An elderly woman has been murdered and her disabled son left in a coma after he was left tied to his wheelchair with a rubbish bag over his head by a thug who pretended he wanted to buy a motorbike from them.

The shocking crime, in which the disabled man was also left fighting for his life after he was tied to his wheelchair with duct tape after being severely beaten, took place at a home in Warren County in the US state of New Jersey on 30th November.

The woman Elaine Trachin, 84, was found dead in her home while her son, who was not named but is aged 53, was trapped with tape across his upper body, head and hands, head injuries and a rubbish bag placed over his head.

The victim reportedly remains in hospital in a coma.

The suspect Kyle Kaspereen, 24, has been charged with attempted murder, murder, kidnapping, robbery and burglary, as he also allegedly stole Trachin’s purse from the home and two mobile phones from his victims.

After questioning, Kaspereen was also charged with tampering with evidence after he was caught deleting messages from his phone during a break in the interrogation.

According to the court documents, the deleted messages provided “information leading to the potential identity of the person(s) responsible for these crimes”.

The police said they found that he had been chatting with the disabled son about purchasing a motorbike, which tipped them off to his possible involvement. The transaction, however, never took place, according to the authorities.

The authorities also found CCTV footage that showed Kaspereen throwing one of the disabled victims’ two mobile phones into the Delaware River on 30th November.

The phone was recovered by divers and the authorities were able to recover the messages, which “contradicted his statement about his whereabouts, who he contacted, and the timing of both”.

Prosecutors said Kaspereen’s phone indicated that he was in the area of the victims’ home at the time of the incident, and that a “suspected” weapon is being analysed by forensic experts.

Prosecutor Jim Pfeiffer said “it was a tremendous team effort by all these agencies”, adding that the amount of video available to investigators these days is “incredible”.

However, he also added: “Just because he’s arrested doesn’t mean the investigation is over”.