the dumpster before he changed. The prosecutor said the way Zipken was killed and the steps Carey took to hide it showed premeditation.
However, Carey’s lawyers told jurors they heard what happened, but prosecutors left out the why. They said blood tests indicated Carey had MDMA, methamphetamine, marijuana and other drugs in his system, which would have made it impossible for him to form the specific intent to kill, which is a key component of first degree murder.
Carey’s trial is expected to last four days.