Police Reopen South Brunswick Krauszer's Murder Of Mother Of Nine

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Thirty years ago this week, a young South Brunswick mother was murdered while at work; she was shot to death at her job as a cashier at the Krauszer's on Alston Road. Many of South Brunswick's current residents may not even know the tragic fatal shooting happened, as the Township was mostly rural farmlands at the time, with far fewer people living here than today.

On the morning of October 10, 1989, Aileen Morris, 39, was shot to death while behind the counter at what used to be the Krauszer's food store on Alston Road just off Rt. 27. The location is still a convenience store; today it is a Stop & Go.

At 11:40 a.m. that day, a customer walked into the store and found Morris' lifeless body behind the counter. Detectives pieced together the timeline and believed the murder took place in a 15-minute window of opportunity.

This week, South Brunswick police and the Middlesex County prosecutor's office announced they are reopening the cold case. At the time, media reports said this was a possible robbery and that Morris was killed over $400, which was missing from the store.

However, neither South Brunswick police nor the county prosecutor mentioned the robbery when they reopened the case this week, leading to the possibility that her killer may have had other motives.

Morris was a married mother of nine when she was killed. She lived with her family near the store in Kendall Park.

Her daughter, Renee Morris, recalled her mother as an extremely hard-working woman.

“She was always working two or three jobs. There were nine of us ranging in age from 18 to 7 at the time she was killed. She was always helping other people. Our Constable Road home dinner table often had people eating at it because they had nowhere else to go,” she said.

At the time, detectives questioned friends, customers and people who frequented the store. They followed leads all around the state, but the case remains unsolved to this day.

South Brunswick's current chief of police, Raymond Hayducka, was just a patrolman that day and he was one of the first officers to respond to the store. For him, this cold case is personal:

“Time may have passed, but we know the answers are out there,” he said. “Someone reading this has that one piece of information that can help us catch the killer and they can remain anonymous."

Police are looking for any and all new leads. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or call the Detective Sergeant Mike Pellino or Detective Rick Delucia of the South Brunswick Police Department at (732) 329-4000 ext. 7496.

Crime Stoppers of Middlesex County, Inc. is a non-profit organization that partners with law enforcement to enable the public to anonymously submit crime information and will pay a cash reward should it lead to an arrest.

Tip information may be provided anonymously by calling 1-800-939-9600 or submitted online at www.middlesextips.com. Tips may also be sent by text messaging 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword: “midtip” followed by the tip information.

Those who provide information will be given a unique numerical code that that allows them to communicate with the program and collect a reward should their information lead to an arrest.