Chilling Facebook Posts from Ex College Soccer Player Accused of Killing Brother and Cat Revealed

On Monday, the Mercer County Prosector’s Office announced Matthew Hertgen (above left), 31, was charged with first-degree murder, various third and fourth-degree weapons offenses related to possession of a knife and golf club and one county of third-degree animal cruelty in connection to his younger brother, 26-year-old Joseph Hertgen’s (above right) death.

Per prosecutors, “Matthew purposefully or knowing engaged in conduct that led to the death of his younger brother and caused the death of a cat that was located within the residence.”

The incident went down on Saturday in Princeton, NJ, with Matthew calling 9-1-1 after 11 pm to report a fire and a dead body. Joseph was pronounced dead at the scene, with authorities saying his body “exhibited injuries including signs of blunt force trauma and lacerations.”

Autopsy results are pending; his death is being treated as a homicide. Matthew faces 30 years to life in prison and a fine of $200,000 for the first-degree murder charge alone.

Matthew played on the men’s soccer team at Wesleyan University before he graduated in 2015. His brother, Joseph, also played soccer for the University of Michigan until his 2019 graduation.

The call to police happened on February 22, but on February 21, the day before, Matthew was still posting to social media.

As pointed out by the DailyMail, Hertgen shared a selfie to Facebook at 10:15 am on Friday. In it, he’s seen lying on the ground as a cat toy sits nearby. The toy presumably belongs to the deceased animal found at the scene of the crime.

Before that, his most recent post was in September 2024 — in which he shared what appears to be a poem with some pretty dark themes and phrases.

It can be read in full below:

What have you created?
Why have you created it?
Who are you trying to strangle?
And what god are you serving?
I can see the knives sharpening.
I can hear the arrows whizzing.
I can feel my heart beating.
But can he?

Someone sits alone in that room.
That room where the walls shake.
He still has a pulse.
Blood still flows through his veins.
But something is wrapped around him.
Squeezing him. Choking him. Suffocating him.
Tightly wound around his head.
Fastened deep in his throat.
Blood oozes out of his eyes.
His ears are sparking.
His face vibrates.
He convulses, and he doesn’t stop.
He’s lost. He’s asleep. He’s dead.
His spirit has been crucified.
His agony doesn’t end.
His pains only get worse.
The waves make him sicker.
He can barely keep his eyes open.
But knows what appears when he closes them.

Someone sits alone in that room.
That room where the fountain is.
He’s hunched over.
The fountainhead is aimed at his face.
Waters erupt from the spout on him.
The pressure in his head is unbearable.
The fountain shakes. His brain shakes.
And so does the floor under his feet.
He is drunk on the waters.
He is drowning.
He can barely breath.
He won’t eat a thing.
His body is surrounded by fires.
The fires are blazing inside of him.
He is combusting into nothing.
His eyes redden by the minute.
Creases form on his forehead.
He keeps his mouth tightly closed.
But knows what happens when he opens it.

Someone sits alone in that room.
That room where the god is.
He is suffering terribly.
But knows what it means to fall in love.