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Three Men Charged In Connection To Killing Of Missing Fort Wayne Man

Rebecca Green
/
WBOI

Three men have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and killing of a 54-year-old Fort Wayne man.

Credit Photo provided by the Allen County Sheriff's Department
Mathew J. Cramer II

On Tuesday, Mathew J. Cramer II, 21, and Jacob D. Carreon-Hamilton, 20, both appeared in Allen Superior Court on preliminary charges connected to the killing of 55-year-old Shane Nguyen.

Credit Photo provided by FWPD
Shane Nguyen

Nguyen was the subject of a statewide Silver Alert on Friday.

According to court documents, Nguyen’s dismembered body was found in the back of his own van after a crash during a police chase early Sunday morning.

The driver of the van fled the scene, but evidence found inside led police to a Lowe’s in Goshen where Cramer, Carreon-Hamilton and Cody Clements, 20, were seen buying tools used to dismember Nguyen’s body.

Video from a nearby Walmart showed Carreon-Hamilton driving Nguyen's van, with Cramer in the passenger seat, according to court documents.

Social media evidence linked Cramer to a Fort Wayne U-Stor rented by Cramer. Video at that site showed Cramer driving the van through the gate. Items found inside the storage unit included a blood-stained tarp, a large knife and items connected to Nguyen, according to court documents. 

During interviews with police, Cramer said he asked Nguyen for a ride back from Elkhart to Fort Wayne, and determined in his head to kill Nguyen before they arrived.

 

He told police he put Nguyen in a choke hold until he passed out, and dragged him from the van. Nguyen hit his head on the pavement.

 

According to the Allen County Coroner’s Office, Nguyen’s death was declared a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head. 

 

Cramer said he left Nguyen's body in the storage unit and went back to Goshen, and bought the items used to try to dispose of the body.

 

Credit Photo provided by the Allen County Sheriff's Department
Jacob Carreon-Hamilton

Carreon-Hamilton told police he had nothing to do with the death of Nguyen or what happened inside the storage unit. Cramer told police Carreon-Hamilton assisted him in dismembering Nguyen's body.

 

Cramer faces preliminary charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement in a vehicle. Carreon-Hamilton is charged preliminarily with assisting a criminal in the commission of a murder, abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement in a vehicle.

 

Cramer remains in the Allen County Jail, held without bond on the murder charge. Carreon-Hamilton remains in the Allen County Jail, held on $15,000 bond.

 

No information is yet available on Clements' charges or if he is in custody.

 

Prosecutors have 72 hours to file formal charges against the defendents.

 

Charging information is below. Contents may be disturbing.

 

Mathew Cramer and Jacob Carreon-Hamilton PC's April 27 2021 by Rebecca Green Knight on Scribd

Rebecca manages the news at WBOI. She joined the staff in December 2017, and brought with her nearly two decades of experience in print journalism, including 15 years as an award-winning reporter for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.