On February 15, 2015, a call about an unknown medical emergency in Kinnelon, New Jersey, brought police to a Wedgewood Drive home where 57-year-old James E. Hofstetter was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds. Hofstetter, a construction business owner who had lived in Kinnelon since 1988, was a father of two sons.

Investigators quickly treated the case as a homicide and focused on a family member. Eighteen-year-old Travis J. Hofstetter was located in nearby Hardyston Township and taken into custody. Legal documents say the teenager called 911 and confessed, telling a dispatcher he had done something bad. Reports indicate James Hofstetter was shot in the face and body with a rifle; no clear motive was provided when the defendant declined to explain his actions.

Travis Hofstetter was charged with first-degree murder and weapons offenses.