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Paula Chin, aged 65 and a former businesswoman, was declared missing from her Tribeca townhouse in Lower Manhattan by her sons, Jared Eng, 22, and Brandon Eng, 24, on February 4, 2019.
“She was last reported seen at the end of January,” said Det. Carlos Delgado of the New York City Police Department’s 1st Precinct.
“Brandon and Jared were attempting to get in touch with her via her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail,” Delgado stated in the “Trouble in Tribeca” episode of New York Homicide, which features new episodes on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
The case led detectives to a deadly desire for money and an unspeakable crime that tore a family apart.
Who was Paula Chin?
Chin was raised in Queens, New York. “Paula always seemed to have a smile on her face. I admired the way she carried herself,” mentioned Mark Abbott, her neighbor from her other residence in Morris Township, New Jersey.
She and her husband had amassed significant wealth in a paper products business and in real estate, according to New York Homicide. He died when their sons were six and eight.
“Brandon and Jared went to some of the most exclusive high schools in New York City,” said investigative journalist Rebecca Rosenberg. “She really devoted everything to them.”
In her mid-60s, Chin decided to retire. She was ready to travel and enjoy the riches that she’d worked hard to attain. And, then, mysteriously, she vanished.
Jared told police that his mother was suffering from dementia. Police checked in with hospitals and processed Chin’s license plate through the NYPD’s license plate reader system.
The tracking tool showed that Chin’s car made several late-night trips from Tribeca to New Jersey during days she was missing. Chin had a home in New Jersey but was never known to drive there after midnight.
“This woman had no history of running away, police reports or anything like that,” said Jeff Millenbach, now retired as a detective with NYPD Manhattan South. “This just didn’t add up.”
Shocking discoveries made at Paula Chin’s homes
Detectives searched her residence in Tribeca, where her car was parked out front. They made an ominous discovery inside the vehicle.
“There was a bag in the backseat of her vehicle, and there were clothes inside the bag with blood on them,” said Det. Sgt. Nicole Monaco, with NYPD Special Investigations. The car was processed for fingerprints and DNA.
Inside Chin’s home on Vestry Street in Manhattan, detectives used a chemical that showed that blood had been cleaned up in the kitchen. Detectives rushed to Chin’s home in New Jersey.
Investigators discovered blood in the basement and the garage. Outside, they found a trash can and were stunned by what that revealed. “Miss Chin’s feet were pointing up out of it,” said Millenbach.
In that instant, the missing persons case officially became a murder investigation — one in which the killer displayed disturbing cruelty.
“Victims don’t belong being disposed of in a garbage can,” said Det. Sgt. Pete Panuccio, now retired from the NYPD’s Manhattan South Precinct. “It tells me more about the perpetrator than the victim.”
Paula Chin’s murder makes headlines
Between Chin’s wealth, posh Tribeca address, and the gruesome details of where her remains were dumped, the case became headline news.
“The reason this case blew up in the media and became so sensational and everybody covered it, was because it was unusual,” said Pam Frederick, editor and owner of Tribeca Citizen.
Early on in the murder investigation, Chin’s current boyfriend was considered as a potential person of interest. This led detectives to a dead end. “He was ruled out as having anything to do with this,” Monaco said.
Police spoke with Chin’s children separately. Brandon took issue with Jared’s assertion that their mom had shown any signs of dementia. He’d seen no such signs of illness.
“Brandon also stated that Jared and his mother had had some disputes about money,” Millenbach said. “He was constantly trying to borrow money.”
The information raised red flags for investigators. They learned that Jared had “failed out” of the State University of New York at New Paltz, said Rosenberg, adding that this disappointed his mom and created tension between them.
Millenbach asked Brandon if he thought Jared could be involved in their mother’s murder. The young man’s response shook the detective. “His answer was yes,” Millenbach said.
Police focus on Paula Chin’s son Jared Eng
Investigators learned that Jared was, at the time, involved with two women, 22-year-old Caitlyn O’Rourke, whom he’d met at SUNY New Paltz, and 18-year-old Jennifer Lopez, whom he’d met when he returned to New York City.
“He was in this throuple,” said Rosenberg. “He described himself as polyamorous and as gender-fluid.”
Police obtained security-camera footage from a business near Chin’s apartment. The surveillance video showed Jared and two women struggling to lift something heavy into his mother’s car.
Police detained Jared. “He was absolutely nonplussed, totally unfazed, flat, nothing,” said Panuccio. In short order, Jared asked for a lawyer, ending any further questions about the murder.
Investigators rounded up Lopez, who pleaded the Fifth, and O’Rourke, who initially denied any knowledge of Chin’s case. But then O’Rourke told police that Jared “controlled them,” said Rosenberg. “There seemed to be a real power dynamic.”
Jared Eng’s girlfriend says he hated his mom, reveals murder details
O’Rourke also revealed that Jared hated his mother. He told her, “She’s cheap. She doesn’t want to give me money,” said Panuccio. “I want my inheritance now. I’m gonna kill her.”
According to what O’Rourke told authorities, Jared’s plans to kill his mom came together at Chin’s home on January 31, 2019. “This was a really vicious crime,” said Rosenberg. “He beat her. He slashed her in the throat. He threw her down the stairs.”
Three hours after the murder, Jared texted his girlfriends, noting, “It’s done. I’m free,” according to New York Homicide. Lopez came over and helped clean up the townhouse. O’Rourke arrived and helped the other two wrestle Chin into the car.
“I don’t know what kind of hold, or Svengali kind of grip, he had on these people,” Panuccio said. “But they went along for the ride. Nobody called the police that night.”
Instead, the three took Chin’s car to New Jersey and dumped the woman’s body like it was trash.
The details of the crime shocked seasoned detectives. At the same time, they knew they’d need more than O’Rourke’s story to build a solid case.
Jared Eng arrested for his mother’s murder
Digital records gave investigators the evidence they needed. “Texts and messages between Jared and Caitlyn and Jennifer indicated that days before the homicide, he was thinking of killing his mother,” said Joel Cohen, Jared’s defense attorney.
“He was searching for estate lawyers and looking into how quickly death benefits could be collected,” Cohen told New York Homicide.
On February 6, 2019, Jared was arrested. He was eventually charged on multiple counts. O’Rourke and Lopez ultimately cooperated with prosecutors and were sentenced to probation.
In 2022, Jared pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison. At his sentencing hearing, he said his mother “deserved a better son.”
The callous slaying and what motivated it left Chin’s loved ones reeling. “It was all about money,” said her friend Greg Mau. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Learn more about the case by watching the “Trouble in Tribeca” episode of New York Homicide, which airs new episodes on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
