Long Branch man enters guilty plea after case is reversed on appeal
A Long Branch man plead guilty Monday to charges of aggravated manslaughter and armed robbery in Monmouth County Superior Court and faces up to 50 years in state prison as a result of the plea. The Defendant had his 2006 murder convicted overturned on appeal by the New Jersey Appellate Division based on several errors made by the trial court. According to the Asbury Park Press article, "Bruce D. Beacham Jr., 29, was found guilty of felony murder and aggravated manslaughter by a Monmouth County trial jury in the May 10, 2004 shooting death of 22-year-old Luis Gonzalez during an armed robbery of the man's Long Branch apartment." The Defendant admitted, as a factual basis for his guilty plea, that he and his co-consirator broke into the victim's apartment in search for drugs and money but were interrupted when the victim and his friends returned to the apartment. The Defendant was struggling with the victim when his gun fired and hit the victim in the head. Following the trial in 2006, the Defendant was sentenced to 40 years in State prison. As a result, it looks like although the appeal was successful and the case was remanded back to Monmouth County Superior Court for trial, the Defendant and his attorney decided to plead guilty rather than take the case to trial a second time.
