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Cops: Wife, Lover Charged In Peekskill Slaying

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. - Peekskill cab driver Terrance Camper, who was shot to death Wednesday, fell victim to a plot designed by his wife and her ex-convict lover, Peekskill Police said Friday.

Peekskill Police Chief Eugene Tumolo said Beatrice Camper, 60, and her lover, John Murray, 60, of Newburgh, who were charged in the slaying, planned to collect on two insurance policies taken out on Terrance Camper's life. Tumolo said police did not yet know the exact value of insurance policies but said, "They're sizable."

Terrance Camper, 53, was shot twice in the back of the head with a small-caliber handgun on Pine Street, about 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, and his body was found later that afternoon by a postal worker. Tumolo said that Murray is accused of being the shooter.

Murray was released from prison 11 months ago, said Tumolo, but police believe Beatrice Camper and Murray had been carrying on an intimate relationship for more than one year. Murray served at least 30 years in state prison after being convicted of murder, robbery and other crimes committed in Queens, N,.Y., said Tumolo.

Police do not believe that Terrance Camper knew about the affair. Murray and Beatrice Camper intended "to be together" after Terrance Camper's death, police said.

"I think the facts speak for themselves, it has the elements of all the negative qualities in the human experience, this was predicated solely on greed and selfishness," Tumolo said Friday, after Camper and Murray were arrested.

Both suspects are charged with second-degree murder, a felony. The chief also said the investigation will continue.

"This is the result of some very hard-nosed, textbook investigation," said Tumolo, who said there were no witnesses to the shooting.

"He was a very affable guy, well known in the community," said Tumolo, who knew Terrance Camper, and said he came from a large Peekskill family which also had roots in Highland Falls, N.Y.

Some family members stood outside the Peekskill Police Department before Friday morning's news conference. Although police had not announced why Beatrice Camper was arrested, it was known she had been arrested.

"When is happened it shocked me, I couldn't understand why someone would kill him," said his oldest brother, Otis Camper. "I didn’t see her that much," he said about Terrance's wife.  

Rodney Holliman, a first cousin, reacting to Terrance Camper being set up for murder, said, "You got to put all the trust and everything in God, and hope that everything comes out fair, you know, people getting what they deserve, he didn't deserve that."

 

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