The former college soccer star arrested for murdering his little brother and his cat at a luxurious New Jersey apartment made a series of disturbing social media posts leading up to the heinous crime. 

Matthew Hertgen, 31, was charged with first-degree murder, various weapons offenses and animal cruelty for killing his 26-year-old brother Joseph Hertgen. 

Princeton Police responded to a 911 call reporting that there was a fire and a dead body within one of the residences inside the Michelle Mews Apartments on Saturday, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

When officers responded to the scene, they found Matthew, who was determined to be the caller, in the residence along with the beaten and cut up body of the victim and a dead cat.

Police believe Matthew – who attended the ritzy private college Wesleyan University – used a knife and a golf club to brutally assault and murder his brother – who worked as a banker after graduating from the University of Michigan.

One day before the brutal murder, heavily bearded Matthew posted a chilling selfie on Facebook of himself – laying expressionless on the floor next to a cat toy, that costs $7.99 from PetSmart.

The toy was presumably owned by the Hertgen family’s pet cat, that was also slaughtered during the homicide at the home near Princeton. 

Wearing a black t-shirt, the beady-eyed selfie showed the alleged murderer lying on a beige carpet floor. It was uploaded to the social media site without a caption. 

Matthew’s grown-out facial hair and deadpan stare matched his mugshot – which was released by prosecutors late on Monday. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a black jacket. 

His most recent written post was from a September 4, which he shared a disturbing poem about death and fire. 

The content was graphic – and seemed to be an original poem written by Matthew himself.  

‘Someone sits alone in that room. That room where the walls shake. He still has a pulse. Blood still flows through his veins. But something is wrapped around him. Squeezing him. Choking him. Suffocating him. Tightly wound around his head. Fastened deep in his throat. Blood oozes out of his eyes,’ Matthew said.

‘His body is surrounded by fires. The fires are blazing inside of him. He is combusting into nothing. His eyes redden by the minute. Creases form on his forehead. He keeps his mouth tightly closed.’

The cause and manner of Joseph’s death are pending the results of an autopsy – and the motivation for his killing is unknown. 

The Hertgen brothers were raised in the quaint coastal town of Toms River by their multi-millionaire tech mogul father David and mom Debra. 

Their father, David Hertgen, is the president and CFO of business internet provider WiLine Networks, according to his LinkedIn.

The affluent brothers grew up in a four-bed, three-bath mansion in Toms River, New Jersey, which was kitted out with a swimming pool in the backyard. 

Online records show the home, which is worth an estimated $1.2 million, was sold in 2018. 

The Michelle Mews Apartment complex where Joseph was murdered is a luxurious building within Palmer Square Residences in downtown Princeton – minutes away from the Ivy League University.

Current listings for Michelle Mews Apartments go for $6,275 to $6,300 a month, according to its website. 

Both men were college soccer stars – Matthew played at Wesleyan University from 2011 to 2014 and Joseph played at the University of Michigan from 2016 to 2019. 

Each of them were standout soccer players at Toms River North High School as well, reported NJ.com.

Joseph graduated college in 2020 with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration, Accounting and Finance, and was working as an analyst at Locust Point Capital, his LinkedIn stated.