Prosecutors slam Murphy: Freed NJ killer is no victim

🚨 NJ woman convicted of murder is freed by Gov. Murphy

🚨 Convict claims she killed her abusive boyfriend

🚨 Outraged prosecutors said she was the abuser and was not rehabilitated

Early on the morning of Sept. 4, 2010, Paige Pfefferle stabbed her 21-year-old boyfriend to death in the kitchen of her family's Audubon Park home.

Pfefferle was convicted of first-degree murder and other crimes. She rejected two plea deal offers from prosecutors before heading to trial.

She was sentenced to 30 years in prison with no eligibility for parole. State prison records showed she wasn't supposed to get out until Sept. 21, 2043.

However, Pfefferle was freed from Edna Mahan Correctional Facility on Thursday. She was one of five convicted killers who received clemency from Gov. Phil Murphy this week.

“I’m grateful to be granted clemency so I can advocate for those who suffer from mental health issues and women and young girls who are survivors of domestic abuse,” Pfefferle said in a statement provided by the ACLU of New Jersey.

In a scathing response, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said they strongly objected to Murphy's decision to commute Pfefferle's sentence.

And they warn that Pfefferle's "repeated lies" throughout her appeals process show she is not rehabilitated.

Prosecutors say convicted killer is not a battered woman

At her September 2013 trial, Pfefferle said to jurors that she was the victim of brutal physical abuse.

She said that her boyfriend Matthew Hus had hit her with a tire iron, the claw end of a hammer, and slapped her in the face at least 100 times.

But the jury soundly rejected her claim that she was a victim of domestic violence and convicted her, prosecutors said.

Pfefferle's friends testified at her trial. They said to jurors that she was the aggressor who berated, pushed, and shoved Hus.

"Clearly, the defendant was not a suitable candidate for clemency or commutation. She is a violent criminal, who not only murdered a 21-year-old young man, but she attempted to attack his good character to cover up her heinous act, which she continues to do. Paige Pfefferle was not a battered woman – she was the batterer," prosecutors said.

"Pfefferle’s statement upon her release from prison is truly offensive to actual victims of domestic violence. Her repeated lies from the night of the murder throughout both her appeal and post-conviction processes, demonstrate that she has not been rehabilitated. She refuses to take responsibility for her violent actions and asserts repeated lies to cover them up," prosecutors said.

Changing story to police during investigation

Pfefferle's story to detectives changed several times throughout the investigation, according to court documents.

Pfefferle was 19 years old when she stabbed Hus in the left side of his chest. The knife used to kill him was found placed back in a butcher block on the kitchen table.

At the scene, she first said to police officers and a family member that Hus had collapsed during an argument. She added that he might have hit his chest as he fell.

Later, at police headquarters, Pfefferle said that she grabbed a knife during the argument and that Hus walked into the blade.

However, a medical examiner testified at trial and said the victim's chest wound was not the result of an accident.

READ ON: 5 convicted killers free in second round of NJ clemency

"The examiner opined that Hus had been stabbed by another person in an overhand thrust in a downward motion," court documents said.

At trial, she again said Hus had stumbled into the knife and she denied that any downward stabbing motion was involved.

Not the first time

It's not the first time a New Jersey governor's decision to free a convicted killer who said she was abused has been questioned.

In 2018, then-Gov. Chris Christie granted clemency to Lisa Pyatt.

Pyatt stabbed Kevin McGowan in their Point Pleasant Beach apartment on June 19, 1991 — three days before their wedding.

She was convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors and an Ocean County jury didn't believe her claims that she was the victim of domestic abuse.

Pyatt was released 15 years early. McGowan's family found out about her release in a news article.

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