The following comes from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office:
Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced that a Mt. Laurel man pleaded guilty in Superior Court to killing his wife last year on New Year’s Eve 2014 and later disposing of her body in a rural area in Maryland.
Kyle J. Crosby, 29, of 5201 Aberdeen Drive in Mt. Laurel, entered a guilty plea to aggravated manslaughter and hindering apprehension before the Hon. Charles A. Delehey, J.S.C.
Under terms of the plea agreement, Crosby will be sentenced to 28 years in state prison on the aggravated manslaughter charge and three years on the hindering apprehension charge. The terms will run consecutively.
Under the state’s No Early Release Act, Crosby must serve 85 percent of the sentence for the homicide charge before becoming eligible for parole.
Crosby admitted in court hat on Dec. 31, 2014 he fatally choked his wife, Erica Crippen, age 26, inside their Mt. Laurel home and later transported her body to Maryland.
Crosby’s mother, Jo Crosby, age 68, of Saint Moritz Drive in Sicklerville, was indicted in April on one count of hindering apprehension and one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
She is presently free on $12,500 bail.
As part of the plea agreement with Kyle Crosby, the charges against his mother will be dismissed at sentencing.
Judge Delehey set sentencing for Feb. 4. The case was prosecuted by BCPO assistant prosecutor Mark Westfall.
Kyle Crosby was charged Jan. 13, 2015 with one count of murder for causing the death of his wife, who had been missing since the prior New Year’s Eve.
He was taken into custody the evening of Jan. 12, 2015 by officers from the Brooklawn Police Department following a traffic stop and foot chase in Bellmawr, Camden County.
Three searches were conducted in Maryland at different times by investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, the Mt. Laurel Police Department, the Maryland State Police, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police and the New Jersey State Police.
The remains of Crosby’s wife were discovered March 17 by investigators in a rural area in Sykesville, Maryland.
She was found underneath a pile of branches and limbs in a grove of pine trees off of Old Frederick Road in Carroll County.
She was wrapped in a fleece blanket. Her hands and feet had been bound with a cord that was also wrapped around her neck. She had duct tape across her mouth and nose.
The successful search was conducted following a forensic examination of the Global Positioning System found in Crosby’s vehicle after he was taken into custody on Jan. 12.
More than 8,600 coordinates had been recorded by the GPS device.
Investigators determined that Crosby had spent more time along Old Frederick Road in Carroll County than at other locations and concentrated the search in that area.
An autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland concluded that the manner of death was homicide and the cause was asphyxiation.
Crippen lived with Crosby and two children, a 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship and their 3-month-old daughter.
Her disappearance was brought to the attention of law enforcement officers after school officials contacted the Mt. Laurel Police Department on Jan. 7 and requested a wellness check at the family’s residence.
The request came after neither parent was present to pick up the older daughter at the end of the school day.
Kyle Crosby signed a missing person report that day indicating he had not seen his wife since Jan. 1.
Further investigation led to charges against Kyle Crosby filed on Jan. 10, 2015 for Endangering the Welfare of a Child due to the level of care he provided to the children in the absence of his wife.
The existence of the charge allowed law enforcement officers to execute the traffic stop on Jan. 12 and detain Crosby.
Crosby remains in the Burlington County Jail on $1.2 million bail.
