An argument over money led to the beating death of a South Jersey woman at the hands of a co-worker who she took into her home, prosecutors in Camden County said.
Susan Johnson was found dead on Friday after going missing a week earlier, prosecutors said. The 59-year-old's body was discovered in a wooded area off the 5000 block of Commonwealth Avenue in Evesham Township after a witness to the murder led investigators there, prosecutors said.
Johnson was beaten to death on Dec. 5 by her co-worker, 30-year-old Miguel Angel Diaz, inside her home along the unit block of Skyline Drive in Gloucester Township, prosecutors said. The two worked in an office cleaning business.
Prosecutors said the victim took in Diaz and the female murder witness into her home after they needed a place to stay.
Investigators said Diaz and Johnson got into an argument about a money-related matter before the beating occurred. The woman was reported missing after she didn't show up for work and police found signs of a struggle inside her home on Thursday.
Detectives questioned Diaz and his female companion on Friday and those conversations ended with police finding Johnson's body.
A post-mortem exam found that Johnson died of blunt force trauma to the head, officials said.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Diaz has been charged with first degree murder. He will be arraigned on Monday morning.
