Police discovered that a man allegedly killed his brother in Princeton, New Jersey, after he called 911 to report a fire and a dead body at the luxury apartment complex where the victim’s body was found, prosecutors said.

Matthew Hertgen, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his 26-year-old brother, Joseph Hertgen. He is also charged with third- and fourth-degree weapons charges related to possession of a golf club and knife, as well as animal cruelty related to the death of a family cat.

A police source who spoke anonymously to The New York Post said that Hertgen set the cat on fire.

“It’s incredibly tragic. Matthew Hertgen came from what appeared to be a perfect, all-American family. No one could have predicted that something like this would happen. To have it end in such violence is shocking, and the loss of his brother Joseph is devastating,” the police source told the Post.

Matthew Hertgen is charged with first-degree murder in connection with his brother Joseph Hertgen’s death. (Wesleyan.edu)

Both brothers played college soccer — Matthew at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and Joseph at the University of Michigan.

An investigation into Joseph’s death is ongoing. Mercer County authorities are asking anyone with information about the alleged crime to contact the Princeton PD.