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Indiana Man Sentenced To Life For Killing And Dismembering Father Of Two
Mathew Cramer, who murdered, decapitated and dismembered father of two Shane Van Nguyen in a storage unit, is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
An Indiana man was sentenced to life in prison after admitting to brutally beating, killing, decapitating and dismembering another man.
Superior Court Judge David Zent enforced the jury's recommended sentence of life without parole for 22-year-old Mathew Cramer.
Earlier this month, a jury in Allen County convicted the Fort Wayne man of murder, abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement in the April 2021 death of 55-year-old Shane Van Nguyen.
During the sentencing, Cramer apologized to Van Nguyen’s family, saying, “I am truly sorry for what happened. I wish I could take it back. I apologize,” according to Fort Wayne news station WPTA.
Family friends Rob Evans and Don Cochran presented a victim impact statement on behalf of Nguyen's widow, Don Nguyen, according to CBS/FOX affiliate WTHI-TV.
“His murder took away my husband,” Don Nguyen’s statement said. “His murder took away a father of two sons.”
Cramer admitted to killing Nguyen on April 23, 2021, after he said he’d had enough of Nguyen’s sexual advances, according to CBS affiliate WANE. During the trial, Cramer’s attorney, Robert Scremin, said Nguyen preyed on Cramer, who was accepting rides and dinners from Nguyen in exchange for sex at the storage unit where Cramer lived.
During their final encounter, Cramer told police he “exploded on him,” and put Nguyen in a choke hold until he lost consciousness. Law and Crime reports Cramer confessed to then dragging him into the storage unit, stomping on his head and slamming it into the concrete floor.
Cramer was later caught on store surveillance footage purchasing a machete, shovels, a hacksaw, gloves and tarp.
Cramer and an accomplice, 22-year-old Jacob Carreon-Hamilton, then dismembered Nguyen’s body and stuffed the remains in large black trash bags. Carreon-Hamilton filmed some of the dismembering on his cell phone, which was shown to the jury twice during the trial.
According to Law and Crime, the video showed Cramer hacking at the corpse, taking 43 blows to sever Nguyen’s head from his body, then kicking the head away.
Police caught Cramer and Carreon-Hamilton driving Nguyen’s Honda Odyssey, with the garbage bags containing Nguyen’s chopped up body in the vehicle.
Carreon-Hamilton pleaded guilty to one count each of assisting in the criminal abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement. He was sentenced to five years in prison, according to Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR. As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Carreon-Hamilton testified against Cramer during the trial.
Allen County Prosecutor Tom Chaille said Cramer plans to appeal the conviction, according to Fox 55 in Fort Wayne, which typically takes about a year.
