EDGEWATER PARK — Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Edgewater Park Township Police Chief Robert D. Hess announced that a 53-year-old man has been charged with killing his mother inside of her residence at the Courtyard Apartments complex.
Police say Mr. Brian Templeton, who was staying with his mother at her unit in the 100 block of Cornwall Court, was charged last night with Murder (First Degree) and Desecration of Human Remains (Second Degree).
According to police, he is presently being guarded at a medical facility, where he is being treated for an ongoing condition.
Upon release, he will be scheduled for a detention hearing in Superior Court, and the case will then be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.
The investigation began November 11 after an employee of the complex asked police to check on 77-year-old Doris Templeton because she had not been seen nor heard from in more than two weeks.
The investigation revealed that Brian Templeton killed his mother inside of her apartment, put her body into a chest and loaded it into the back of his car.
He then moved the car to the parking lot of a pizza shop in Willingboro where he was employed as a driver and began utilizing his mother’s car for transportation according to police.
There is no indication at this point in the investigation that Templeton made deliveries in the vehicle that contained his mother’s body.
The body was discovered yesterday afternoon by investigators. An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head.
Templeton will be prosecuted by BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Bob Van Gilst, supervisor of the BCPO Major Crimes Unit – Violent Crimes Section. The investigation is being conducted by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Edgewater Park Township Police Department.
All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.