Help Identifying a Case? Murder in NJ, Trying To Find Any Information About This Case & Don't Know Where To Start

[thesilphsecret]

Hello community! I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place. I looked through the rules and the forums and I just wasn't sure where to post this. I am researching a specific topic, and I just learned of a murder related to my topic of interest. I am trying to find more information about this case, but the details I have haven't been enough to help me find any relevant news articles or anything. I've never researched a true crime case before and I don't know where to begin. I was hoping there might be somebody here who can help me out or point me in the right direction!

Here's what I know:

Sometime around 2000 or 2001, a tattoo artist named Connor (or Conner, or Conor -- not entirely certain about the spelling) who worked at Body Marks Tattoo in Leonardo, New Jersey (small neighborhood in Monmouth County, near Atlantic Highlands) supposedly killed a man (in Sayreville, NJ I believe) and buried his body somewhere near a police shooting range. From what I hear, he was charged with murder and desecration of a body. One person I spoke with recalls that Connor's last name was "Hollerman, or O'Hollering, something Irish" and that he had an accomplice in the killing. They also said that they do remember there being a newspaper article about the whole thing (they live in Leonardo). He was told that it was a drug deal gone wrong.

I've been googling around and haven't been able to find anything relevant. Anybody have any suggestions? I thank you for your time!!

 

[realanastasia]

About the business, has some names of owners to possibly contac:

Leonardo Journal; When the First Tattoo Parlor Arrived in Town (Published 1993)

DAYS after a tattoo parlor called Body Marks opened on Leonard Avenue here, within walking distance of the Naval Weapons Station Earle waterfront complex on Route 36, Willie G. Hazard had some community leaders on pins and needles. They say Mr. Hazard, 31, a tattoo artist from St. Louis, is a...

www.nytimes.com

 

[thesilphsecret]

About the business, has some names of owners to possibly contac:

Leonardo Journal; When the First Tattoo Parlor Arrived in Town (Published 1993)

DAYS after a tattoo parlor called Body Marks opened on Leonard Avenue here, within walking distance of the Naval Weapons Station Earle waterfront complex on Route 36, Willie G. Hazard had some community leaders on pins and needles. They say Mr. Hazard, 31, a tattoo artist from St. Louis, is a...

www.nytimes.com

Thank you! I've tried getting in touch with Willie to no avail. I have gotten in touch with the former owner's son, who provided me with most of the details.

 

[bettyboop]

Hi, @thesilphsecret , welcome to Websleuths!! I thought it would be so easy to google this and find something!! Not so. It seems there are a lot of cases involving tattoos out there. I will continue to look and if I think of a websleuther on this site who might be able to help I will tag them .

 

[thesilphsecret]

Hi, @thesilphsecret , welcome to Websleuths!! I thought it would be so easy to google this and find something!! Not so. It seems there are a lot of cases involving tattoos out there. I will continue to look and if I think of a websleuther on this site who might be able to help I will tag them .

Thank you!! I thought the same, I've been surprised at how tough it's been. I plan on digging through some newspaper archives.

 

[thesilphsecret]

Some more potential details. The previous details were confirmed by the Tattoo Parlo owner's son. These details have not been confirmed. I'm told that perhaps it happened in Aberdeen, and that they killed the man by pushing a fishtank over onto his head, then dumped his body at a police shooting range.

 

[MrsWatson]

Have you tried anywhere like newspapers.com?

They're a great source for smaller local newspapers. If you knew the approximate time frame, you could have a good starting point.

 

[caradana]

There is a very smart and cool crime reporter at NJ.com/Star Ledger named S.P. Sullivan. He’s active on twitter. Post to him, ask if this rings a bell and if it doesn’t, ask if he might be willing to repost it. If anyone knows more about this, twitter will surface it. https://twitter.com/spsullivan

 

[thesilphsecret]

Have you tried anywhere like newspapers.com?

They're a great source for smaller local newspapers. If you knew the approximate time frame, you could have a good starting point.

Thank you! I'm definitely going to try newspapers.com!!

 

[thesilphsecret]

There is a very smart and cool crime reporter at NJ.com/Star Ledger named S.P. Sullivan. He’s active on twitter. Post to him, ask if this rings a bell and if it doesn’t, ask if he might be willing to repost it. If anyone knows more about this, twitter will surface it. https://twitter.com/spsullivan

Ooooh, thank you very much!! That's such a great suggestion. I'll let you know how it turns out!!

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

Have you tried anywhere like newspapers.com?

They're a great source for smaller local newspapers. If you knew the approximate time frame, you could have a good starting point.

MrsWatson has a great suggestion above. You could also check with libraries and historical societies in Monmouth County, NJ to see if they have newspapers from that time period in their archives. Not everything is online, even in 2023!

 

[Puzzles8]

Hello community! I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place. I looked through the rules and the forums and I just wasn't sure where to post this. I am researching a specific topic, and I just learned of a murder related to my topic of interest. I am trying to find more information about this case, but the details I have haven't been enough to help me find any relevant news articles or anything. I've never researched a true crime case before and I don't know where to begin. I was hoping there might be somebody here who can help me out or point me in the right direction!

Here's what I know:

Sometime around 2000 or 2001, a tattoo artist named Connor (or Conner, or Conor -- not entirely certain about the spelling) who worked at Body Marks Tattoo in Leonardo, New Jersey (small neighborhood in Monmouth County, near Atlantic Highlands) supposedly killed a man (in Sayreville, NJ I believe) and buried his body somewhere near a police shooting range. From what I hear, he was charged with murder and desecration of a body. One person I spoke with recalls that Connor's last name was "Hollerman, or O'Hollering, something Irish" and that he had an accomplice in the killing. They also said that they do remember there being a newspaper article about the whole thing (they live in Leonardo). He was told that it was a drug deal gone wrong.

I've been googling around and haven't been able to find anything relevant. Anybody have any suggestions? I thank you for your time!!

I would start with public records. Maybe City,County or Local Police? Maybe a Missing Persons Report or Death Certificate?

From there, I apologize, I am not much help as to how to get those Public Records. Maybe making a phone call to the County,City or Police and asking them how you should go about researching information?

Perhaps a fellow Websleuth's Member can give us more direction as to how to follow up.
Anyone?

JMO

 

[Laughing]

These sites are usually no cost:

Research Guides: New Jersey Digitized Historic Newspapers: Home

An index of all known digitized newspapers published in New Jersey

libguides.njstatelib.org

New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project | Digital Collections

collections.libraries.rutgers.edu

The New Jersey Herald Archives

Inventory of New Jersey Newspapers on Microfilm / Online

Keep in mind that newspapers (and towns) merge & change their names.

Once you identify a county, you may find information here:

NJGenWeb part of the USGenWeb

Old genealogist here, newspapers are a great start for research about people!