Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Tara Hawes' Husband Jordan Hawes Returns to NYC to Face Murder Charges

By Ben Fractenberg | February 14, 2012 6:45pm
Jordan Hawes, seen here on Jan. 31.
Jordan Hawes, seen here on Jan. 31.
View Full Caption
NYPD

QUEENS — The man accused of beating his wife to death in their Astoria apartment earlier this month was brought back to New York Tuesday to face murder charges after disappearing following the woman's brutal death.

Jordan Hawes, 32, who allegedly bludgeoned his wife Tara Hawes, 33, to death inside their 30th Street apartment, was returned to New York from Connecticut Tuesday, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Tara Hawes was discovered in her bed on Feb. 2 with extreme blunt force trauma to her head and body. Investigators later found two knives in the apartment, as well as a baseball bat covered in what appeared to be blood, skin and hair, prosecutors said.

"The defendant is accused of savagely beating to death the woman whom he purportedly loved," Brown said in a statement. "If convicted, her brutal and senseless death merits serious punishment.”

Connecticut state police arrested Hawes on Feb. 4 after his wife's car was found at a rest stop on Interstate 95 near Bridgeport. He surrendered to police and told cops, "I did something wrong," the district attorney said.

Hawes allegedly sent a text message to one of his wife's co-workers on Jan. 31 saying she would not be at work because of a family emergency and that her cell phone was dead.

He sent a similar text to another one of her co-workers on Feb. 1, saying his wife would not be at work the following day, according to Brown.

Hawes was allegedly captured on video pawning her jewelry, including her wedding band, and he also attempted to withdraw money from various ATMs using her debit card, Brown said.

Hawes was last seen leaving his house on Feb. 2 and was acting "surreptitiously," keeping his hands in his pockets and his head down when he was approached by a witness, Brown said.

Officials got a search warrant for his home the following day.

Inside they found the body of Tara Hawes and a blood-stained note that ended, “I don’t know what... happened last night, but my life is destroyed. I killed my best friend.” 

Hawes — who is also charged with third-degree grand larceny, third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree unauthorized use of a vehicle and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon — faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

He was expected to be arraigned in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.