EDISON, NJ – Marcus Wright (27) of Beaufort, South Carolina will spend the rest of his life in prison for the callous murder of Woodbridge resident John Bertram (38) in 2018. Wright received a life sentence without parole from Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Andrea G. Carter for the fatal shooting that occurred during a Speedway gas station robbery.
Wright’s punishment also includes concurrent sentences for the related charges of felony murder, armed robbery (both first-degree offenses), and second-degree charges for conspiracy to commit robbery, unlawful weapon possession, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
In December 2018, Wright entered the Amboy Avenue Speedway, where he held up store clerk John Bertram at gunpoint. Although Bertram fully complied with Wright’s demands, Wright senselessly shot him. A jury found Wright guilty of Bertram’s murder in September 2023. Edison Police Det. Lieutenant Loren Long spearheaded the investigation that lead to Wright’s arrest.
John Bertram, had recently inherited a home from his late father. He took on the night shift at the gas station for just four months in effort to raise money to pay for property taxes on his inheritance. Tragically, his life was cut short, with Bertram pronounced dead at the scene of the crime.
Wright’s accomplice, Olya Quinnam (26), also of South Carolina, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree armed robbery in 2019. While Wright’s sentencing brings some sense of justice, it does not erase the pain and loss experienced by Bertram’s loved ones. This case highlights the devastatingly permanent consequences of violent crime, leaving families and communities forever scarred.
