BROWNS MILL NEW JERSEY MAN, GUILTY ON TWO COUNTS OF RECKLESS MANSLAUGHTER
" On October 26, 2021, Kurt Smith Was Found Guilty In Connection With Setting A House Fire That Claimed The Lives Of His Elderly Mother & Her Companion."
November 6, 2021 By Art Fletcher Reporting For: Englebrook Independent News,
MOUNT HOLLY, NJ.- On Friday, November 6, 2021 Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a 62-Year-Old man was found Guilty of causing the Deaths of his elderly mother and her companion who perished in a house fire in October 2018 in the Browns Mills section of Pemberton Township, New Jersey.
Kurt Smith, 62, who lived at the residence in the 500 block of Willow Boulevard, was convicted by a jury on Two Counts of Second Degree Reckless Manslaughter. The verdict was returned Monday, October 26, 2021 following approximately ten hours of deliberation over two days.
The Honorable Christopher J. Garrenger, J.S.C., has scheduled Sentencing for January 7, 2022. Mr. Smith has been lodged in The Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly, New Jersey since his arrest a few days after the fire.
Mr. Smith was accused of igniting flammable material with a cigarette lighter in the garage of the residence, then unsuccessfully attempting to extinguish the blaze.
In addition to the Homicides, Mr. Smith was Charged with Arson. The Jury was unable to come to a verdict on the Arson Charge.
The Fire claimed the life his Mother, Lore Smith, 92, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, and the life of her companion, George Pikunis, also 92, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Subsequent Autopsies performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood concluded the Cause of Death in each instance was Smoke and Soot Inhalation, along with each sustaining Burns.
FILED UNDER NOVEMBER 6, 2021: LAW, BURLINGTON: