Camden Man Killed in Hatchet Attack

Courier-Post - March 30, 2012

By George Mast, Courier-Post Staff

CAMDEN — Authorities are investigating the death of a man killed early Thursday in an apparent hatchet attack in Cramer Hill.

Josue Rivera, 40, was found around 4 a.m. at his home on the 2700 block of Tyler Street, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

Authorities said Rivera “suffered fatal blows from a hatchet.” Investigators believe the attacker may have known the victim.

A neighbor Thursday morning recounted hearing screaming coming from the home earlier that morning.

“It was screaming and then ‘Help, help, help, help,’” the man said. “It was like a horror scream.”

The fatal attack happened inside a two-story, tan duplex. The home sits among other large, single-family homes on a quiet stretch of Tyler Street.

A crime scene investigator with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office remained at the scene late Thursday morning and eventually carried several items from the home. A man who said he owned the home arrived midmorning and went into the house to talk with the investigator. The man, dressed in military fatigues, said he had been renting out the house.

The killing was the second in Camden in just over a day and No. 10 for the year. There were 12 killings, including a police-involved shooting, at this time last year.

A 39-year-old Camden man died Tuesday night in a shooting in the city’s Parkside neighborhood.

Officials with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said Carlos “Sadiq” Perry was shot around 8 p.m. while sitting in a parked car in the 1000 block of Langham Avenue.

Anyone with information about Rivera’s death is asked to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Investigator Eric Wren or Camden Police.