A Saddle Brook man faces attempted murder and aggravated arson charges after allegedly burning his girlfriend and leaving her for dead in the Pine Barrens.
Justin D. Martin, 36, was arrested Oct. 16 and held at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River after investigators tracked him from a remote camping area in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens to Asbury Park, the New York Post reported.
Authorities say the attack happened Oct. 15 in the Colliers Mills area of Plumsted Township. The woman was found burned and suffering from smoke inhalation, then flown to a major burn center. Martin faces attempted murder and aggravated arson charges while the case remains open.
The Pine Barrens are a vast stretch of woods in southern and central New Jersey. What started as a camping trip ended with a 911 call, an airlift, and a man in custody who declined to talk to detectives.
Court documents describe a desperate sequence after the alleged assault. The badly injured woman managed to locate a worker in the woods and asked him to call 911.
She told the worker her boyfriend had tried to kill her and burn her, then fled in a Chrysler 200. The call came in at 1:36 p.m.
Emergency crews found her conscious but burned and inhaling smoke. Medics intubated her and flew her to Temple University Burn Center in Philadelphia.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Bilheimer later said the victim was in stable condition and that the investigation was continuing.
Around 9 a.m. on the day of the alleged attack, the woman stopped at her mother’s home to pick up camping supplies. She did not say where she was going.
Hours later, Martin allegedly called the mother. According to court papers, he claimed the couple had argued and that he had left the campsite.
Soon after that call, emergency responders contacted the mother and told her daughter was seriously injured. The gap between his story and the medical reality is now central to the case.
The victim’s mother told detectives this was not the first time Martin had mistreated her daughter. She said he had been verbally abusive, thrown objects at her, and once abandoned her at Freehold Raceway Mall.
A stranger helped the stranded woman get back to her mother’s home after that earlier incident, the mother reported. Those statements now sit beside the Oct. 15 charges as investigators build the record.
Investigators tracked the Chrysler 200 to Asbury Park. The vehicle showed evidence of sandy terrain consistent with the wooded campsite area.
Police found Martin inside with another man and a woman. The second man claimed he had been sleeping in the back seat all day and knew nothing about any attack. Detectives ended that interview, citing a lack of cooperation.
Martin declined to speak with investigators and asked for an attorney. He was arrested the next day, Oct. 16, and held at the Ocean County Jail in Toms River.
Martin faces attempted murder and aggravated arson charges. The exact method used to inflict the burns has not been detailed beyond the allegations that he burned the woman and tried to kill her before fleeing.
The victim’s name has not been released. The worker who placed the 911 call, the second man, and the woman found in the car also remain unnamed in public accounts. Bilheimer’s office has said only that the victim is stable and the probe continues.
Domestic-violence cases often turn on what victims and family members report over time. Here, a mother’s earlier warnings, a worker’s 911 call, burn injuries serious enough for intubation and air transport, and a defendant’s decision to stop talking all sit in the same file.
When a camping trip ends with a woman on fire in the woods and a man already known for leaving her stranded, the justice system’s job is simple: finish the investigation, prove the case, and keep predators off the street.
