By: Tracie Carter
Gloucester County authorities are investigating a murder-suicide that took place in Deptford Monday.
Police say at approximately 6:50 p.m., the Deptford Township Police Department was dispatched to a residence on Ogden Road, Deptford, for a well-being check.
According to authorities, responding officers discovered the resident's bodies, Ms. Erin A. Gatier, 47 and her ex-boyfriend, William W. Beattie, 47, of Landisville, dead inside the residence.
The investigation by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Crime Scene Units, conducted in close partnership with the Deptford Township Police Department, determined that Beattie forced entry into Gatier’s Ogden Road residence, where he shot and killed Gatier before committing suicide.
Gloucester County authorities said autopsies conducted on November 29th by the Gloucester County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that both Gatier and Beattie were fatally shot, with Gatier’s manner of death determined to be homicide and Beattie’s as suicide.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact Detective Brandon Cohen of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, at 856-384-5524, or Detective Robert Jones, of the Deptford Township Police Department, at 856-845-6300.
Information can also be e-mailed to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office at tips@co.gloucester.nj.us.