Murderer Loose in Vineland

Police in Vineland are searching for a murderer who stabbed a woman to death in her apartment late Tuesday night. According to police, the victim put up quite a fight.

Officers spent Wednesday conducting interviews and gathering information in the wake of Tuesday night's murder of 54-year-old Ruth Walker. Walker lived in apartment number 87 at the Chestnut Square complex in Vineland.

Authorities say Walker's son spoke with her by phone at 8:30 p.m. and she was fine. When he called at 9:45 p.m. and there was no answer he went to the apartment with two others. The door of the first floor apartment was locked, so they jimmied it opened and found Walker in her bedroom with two fatal stab wounds to her chest.

Wayne Davis, who lives next door, says that the only noises he heard were screams from family members when they made the awful discovery.

Wayne Davis/NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR: "I banged on the door and I was hollering... and he comes to the door and he told me you can't come in here because I wouldn't want you to see my mother like this." Prosecutor Arthur Marchand says investigators are looking at the possibility of a home invasion, but right now all options are open. Arthur Marchand/CUMBERLAND CO. PROSECUTOR: "Was there someone waiting in the apartment when she got there? If so, was a window open, was a door jimmied from the back...? If the family couldn't get through the front door because it was locked and they had to jimmy it, obviously the intruder was not from the front door." The complex has outdoor surveillance cameras, and police will check the videotapes for clues as to who may have come to the apartment. However there are however no cameras in the back, and that may be how the assailant got inside. Among those questioned by police were two young women who were relatives of Walker's through marriage.

Jasmin Fontanez/VINELAND NJ: "She was living with her son then he moved out and then she started living by herself. And all that happened." "She didn't deserve it."

Police are looking into reports that someone was peering into the apartment window the day before the murder. Whether that relates to the case is all part of the investigation, which right now has many unanswered questions.

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Author: 6 ABC-AP