Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, 20, is charged with killing three women and attempting to kill a fourth
NEWARK -- The journey between the Orange home 20-year-old Khalil Wheeler-Weaver shared with his mother and an abandoned house where Newark native Joanne Browne's murdered body was found is just over half a mile.
The few blocks between the large, empty Highland Avenue house and the Wheeler-Weaver family home are quiet. Lined with stately, historic homes and "crime watch" community signs, the neighborhood is home to what residents say are many "nice families" and elderly couples.
Authorities say the sleepy streets also played backdrop to a horrific homicide, the alleged details of which are emerging via court documents obtained by NJ Advance Media.
In February, an Essex County grand jury indicted Wheeler-Weaver in the murders of Browne, 33, Sarah Butler, 20, of Montclair, and Robin West, 19, of Philadelphia. All three women went missing and were brutally killed last fall. Wheeler-Weaver is also accused in the kidnapping, sexual assault and attempted murder of a fourth woman, who authorities say survived the attempt to take her life.
Wheeler-Weaver already has pleaded not guilty to charges in Butler's and Browne's killings. He's scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment Monday before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler in Newark. His attorney has not responded to requests for comment.
This is a closer look how authorities connected the dots to the alleged serial killer:
BROWNE
The last time Joanne Browne called a friend, it was on Oct. 22, 2016, from a phone number investigators say is tied Wheeler-Weaver, according to court documents obtained by NJ Advance Media.
Authorities have said her body wasn't discovered until more than a month after she disappeared, found by contractors working at the vacant house on Highland Avenue in Orange. Her nose and mouth were covered with tape, and a jacket was tied around her neck, according to a detective's affidavit.
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The document, filed in state Superior Court in support of a motion this January to collect hair samples from Wheeler-Weaver, states investigators were able to use his cellphone records to place him at key locations in both Browne and Butler's slayings.
Browne was last seen by a friend getting into a car, after cellphone records show she received a call from Wheeler-Weaver's number, the affidavit states. Browne, who had given her own phone to another person, later called the friend from Wheeler-Weaver's number to tell her where she was going, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states Wheeler-Weaver's cellphone records placed him at the Highland Avenue home for about 30 minutes before picking up Browne and returning. After spending approximately another hour at the house, the documents say, he left and never returned.
A man who lives near the abandoned home on Highland Avenue where Browne's body was found, said it was a popular spot for squatters. The man, who declined to give his name, told NJ Advance Media he remembers one night last fall hearing "some scuffling going on in there ... arguing, and carrying on."
Authorities have said Browne's body was discovered Dec. 5, the day before Wheeler-Weaver was first arrested in connection with Butler's killing.
CONNECTING THE KILLINGS
Butler, a student at New Jersey City University, was last seen with Wheeler-Weaver on Nov. 22, according to investigators. After a massive manhunt for Butler, her body was found on Dec. 1, buried beneath leaves and debris at the Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange.
Cellphone data allegedly also placed Wheeler-Weaver at locations, implicating him in Butler's death.
Like Browne, Butler also was strangled with an article of clothing, according to the affidavit, which states her car was later found within a mile of Wheeler-Weaver's home.
"It's just sad she had to go as soon as she did," her father, Victor Butler, told NJ Advance Media at a memorial in December.
"(There are) not words for it, it's very hard for us," he said at the time. At his Montclair home last week, Butler declined to comment on whether or not he will attend Monday's arraignment.
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The February indictment alleges Wheeler-Weaver killed Robin West on Sept. 1, before starting a fire at an abandoned property on Lakeside Avenue in Orange, where firefighters later discovered her burned body. Authorities have said she was identified using dental records.
Her father, Lee West, told NJ Advance Media last week he has taken one previous trip to Essex County --- to see the home where his daughter perished. He is planning, he said, to come back for Wheeler-Weaver's arraignment.
"Our hearts are broken," West said. "She loved her family. She was just a caring and giving person. She had a smile that could light up a room."
The Prosecutor's Office has said Wheeler-Weaver had sexual interactions with the murder victims, but has declined to elaborate on the statement, or on other details of how Wheeler-Weaver allegedly knew the women.
In addition to the murders and the attack in Elizabeth, Wheeler-Weaver is charged with desecrating human remains -- for allegedly hiding the bodies -- and with aggravated arson, for the fire he allegedly set at the Lakeside Avenue property.
THE AFTERMATH
Wheeler-Weaver is in jail on $5 million bail. His home on a sunny day last week sat empty, with a few newspapers littering the front lawn. There was no answer at the front door, and neighbors say his mother has not been by the house much since her son's Dec. 6 arrest.
That night, neighbor Marie Fleury said, police cars swarmed the entire street, and descended on the Wheeler-Weaver house.
"We were shocked," she said.
Another neighbor, who declined to give her name, said she too, was surprised when she heard why the onslaught of authorities converged on the otherwise quiet avenue.
The realization, she said, has shaken her.
"I lock the doors now," she said.
The women both said they hadn't ever interacted much with Wheeler-Weaver's mother. But, Fleury, who lives with her 19-year-old granddaughter, said the four or five teenagers who live on the block would often hang outside, especially during the summer months. Wheeler-Weaver, she said, would often cross the street to talk with her granddaughter.
"When I think..." she said, stopping to shake her head. "Oh God, my granddaughter could have been one of the victims."
Staff reporter Noah Cohen contributed to this report.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
