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Top Stories 2012: Camper Slaying Stuns Peekskill

PEEKSKILL, N.Y. — The Peekskill Daily Voice was the first to break the news when a postal worker discovered a dead body slumped behind the wheel of a car on Pine Street in Peekskill on Oct. 3.

The slaying of former cabdriver Terry Camper shocked Peekskill residents.

The slaying of former cabdriver Terry Camper shocked Peekskill residents.

Photo Credit: Art Cusano

The victim, who had been shot to death, was identified as Terry Camper, 53, of Peekskill, a former city cabdriver who was not currently licensed by the city.

Two days later, on Oct. 5, Peekskill police said Camper was the victim of a plot by his wife and her ex-convict lover.

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, police said.

Camper was shot twice in the back of the head with a small-caliber handgun on Pine Street, and Murray is accused of being the shooter.

Murray had been released from prison 12 months earlier, but police think Beatrice Camper and Murray had been carrying on an intimate relationship for more than a year. Murray served at least 30 years in state prison after being convicted of murder, robbery and other crimes committed in Queens.

Terry Camper's funeral drew hundreds of friends and family members, who remembered him as a kind and generous soul.

Beatrice Camper and Murray were arraigned on Nov. 20 and were ordered held without bail in the Westchester County Jail.

See more top stories of 2012.

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