DELANCO — The disappearance of local resident Louis Berger Jr., came to a tragic resolution Friday as authorities revealed that his body was located and that his granddaughter’s boyfriend was charged with his murder.
Richard H. Still, 24, of Delanco was arrested Friday morning on a first-degree murder charge following the discovery of Berger’s body the previous night in a shallow grave behind a home on Hartford Road in Mount Laurel. He is being held in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly on $1 million bail and is due to appear in Superior Court later this afternoon for a first appearance.
Berger, a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired bus driver, had been missing since mid-February when his family reported he failed to attend his grandson’s birthday party at a local VFW post.
During an afternoon news conference, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi said investigators believe Still, who was living with Berger and the granddaughter in a home on Rancocas Avenue, strangled Berger to death during a February 11 altercation and then later buried the body in a remote area behind the cousin’s home
The cousin and the other residents were unaware the body had been buried there, Bernardi said.
He said investigators had been actively investigating Berger’s disappearance and that the big break in the case came Friday when an “acquaintance” of Still’s was questioned and informed investigators that he was with Still the night he buried the body.
The acquaintance then showed investigators where on the property the body was buried, Bernardi said.
He said the granddaughter was also unaware her boyfriend had allegedly committed the murder.
"She was extremely distraught," Bernardi said.
BCT staff writer David Levinsky can be reached at (609) 871-8154 or at dlevinsky@phillyBurbs.com.
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