Mathew J Cramer II, 22, was sentenced by Allen Superior Court Judge David Zent after a jury convicted him of murder, abuse of a body, and evading law enforcement in the April 23, 2021 homicide of Shane Van Nguyen, 55. The jury had recommended life in prison.
The defense claimed Cramer was homeless and lived in a storage container during his trial. According to the defense narrative, Nguyen noticed Cramer strolling down the street, asked if he needed a ride, took Cramer to the storage facility, and the two had intercourse. Cramer was the victim of a sexual predator and responded in a panic, Fox News reported.
Shane Van Nguyen Case
That day, Nguyen was last seen at 3 pm. His family reported him missing, and a Silver Alert was issued over two days later, shortly after midnight Sunday morning.
As per court filings, authorities saw Nguyen's vehicle on April 25 and attempted to stop it, but it fled. Officers pursued it until the driver out and fled, and the passenger took the wheel and drove away. Officers called a halt to the pursuit because of the high speeds. They discovered the vehicle after it smashed through a home's fence.
Officers discovered Nguyen's mutilated body in rubbish bags inside the vehicle. A receipt for a Lowes shop in Goshen was also included. Tarps, a hacksaw, hacksaw blades, a plastic pail, and two shovels were among the goods. Officers also discovered a big knife purchased at a Walmart in Goshen.
Cramer smashed Nguyen's head to the ground, killing him. Cramer and an accomplice, Jacob Carreon-Hamilton, 21, are accused of dismembering Nguyen's body at a storage facility before placing the body in the victim's van, according to WTHR.
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Mathew Cramer II's Horrible Crime
Nguyen's death was judged a murder, with blunt force injuries to the head as the cause of death. Later that evening, Cramer was reportedly caught on surveillance footage purchasing a machete from Walmart as well as shovels, a hacksaw, gloves, and a tarp from a nearby Lowes.
According to the footage, Cramer was standing over Nguyen's body, clutching the machete. The 22-year-old then allegedly removes his jacket and begins hacking at the corpse, landing a total of 43 blows to detach Nguyen's head from his body before casually kicking the head aside.
Carreon-Hamilton pled guilty last year to one count of helping in the criminal mistreatment of a body and one count of evading law police. According to NBC station WTHR in Indianapolis, he was sentenced to five years in jail. Carreon-Hamilton reportedly testified against Cramer during the trial as part of his plea deal with prosecutors.
Cramer and Carreon-Hamilton was apprehended driving Nguyen's Honda Odyssey after his family reported him missing. The two were captured after a brief chase, and the waste bags containing Nguyen's remains were found inside the car. Before Judge Zent delivered the sentence, Cramer addressed the court and apologized to Nguyen's family.
"I'm very sorry for what occurred," Cramer is supposed to have remarked. "I wish I could undo it." "Please accept my apologies."
Rob Evans and Don Cochran, family friends, allegedly spoke on behalf of Nguyen's wife and delivered a victim impact statement she wrote for the occasion, as per Law & Crime via MSN.
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