WOODBURY — Harry J. Neher, 35, of Woodbury, was convicted Tuesday of murder in the 2012 strangulation and beating death of 41-year-old Sabrina Bullock in Woodbury.
A jury that deliberated about three hours returned guilty verdicts on charges of first-degree murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and unlawful possession of a weapon. The latter three charges are all fourth-degree offenses.
Superior Court judge Robert P. Becker revoked Neher’s $1 million bail and scheduled sentencing for July 10. Neher has been jailed in default of bail since his arrest on Dec. 31, 2012.
Bullock’s body was found Dec. 30 of that year in a clothing donation shed behind a South Broad Street apartment where Neher lived.
A computer keyboard cord was found wrapped around her neck. Neher was self-employed as a computer repairman and told a police officer searching for Bullock he’d worked on her laptop and paid her a $50 debt a day earlier.
Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Alec Gutierrez opened his case with physical evidence that included a sweatshirt and sneakers found in the same bag in a trash corral behind Neher’s apartment. DNA tests found Bullock’s blood on both items and determined Neher was the major source of DNA around the neck of the sweatshirt and on a drawstring mixed with Bullock’s blood.
Neher took the witness stand, denied killing Bullock and implicated his former live-in girlfriend in the murder. He testified he found the girlfriend in the bathroom of their apartment on Dec. 29 washing blood from her hands. She suspected him of having an affair with Bullock, Neher said, They had no such relationship, he said.
The girlfriend, who was not charged in connection with Bullock’s death, was called by Gutierrez as a rebuttal witness. She said “absolutely not” when asked if she had anything to do with the murder. Neher’s accusations didn’t surprise her because he typically “tried to push everything off on me,” she said.
In a closing argument to the jury, defense attorney Jon DiMasi dismissed most of the prosecution’s evidence as either irrelevant or inconclusive. DiMasi said the girlfriend was the killer.
Gutierrez summed up his case by calling Neher a “ruthless individual” who withheld his knowledge of Bullock’s death from police and the victim’s mother and didn’t accuse his girlfriend until his trial.
In addition to the Major Crimes, Crime Scene Investigation and High-tech Crime units of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, the Woodbury Police Department and the New Jersey State Police assisted in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
