Prosecutors said Cristian Custodio-Aquino traveled from Oregon, targeted his former partner’s boyfriend and fled through several states.
CAMDEN, N.J. — A murder case that began with an Oregon man traveling across the country to confront the new partner of a former boyfriend ended in a Camden courtroom, where a judge ordered him to serve 30 years for killing Cherry Hill veterinarian Michael Anthony outside his home.
The sentence imposed July 9 completed a legal process that crossed multiple jurisdictions and lasted more than a year and a half. Cristian Custodio-Aquino, 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on June 9 under an agreement requiring a 30-year state-prison term without early parole eligibility. He admitted responsibility for the Dec. 10, 2024, killing of Anthony, 45. The plea prevented the case from going to trial but left the court to hear from relatives about the human consequences of a crime prosecutors described as deliberate and rooted in jealousy.
Prosecutors said Custodio-Aquino had once been in a romantic relationship with Anthony’s partner, Kyle Bartsch. The former couple had lived together in Haddon Township before separating in 2021 after a domestic dispute, according to the state’s courtroom account. By late 2024, Bartsch was with Anthony. Investigators said Custodio-Aquino traveled from Portland, Oregon, to New Jersey and went to Anthony’s home in Cherry Hill’s Barclay Farm section. The state portrayed the trip not as a chance encounter but as preparation for an intentional attack.
According to prosecutors, Custodio-Aquino waited outside the Sharrowvale Road residence until Anthony came out for a morning walk. Anthony was attacked in the yard and suffered multiple stab wounds. Cherry Hill officers were dispatched at about 7:09 a.m. and found him unconscious. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Accounts of the case said Anthony’s teenage son went outside when his father failed to return and discovered him, drawing the family immediately into the aftermath of the crime.
Custodio-Aquino left New Jersey after the killing, authorities said. Automated license-plate readers and other surveillance systems helped investigators follow his Nissan Altima through several states. Reporting about the case placed the car at different points across the South and West before it reached California. Prosecutors later alleged that Custodio-Aquino searched for reports about Anthony’s death and attempted to sell the vehicle while he was away. Those actions became part of the state’s argument that he had planned the crime and was trying to distance himself from the evidence.
The most direct physical clues came from the front yard and the car. Detectives recovered prescription eyeglasses near Anthony’s body and found DNA on them that matched Custodio-Aquino, prosecutors said. Investigators traced the glasses to a retailer in Washington state that had sold him a matching pair. License-plate data placed the Altima in Anthony’s neighborhood, and a forensic examination later found Anthony’s blood inside the vehicle. The evidence allowed investigators to connect a person in Oregon, an object in New Jersey and a car moving across the country.
Authorities charged Custodio-Aquino with murder on Feb. 7, 2025. U.S. marshals arrested him in Fresno, California, on Feb. 11. He was returned to New Jersey and appeared at a detention hearing in June 2025. Prosecutors presented the eyeglasses, blood evidence, vehicle records and phone information while arguing that he should remain jailed. They said his phone had been wiped several hours before the homicide and that information about Anthony’s memorial service was later recovered from it. The judge classified him as a danger and flight risk and denied release.
The defense initially argued that the evidence did not establish murder strongly enough to justify continued detention or guarantee a conviction. The prosecution, however, described the facts as showing preparation, travel, surveillance of the residence, an attack and immediate flight. Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Kevin Moran characterized Anthony’s death as an assassination during the detention hearing. That description reflected the state’s theory of the case, though no jury was asked to decide between competing accounts because Custodio-Aquino ultimately chose to plead guilty.
The plea provided certainty about the conviction and sentence. First-degree murder carries severe punishment under New Jersey law, and the negotiated term required three decades in custody. CBS Philadelphia reported that, after credit for time already served, Custodio-Aquino will not be eligible for parole until 2055. Judge Judith Charny imposed the term in Camden County Superior Court after hearing statements from Anthony’s sons, siblings, partner and other relatives. The legal outcome addressed criminal responsibility but did not resolve the family’s questions about why the conflict had escalated to homicide.
Relatives described Anthony as a devoted father who had shaped his life around his two sons. His sister, Patricia Anthony Gershefski, said he was warm and sensitive and had moved his veterinary practice to stay close to his children. She told the court that the killing had taken away future moments that should have belonged to him. Anthony’s son spoke about facing college and adulthood without his father available to hear what happened. Bartsch said in a written statement that Anthony had filled their home with love and laughter.
Those accounts stood in contrast to the narrow motive identified by prosecutors. Anthony was the owner of Haddon Vet in Haddon Heights and was known for his work with animals and their owners. His obituary said he treated not only pets but also the worry carried by their human companions. Colleagues and clients respected his expertise and compassion. He enjoyed running and music and took particular pride in his sons. Family members asked the court and public not to let the manner of his death displace the larger record of his life.
Custodio-Aquino briefly addressed the court before Charny imposed the sentence. Speaking softly at first, he said the world was diminished without Anthony. He also thanked the judge for giving the family an opportunity to speak. His lawyers did not offer a detailed public explanation of his actions during the proceeding. The absence of a trial meant that many facts were summarized through prosecutorial presentations, the plea and sentencing reports rather than explored through days of sworn testimony.
Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay praised investigators for continuing to work across state lines until Custodio-Aquino was identified, charged and arrested. The case drew on Cherry Hill police, county detectives, forensic analysts, license-plate systems, retail records and the U.S. Marshals Service. MacAulay said the guilty plea ensured accountability and represented a meaningful step toward justice. She also said no court result could reverse the loss suffered by Anthony’s family or replace his service to the communities where he practiced veterinary medicine.
The judgment closes the prosecution with Custodio-Aquino serving the sentence required by his plea. Its larger chronology runs from a relationship that ended years earlier, to a journey from Oregon, to a killing in a New Jersey front yard, to an escape across several states and an arrest in California. The court supplied the final legal answer by imposing 30 years. Anthony’s relatives remain responsible for the harder work left outside the justice system: continuing family life after a planned act of violence removed someone they expected to be present for decades.
Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.