Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Monday, August 24, 1987, a woman walking her dog discovered the partially clad body of 25-year-old Jacqueline Harrison along a dirt road in Pemberton Township, New Jersey. She had been manually strangled and sexually assaulted. Sticks were in her mouth and vagina. Some of her clothing had been torn.
Her body was within several hundred yards of the Lake Valley Acres apartments, where she had lived before recently moving back in with her family’s home, which was about a quarter-mile from where she was found.
Her mother reported last seeing Harrison, who was the mother of two young girls, at about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.
On September 22, 1987, the police arrested 36-year-old Larry Peterson, a Pemberton Township resident who worked in a lumber warehouse in Southampton, New Jersey. He became a suspect after the victim’s best friend and a former boyfriend called the prosecutor’s office to report that Peterson had fresh “fingernail” scratch marks on his arms. Peterson had gone to the police voluntarily and denied committing the murder. However, the police said he made inconsistent statements during the interview.
Subsequently, three men had told the police they were with Peterson at approximately the same time as Harrison’s body was found. They said that Peterson had confessed to them while they were in the car together on the way to work. In this confession, Peterson allegedly told them that he ripped Harrison’s clothing off, had oral and vaginal sex with her, choked her, and inserted sticks in her body.
Peterson was charged with capital murder and aggravated sexual assault.
He went to trial in Burlington County Superior Court on February 28, 1989. The prosecution said it would seek the death penalty.
Two men who were in the Burlington County Jail with Peterson testified that they had heard Peterson admit he killed Harrison.
A forensic analyst with the New Jersey State Police Laboratory System testified that three foreign pubic hairs in the victim’s pubic combings were a “microscopically match” with samples of Peterson’s pubic hair. The analyst also said a head hair fragment recovered from the bag that was used to transport Harrison’s body from the scene was “a microscopic match to Mr. Peterson’s hair.”
The analyst said that a stick found 40 feet away from the victim contained three hairs that were a “match” with samples ofHarrison’s pubic hairs. The analyst said that another hair found on the stick was a “match” to Harrison’s head hairs, and that there were three hairs that were a “match” to Peterson’s pubic hairs. Because the victim had sex with two consensual partners on the night of the murder, the analyst said that hairs from the consensual partners had been examined and both had been excluded as the source of the hairs.
Another forensic scientist with the New Jersey State Police testified that there was seminal fluid on the victim’s jeans and sperm on her underwear. No seminal fluid or sperm was found in her rape kit. All tests on these items of evidence were inconclusive, the analyst said.
Peterson’s co-workers testified about his statements to them in the car while on the way to work. They said he described the crime in graphic detail.
Peterson, a divorced father of three, testified and denied committing the crime. He said he was in a motel in Wrightstown with his girlfriend on the night of the crime. The defense presented witnesses who corroborated that account. The defense also presented employment records showing that Peterson did not work on the day Harrison’s body was found, which contradicted the testimony of his co-workers who said they were on their way to work when he confessed to them.
On March 17, 1989, the jury convicted Peterson of felony murder and aggravated sexual assault. The jury acquitted him of capital murder. He was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.
In 1995, the Innocence Project began working on Peterson’s case and won a motion for DNA testing in 2003.
The hairs, rape kit, clothing, and fingernail scrapings were sent to the Serological Research Institute (SERI), where STR and mitochondrial DNA tests were performed. In 2005, SERI reported that Peterson was excluded as the source of any of the evidence.
The testing showed that pubic hairs collected from the victim’s pubic combings and the stick from the crime scene all came from Harrison.
Although the New Jersey State Police Laboratory had reported at the time of the trial that there was no semen in the victim’s rape kit, SERI identified sperm on her oral, vaginal, and anal swabs.
Two different male profiles were found. One of the males was one of Harrison’s consensual partners, and his profile was found on her underwear, jeans, and rape kit. The other unknown male was found on all of the swabs in her rape kit. The unknown male profile was not found on the victim’s underwear or jeans, suggesting that she was not wearing those items when she was sexually assaulted. Testing of Harrison’s fingernail scrapings revealed the same unknown male DNA profile.
Based on this evidence, Peterson’s convictions were vacated on July 29, 2005. The prosecution said it intended to take the case to trial again. Peterson was released on August 27, 2005, after family members were able to borrow thousands of dollars to post his bail.
On May 26, 2006, the prosecution dismissed the charges.
Peterson subsequently filed lawsuits in federal court and state court action for compensation for his 18 years of wrongful imprisonment. On July 20, 2010, both lawsuits were settled for $1 million.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 03-12-2026
