Prosecutors may have finally gotten the break they needed in the case surrounding a 2009 murder in Verona.
In testimony in Newark on Wednesday, David Fate claimed his cousin Raymond Perry was the one who shot Daniel Pritchard at the Sunoco gas station at Pompton Avenue and Cambridge Road on February 22, 2009. Pritchard, who had grown up in Verona, died at the scene. In 2011, Fate pleaded guilty to his role in the case and a series of robberies, but the Essex County Prosecutor’s office had been unable win a conviction of Perry, who now goes by the name of Tariq Kyam. Perry’s first trial ended in a mistrial in May.
How much weight Fate’s testimony yesterday will carry with jurors is unclear because Fate also admitted to being a liar about the case. You can read the Star Ledger’s account of Wednesday’s hearing here.
