Crime & Safety
More Charges Filed In Missing Bergen Man's Murder Case
Orville Cousins, 40, was arrested in January in connection with Randolph Smith's disappearance.
BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Additional charges have been filed against a New York man in connection with the desecration of a missing Bergen County's man's body authorities found in plastic containers.
Orville Cousins, 40, was charged by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office with desecration of human remains and hindering apprehension. Burlington County police also filed a desecration of human remains charge in January after authorities found Randolph Smith's body in six plastic containers 10 days after his wife reported him missing.
RELATED: 2 Charged In Connection With Missing Bergen Man's Murder
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Smith's wife Adrienne, and Cousins' sister, was the last person to reportedly see him Jan. 2, Bergenfield Police Capt. Mustafa Rabboh previously said. She last saw him Christmas night at 8:30 p.m. when he left the Bergenfield residence "with an unknown person," Rabboh said.
Randolph Smith's remains were found 10 days later in six plastic containers in Burlington and authorities began investigating.
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Officials determined that Cousins and Adrienne Smith purchased materials that were used in connection with the desecration of Smith's body; some of the materials were found in Smith's Bergenfield home, said Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal.
Cousins was charged with desecration of human remains by the Burlington Police Department.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office charged Cousins April 25 with desecration of human remains and hindering apprehension for "his actions in Bergen County" related to the incident.
Cousins was being held by the New York City Department of Corrections and extradited to the Burlington County Jail on the new charges April 19, Grewal said. Cousins is scheduled for a detention hearing at the Bergen County Courthouse Monday morning.
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Orville Cousins, 40 — Bergen County Prosecutor's Office
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