NCIS joins effort up to solve ‘92 slaying of NJ Marine

Investigators from the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office and Naval Criminal Investigative Service have joined up in an effort to solve the killing of Marine in 1992.

Gunnery Sgt. James Sutton, 41, who was assigned to the Fourth Marine Corps District in Philadelphia, was found shot to death by family members in their Logan Township home on Nov. 14, 1992.

Prosecutor's Office Det. Joan Krucinski and NCIS Special Agent Kaylyn Deuker are now working together in an effort to find his killer.

"While many years have passed since Sgt. Sutton's murder, time and technology can help in the investigation of 'cold' cases," said Krucinski

"The passage of time can help, in that relationships change over the years, and people with information sometimes become more willing to share knowledge than when first interviewed," Krucinski said in a statement.

"I never knew James, but to me he is a real person, and he deserves our best effort to find the person responsible for his death," said Deuker. "The motto of the NCIS cold case unit comes from a quote by Voltaire: 'To the living we owe respect. To the dead we owe the truth.' We intend to determine the truth about what happened to James Sutton."

The NCIS investigates cases involving Marines and Navy personnel. It's cold case unit has solved 61 homicides since it was formed in 1995, the Prosecutors Office said.

Anyone with information can contact Krucinski at (856) 384-5609 or e-mail her at kkrucinski@co.gloucester.nj.us. Tips can also be e-mailed to the major crimes unit mcu@co.gloucester.nj.us.

Sutton, 41, was shot 14 times with a 9mm automatic weapon as he sat on the sofa of his recreation-room sofa.

A decorated Vietnam veteran and a Marine recruiter, Sutton was found by his wife and then 7-year-old daughter shortly before 1 a.m.

Investigators believe he was slain about midnight. Neighbors who were watching the Riddick Bowe-Evander Holyfield heavyweight fight on TV that night heard no gunshots. The killing rocked the High Hill Farms subdivision where the Suttons lived on a quiet cul-de-sac of Arrowood Place.

There was no sign of forced entry, and nothing was missing from the house, authorities said.