Inquirer reporter sought data

Prosecutors wrestled with the decision to release documents from the Howard Unruh case file when Inquirer staff writer Barbara Boyer filed a request to see it, first at the 60th anniversary of the rampage, in 2009, and later that year after Unruh died.

Some argued that doing so would result in a flood of similar requests and releases.

But Boyer kept pressing - arguing that Unruh's death presented an opportunity for the public to see how the mentally ill are treated and processed in a criminal case. Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said the decision to release the papers, after a long review, was guided by the historical nature of the case.

"There is continuing public interest in this case even after 60 years," he said. In addition, Unruh and all the primary figures have since died, he said.

Faulk, who grew up in Merchantville, was 5 when Unruh went on his rampage, but said "it was constantly talked about" when he was growing up.

"Unruh was a household name," he said.

Faulk said his office would review requests for files on a case-by-case basis.

- Joseph A. Gambardello