NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The Perkiomen Township man who beat his girlfriend to death with a hammer was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Montgomery County jury on Thursday.
William Carey, 47, will be automatically sentenced to life in prison. He was charged with hitting his girlfriend, 34-year-old Jessica Zipkin, in the back of her head with a hammer at least 20 times and killing her in his Perkiomen Township boarding house, located next to the Duck Inn Taproom on Gravel Pike, in November 2024.
During the trial, Carey’s lawyer conceded that his client is guilty of third-degree murder. However, he argued that Carey was too high on methamphetamine to understand what he was doing.
His lawyer said Carey and Zipkin had both smoked meth, and Carey was so high that he could not form a specific intent to kill — a key component of first-degree murder. Third-degree murder carries a maximum 20- to 40-year sentence. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence with no chance for parole.
Prosecutor Kelly Lloyd told the jury that an intoxication defense is a high bar. She listed several of Carey’s “specific and deliberate actions” after the murder, including texting a friend for help just minutes after the murder, then saying “never mind.”
“Immediately after he sent text messages that were completely coherent, he recognized that he needed help. He asked the cleaning lady to come assist him. He then went and hid all of his clothing. He threw it away. He changed his clothes. He took a shower — all steps to try to conceal what he had done,” Lloyd said.
She also showed video from the Duck Inn, where Carey worked, about 10 minutes after the killing. It shows Carey entering a code to get into the basement, where he buried his bloody clothes in a trash can. Lloyd said Carey sent Zipkin a text later that day, even though he knew her dead body was still on the floor of his room.
“Do not absolve him of the horrible things he did because he used drugs,” Lloyd told the jury.
As she handed down the life sentence, Montgomery County judge Wendy Rothstein told Carey he’s “a cold-blooded killer,” and called the murder “brutal, senseless, and selfish.”
Zipkin’s family described her as “sweet, kind and sometimes a little goofy.”
Carey’s lawyers said appellate issues have been preserved.