Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
A Trenton gang member was found guilty on Friday for the brutal 2020 murder of a man whose body was discovered along I-295 in Bristol Township.
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At the Justice Center in Doylestown Borough, a Bucks County jury convicted Robert Shannon Christie, 37, of Trenton, for the January 2020 murder of Joshua Mcrae, 31, also of Trenton.
McRae died after suffering multiple gunshot wounds and being dumped on I-295 near the I-95 interchange in Bristol Township early on the morning of Sunday, January 19, 2020.
The charges against Christie included first-degree murder, flight to avoid apprehension, hindering apprehension, possession of an instrument of crime, and abuse of a corpse.
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Bucks County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Wallace Bateman deferred to a future date.
The case, which culminated in a weeklong trial, had Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees present multiple pieces of evidence, including electronic surveillance, video footage, audio recordings, and cellphone and social media data.
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Testimonies came from law enforcement officers, a forensic pathologist, and several witnesses.
Charges were filed against Christie in 2020 after an investigation by Pennsylvania State Police and Bucks County Detectives. A Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury also heard evidence and recommended the charges.
On January 19, 2020, Bucks County’s 9-1-1 center received a distress call around 1:39 a.m. reporting a body on I-295, near the Pennsylvania Turnpike onramp in Bristol Township. State police troopers from the Trevose Barracks identified the deceased man as Mcrae, who suffered five gunshot wounds, according to authorities.
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An autopsy confirmed the death as a homicide.
Evidence during the trial revealed that on the night of January 18, 2020, Mcrae, Christie, and two others visited Murphy’s Beef and Ale in Bristol Township.
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“On the drive home, Mcrae, sitting behind Christie in an SVU, said something which Christie found irritating,” the district attorney’s office said.
Christie, identified as a member of the Nine Trey Gangster group, later admitted to shooting Mcrae multiple times in the SUV after leaving the bar, investigators said.
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Christie testified at his trial that he then dragged the dying Mcrae out of the SUV and dumped his body along I-295 in Bristol Township.
Christie, who was represented by defense attorney Peter Williams, claimed he acted in self-defense, a defense the jury rejected.
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“His intent could not be more clear if he showed up wearing a black hooded robe and a sickle,” Rees said in court. “His intent was to kill.”
Two additional witnesses, currently awaiting their trials, face charges related to the crime, including tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Rees praised the combined efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police and Bucks County Detectives.
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“Their doggedness, their ingenuity, and their resolve insured Joshua’s loved ones finally got the justice for which they’ve waited more than three-and-a-half years,” Rees said.
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