LAKEWOOD, NJ Brian Jewell, 17, of Tom's River, N.J., who died Saturday night in Lakewood, N.J., while posing as a hanging victim for a "Haunted Hayride," was not supposed to have the rope around his neck, authorities said yesterday.
Jewell was found hanging Saturday night at the "Hangman's Scene" for a Halloween hayride, police said. The rope was intended as a prop and was not supposed to go around Jewell's neck, said Lt. Michael Murray, a spokesman for the Ocean County prosecutor's office. Lakewood police spokesman |
The rope was intended as a prop and was not supposed to go around Jewell's neck. |
Jewell's death was discovered about 8 p.m. Saturday by participants in a Halloween hayride at the Lakewood Riding Center featuring costumed performers, Murray said. The hayrides, conducted nightly during October, are owned and run by Ocean Haunted Hayrides Inc., he said. A group of hayriders approached the hanging scene but Jewell, an employee of the firm, never gave them his haunting pitch, Murray said. Instead, Jewell just stood limply on a platform as if he really had been hanged, he said.