Burlco man gets prison in beating death and backyard burial of acquaintance
Christopher Costello was found guilty in the slaying of Justin Dubois.
A Burlington County man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for aiding his brother in the 2016 beating death of a 23-year-old acquaintance and in burying him in their backyard.
Christopher Costello, 29, was found guilty by a jury in August of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the killing of Justin Dubois of West Windsor, N.J.
Bryan Costello, 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter earlier this year and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally beating Dubois with a baseball bat and then burying his body in the backyard of his family's Lumberton home.
Christopher Costello was previously tried in Dubois' slaying and found guilty of desecrating human remains and hindering apprehension, but the jury found him not guilty of murder and could not reach a verdict on aggravated manslaughter.
Dubois' mother reported him missing on Halloween 2016. Police executed a search warrant at the Costello home, where Dubois had been briefly staying, and found his body. Neighbors said the house in the cul-de-sac was suspected of drug sales, with 40 to 50 "cars coming and going" at all hours of the day for several years.