By Christie Duffy
Correspondent
A tall task stands before the four members of Camden’s new cold case unit — find and arrest suspects behind dozens of unsolved murders.
“We’re gonna look at as many cases as we can and we’re gonna be locking up people who are gonna be watching this broadcast tonight,” said Marty Devlin of the cold case squad for Camden County Metro Police.
Devlin and Joe Forty are veteran detectives the force is bringing back. Devlin is well known for his success in solving the infamous Rabbi Fred Neulander case. In 1994, Neulander was convicted of hiring two hit men to kill his wife.
The new cold case team has made at least one stride already, today announcing that a 2012 killing has been solved — the murder of a homeless woman named Georgianna Jedrzejewski. She was a United States Air Force veteran and reservist.
Police say she was stabbed to death on Tulip Street.
“Somewhere along the way from her honorable discharge to Tulip Street and other sorrows she lost her way. Despite that, she still had a life, and no one had a right to take that from her,” said Devlin.
“It was a senseless murder if you ask me because she really never bothered nobody. She was a peaceful woman,” said Camden resident Mecca Boggs.
Neighbors say she was known for feeding stray cats around the neighborhood. They can’t imagine who would want to hurt her.
But police say 32-year-old Tino Cruz was picked up by U.S. Marshals this week in Jacksonville, Fla. at a friend’s house.
Despite this latest arrest, detectives have their work cut out for them.
The Camden City Police was disbanded in late 2011. Today the reorganized force — the Camden County Metro Police — is growing.
Before the reorganization, officials say their murder case solve rate was on par with the national average. Around 65 percent of homicides were solved.
Then, in 2012, they say after mass layoffs and a drastic dip in resources, they say that rate dropped to 35 percent. Murders spiked. And the police chief says the solve rate remains low today.
“One thing that we know is the unsolved murders of 11 to 12 mean that killers were still walking our streets. And history has shown us that those who kill have the greatest propensity of killing again,” said Camden County Metro Police Chief Scott Thomson.
“There are a lot of unsolved mysteries around here that people really want to know the answers to. It will bring a lot of closure to a lot of families,” Boggs said.
The cold case unit is now revisiting the lives of countless other victims who were killed in Camden City.