Alleged killer Jeremy Allen told police there was 'blood everywhere' after finding dead man in his East Quogue home, court video reveals

An East Quogue man charged in the torture killing of a friend told detectives he woke up that morning to "blood everywhere" in his house and a dead man he did not recognize on the back deck of his house, video evidence played in court revealed this week.

But Jeremy Allen, 44, told Suffolk homicide detectives he opted not to call 911 and instead began to clean up the blood in his house before Southampton Town police officers received a tip from a man Allen asked for help, the videos showed.

The video evidence, which includes body camera footage from two Southampton police officers and an interrogation by Suffolk homicide detectives, was played during a two-day hearing that concluded Monday before State Supreme Court Justice Timothy Mazzei in Riverhead. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if statements Allen made to police will be admissible at his January trial on first- and second-degree murder charges in the killing of Christopher Hahn.

Prosecutors have said that Allen allegedly beat Hahn, 43, of Hampton Bays, for six hours before placing a bag over his head and stabbing him to death in an early morning killing captured by his home surveillance system on Sept. 28, 2024.

Defense attorney Colin Astarita, of Hampton Bays, told the judge Monday that while he had requested the hearing, he does not intend to move to suppress any of the statements. Mazzei said he would issue a written decision "in the very near future."

The videos played in court show Allen told investigators during a nearly three-hour interrogation that he was certain the body on his deck was not Hahn's, with whom he had been out drinking the night before, and that he wanted to know who it was and how they ended up at his house.

"I had nothing to do with it," Allen told Suffolk homicide detectives Michael Ronca and Matthew Sagistano in an interview room at Southampton police headquarters the afternoon of the killing.

Allen instead questioned where Hahn had gone and repeatedly told investigators he found it unusual his friend left his house without his shoes, backpack and cellphone. He said when Hahn found himself in trouble he often escaped to New York City, suggesting investigators might find him there.

"There’s a reason why he disappeared," Allen told detectives.

But Ronca questioned how Allen could have possibly known it was not Hahn on his deck when he said he didn’t touch the body and a bag was covering the man’s face.

"I don’t know," Allen responded.

The investigators focused on inconsistencies in the statements made by Allen, who told the first officers on scene that he never saw the body and initially blamed blood found during the initial walk-through of his house on chronic nosebleeds due to past cocaine use and complications from a COVID-19 test.

Ronca asked Allen why when he found his couch, a rug and a pill drenched in blood, which he also told police was "splattered all over his walls" and in his dining room, he didn’t just call 911.

"I’ve seen blood my whole life growing up fishing," Allen said.

"What were you going to do with the body?" Ronca later asked.

"I didn’t get that far," Allen responded.

Allen, who has multiple DWI convictions and a pending child rape case, expressed concern over his probation officer finding out about the body in his house and indicated he did not trust local police, the video showed.

Officers instead found out about the body after a receiving a tip from a man Allen said did work around his house. The man left the home and called police after Allen asked him to help clean up the blood that morning, according to prosecutors and statements made in the videos.

Sagistano testified Monday that the detectives’ questioning of Allen ended when police received a call from Astarita shortly after 5 p.m. the day of the alleged killing. Allen was placed under arrest at about 9:40 p.m. after investigators obtained a search warrant and viewed the surveillance footage showing the alleged crime taking place, the detective told the judge. Hahn was identified 10 minutes later through a fingerprint, Sagistano said.

Assistant District Attorney Elena Tomaro previously told the court prosecutors would not be willing to offer Allen a plea.

Astarita said in order to get a first-degree murder conviction, prosecutors will have to prove the torture element of the charge.

"Murder in the first degree is a very specific intent crime under this section, which requires that they prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he wanted to inflict extreme physical pain for an extended period of time and my client's desire was to continue to do that," Astarita said following the hearing.

A conviction at trial on the first-degree murder charge would likely result in a sentence of life in prison without parole. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life. Allen is also facing a felony charge for tampering with physical evidence.

Jury selection is set to begin Jan. 12, Mazzei said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.