Jury reaches verdict for man accused of killing elderly bicyclist in Camden
CAMDEN - Exactly two years after an elderly bicyclist was slain here, a jury found a Philadelphia man guilty of the murder.
Maurice Peaker Jr., 28, faces a life sentence for killing Thomas Smith, a 67-year-old city man who was shot from a passing car, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
A Superior Court jury returned its verdict on Aug. 15, the second anniversary of Smith's death.
It also found Peaker guilty of two weapons offenses.
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Smith was shot repeatedly around 3:30 a.m. as he bicycled across Kaighn Avenue near Rose Street, according to the prosecutor's office.
It did not give a motive for the shooting.
Surveillance technology led to Camden murder suspect
He died in a hospital about 40 minutes later.
Detectives built a case against Peaker with the extensive use of surveillance technology, according to the prosecutor's office.
Surveillance video helped investigators place the gunman in a Nissan Maxima with damage to a taillight, and detectives tracked the vehicle's path through Camden both before and after the shooting.
The car at one point passed an automated license plate reader, providing more information to detectives from the prosecutor's office and Camden County Police.
Investigators then located the vehicle at an apartment building on the 200 block of Oakland Avenue in Audubon, where Peaker was living with a girlfriend.
Surveillance video from the Audubon site showed Peaker, wearing a hat and mask, as he left the building around 3 a.m. and returned around 3:40 a..m., the prosecutor's office said.
Detectives recovered the tote bag, which later tested positive for characteristics of gunshot residue, it said.
A search of the Nissan found a shell casing with the same caliber and manufacturer as five others recovered at the crime scene.
"Ballistic testing later confirmed all six shell casings were discharged in the same firearm," the prosecutor's office said.
Peaker, who was arrested 11 days after the shooting in suburban Philadelphia, is to be sentenced Nov.10.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Maurice Peaker faces life sentence for murder of Thomas Smith
