Serial killer in NJ? Charged in two murders, may be tied to 3rd this month, report says

UNION TOWNSHIP — An Orange man accused of two recent murders in Union County may be a suspect in a third.

NBC 4 New York reported that Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, charged with the murder of 20-year-old New Jersey City University student Sarah Butler of Montclair and then the death of Joanne Brown, 33, may also be questioned about the death of a missing Philadelphia woman.

According to the report, the 19-year-old woman worked as escort and was living at the Garden State Motel in Union Township. Her body was found burned in an abandoned building in Orange. Butler's body was found in a similar manner.

Police said Butler's body was found in the Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange on Dec. 1 after she went missing on Nov. 23. Wheeler-Weaver pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to Brown's death. Her body was found on Dec. 5 in a vacant house in Orange by a work crew.

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office did not return messages seeking comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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