At trailer park, anniversary of unsolved killing is marked

The weed-strewn lot where Lockey Mitten's trailer stood is almost empty, all but for three jars of fabric flowers and a plywood sign that reads: "Let there be justice."

Friends gathered yesterday at the Colonial Park mobile home development in Williamstown to remember Mitten on the one-year anniversary of her killing.

Mitten, then 64, was found on July 28, 2007, killed by a knife wound to her throat. The slaying remains unsolved, with authorities offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

Several of the eight or so women gathered yesterday morning said they sought closure to a sudden and unexplained loss.

"It has bothered me throughout the past year," said Nancy Colvin, a longtime friend who discovered Mitten's body when she went to check on her that Friday evening a year ago.

Colvin, who first met Mitten in the 1960s and spoke with her several times a day, described her friend as a "big-hearted" and generous person.

"How anybody could live with this on their conscience is beyond me," she said.

The small memorial service lasted only a few minutes, as the women read Bible verses, left purple fabric roses and prayed for their friend. Afterward, a few said they also prayed for the killer to be caught.

"All I want is for them to find out who did it," Colvin said. "Justice, let there be justice."

The Monroe Township police and Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office are still investigating the case, and one detective was at the mobile home park checking sources on Friday, Prosecutor's Office spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld said.

Murderers are sometimes caught years after their crimes, Weisenfeld said.

"It just depends on when you get the right piece of information," he said.

Mitten was a warm, energetic woman, a single mother devoted to her two daughters, said former colleague Mary Hubert. The two first met when they began working together at a Williamstown office in 1975. Mitten, an office administrator who had since retired, was well-liked by her coworkers for her constant smiles and open attitude, she said.

"It boggles your mind," Hubert said. "I can't imagine where anybody could get that level of hate."

Residents of Colonial Park have grown wary since the murder, said Colvin, who lives in a mobile home a few blocks away.

"People make sure all their doors and windows are locked, that's for sure," she said. "Who would ever think?"