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Camden County man found guilty in bow-and-arrow killing

Timothy Canfield shot Kereti Paulsen with a high-powered compound bow in 2013.

Kereti Paulsen with daughter Aurora.
Kereti Paulsen with daughter Aurora.Read moreLauren Palmer-Wearne

A 31-year-old Berlin Borough man has been found guilty by a jury in the 2013 bow-and-arrow killing of a 25-year-old man, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.

Timothy Canfield was convicted Wednesday of aggravated manslaughter, three counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. His sentencing is scheduled for May 16 and he faces a maximum of 55 years in state prison.

Canfield shot Kereti Paulsen with a high-powered compound bow about 10 p.m. Jan. 28, 2013, in the rear driveway of a home on Brill Avenue. Paulsen, of Cape May Court House, had been in a fistfight with another man over Paulsen’s former girlfriend, whose family lived in the house.

The altercation brought the family outside, but after it ended, the others went back inside. Canfield, who was in a relationship with the former girlfriend’s older sister, returned outside with the bow.

With the fight over, the altercation should have ended, Lauren Palmer-Wearne, who had been in a relationship with Paulsen, said in an email Thursday night. “Everyone except Kereti went inside the house. Then Tim came outside and shot Kereti.”

Prosecutors said Canfield made a 911 call and provided false information to police, and also hid the bow and arrows. Paulsen, who had been shot in the stomach, died shortly afterward at the hospital.

Canfield’s lawyer, Jeffrey Zucker, previously said in court that Canfield initially panicked, but then cooperated with police and helped recover the bow and arrows. Zucker said Canfield acted in self-defense when Paulsen allegedly lunged at him with a hypodermic needle.

That argument was made during Canfield’s first trial last year, which was declared a mistrial when jurors were overheard discussing evidence.

Zucker could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Palmer-Wearne, 31, of Berlin Borough, attended the retrial along with Paulsen’s parents and, on certain days, her 11-year-old daughter with Paulsen. The girl was in the courtroom for the verdict.

“She was able to finally watch the man who killed her [father] physically taken away in cuffs after being out and free for six years,” Palmer-Wearne said.