Pemberton man who dumped remains of man he killed in Jackson is indicted

The Pemberton man who stabbed another man to death last September and then buried him at the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management area in Jackson Township is indicted, according to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.

On September 24 2017, Pemberton Township Police Detectives filed a missing person report for MacPherson (DOB 07/15/1997) who had recently moved to Browns Mills from Portage, Indiana.

Crews with the NJ forest fire service made the grim discovery of the remains of Cody MacPherson, on March 19 of this year while conducting prescribed burns near South Stump Tavern Road.

Warden Byrne was preparing the area for the burn when he observed human remains under logs close to the area of the burn.

He then moved closer and noticed what he believed to be a human skull.

Byrne then contacted his supervisor via radio and requested a suppression team to respond to put out the burn in the area to preserve the evidence.

Detectives from the New Jersey State Police Homicide Unit were called in and Detective Shaun Clark was assigned to work the investigation with the Major Crime Homicide Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Initial identification was made showing that the remains found were most likely those of MacPherson, the missing person out of Burlington County.

On March 20, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., a Post Mortem Examination was conducted at Community Medical Center's in Toms River.

The cause of death was ruled to be a stab wound to the left abdomen and the manner of death to be homicide.

Photographs and X-rays of the teeth were taken and it was determined that all dental work observed was consistent with the records obtained for MacPherson.

On April 17, 2018, D/Sgt. Joseph Itri of the NJSP was contacted by a Forensic Anthropologist, who informed him that the NJSP Laboratory positively identified the remains found in Jackson Township to be those of MacPherson by DNA analysis.

On April 21 2018 around 6:00 am two residential search warrants were executed in Pemberton Township and Jackson Township.

The investigation revealed that during the early hours of September 24, 2017, 27-year old Alan McGinnis allegedly stabbed MacPherson multiple times at the residence of 234 Pardee Blvd in Pemberton Township.

McGinnis then used a vehicle at the residence to transport MacPherson in the trunk to the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area.

He later traveled back to Pemberton where the scene was cleaned of visible blood and other evidence of the murder.

About a week later, McGinnis returned to the site in which he disposed of the victim to destroy evidence associated with the crime.

He's currently lodged in the Ocean County Jail.

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