2005
Media Releases:
CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION
January 12, 2005
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi reported that Ryshaone
Thomas, M/26, pleaded guilty today to Felony Murder, admitting that
he and a co-defendant abducted, robbed and killed Christine Eberle,
27, on Nov. 12, 2001, in Camden, N.J.
Sentencing for Thomas is scheduled for March 4, 2005, before Superior
Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder. Under the plea agreement, Assistant Prosecutor
Greg Smith, Deputy Section Chief of the Homicide Unit in the Camden
County Prosecutor's Office, will recommend a sentence of 43 years
in New Jersey State Prison, including 85 percent, or 36½ years, without
parole eligibility. Under the agreement, Thomas waived his right to
file an appeal on any aspect of the case.
Under questioning by Judge Snyder, Thomas told the court that he and
a co-defendant went to the Ferry Avenue Station of the PATCO High-Speed
Line in Camden on Nov. 12, 2001, intending to commit a robbery. He
admitted that they kidnapped Christine Eberle from the station's parking
lot, took her vehicle and later killed her.
Thomas, of the unit block of Fairview Court in Camden, was arrested
Nov. 13, 2001, after being stopped in the 2800 block of Hull Road
in Camden while driving the victim's vehicle. The body of Christine
Eberle, of Washington Township, was found the night of Nov. 13 in
a wooded area behind Malandra Hall on New Jersey Avenue in Camden.
She had been beaten and strangled.
"I commend Christine Eberle's family and friends for their passionate
advocacy on behalf of their beloved Christine," Sarubbi said. "Through
all the convoluted legal wrangling in this case, they have kept Christine's
memory at the forefront. Their heartache and loss can never be fully
repaired. Yet it is my hope that this resolution advances their healing
and provides them some measure of peace."
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