A Pennsylvania man faces murder charges after police say he left a Philadelphia bar with a Temple University student whose body later was found 140 miles away on property belonging to the suspect’s grandmother, PEOPLE confirms.
Joshua Hupperterz, 29, of Hawley, Pennsylvania, was charged Sunday in the death of Jenna Burleigh, 22, a commuter student from Harleysville who transferred to the university only last week, Temple University President Richard M. Englert said in a statement.
Burleigh was reported missing Friday by her father. Surveillance footage later showed Burleigh after she left Pub Webb near the Temple campus with Hupperterz at about 2 a.m. Thursday, police said.
Under questioning by police, Hupperterz, a former Temple student, allegedly admitted to “elements of the crime,” Philadelphia Police Capt. John Ryan said at a news conference on Saturday.
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Inside Hupperterz’s North Philadelphia home near the bar, police allegedly found blood and large quantities of drugs, according to Philly.com.
Ryan said Burleigh was killed in Philadelphia, but her body then was moved to the home of Hupperterz’s mother and stepfather in Jenkintown, and later to his grandmother’s property in Wayne County, 140 miles north of Philadelphia, where it was discovered on Saturday.
Police picked up Hupperterz at the grandmother’s home on the same day. They have not revealed a possible motive.
Ryan told reporters that the alleged murder did not appear to be premeditated.
The Wayne County coroner said Burleigh died from the combined effects of strangulation and blunt trauma, reports Philly.com.
Hupperterz was arraigned early Sunday on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse. It could not be determined If he had obtained an attorney to represent him, and he has not yet entered a plea. He is being held without bail.
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In his statement, Temple President Englert said the campus community was “deeply saddened” to learn of Burleigh’s death, and added: “Our deepest sympathies go out to Jenna’s family and her classmates, both here at Temple and at Montgomery Community College.”
A statement from Temple Police via Twitter said: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Burleigh family and toe everyone touched by Jenna.”