Investigator Jack McLaughlin Way honors slain law enforcement officer

CAMDEN – A child-abuse investigator slain in 1995 was remembered at a ceremony here for his bravery and devotion to duty.

And at the climax of the April 18 event, a cloth dropped to reveal a road’s new name in the fallen officer’s honor – Investigator Jack McLaughlin Way.

McLaughlin’s name is already written in the history of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office as the agency’s only member to die in the line of duty.

But putting his name on the road, where it appears on large blue-and-white signs, provides “a lasting tribute to (McLaughlin’s) exemplary service and profound impact,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

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“These signs honor a courageous man who gave his life while striving to make Camden County a safer place for our residents, and most importantly, our children,” said Michael Mangold, the chief of staff for the prosecutor’s office.

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The honor for McLaughlin was proposed by two members of a new generation at the prosecutor's office, Detective Sergeants Andy McNeil and Denny Convery.

The signs mark an access road, previously unnamed, outside the prosecutor's headquarters in the Florio Center for Public Service, It runs between Federal Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Kim McLaughlin, the investigator’s widow, said the name will help people recognize the sacrifice by McLaughlin and a Haddon Heights policeman, John Norcross, killed in the same incident.

“I often find that if I’m somewhere and I see a street named after somebody, that I’m curious about that person, if it's not a famous person” she said.

“And I really feel that the street being named for Jack will keep that legacy going, that Jack and John are both leaving behind,” she continued.

“Because this story will get told over and over again.”

A Haddon Heights resident, Leslie Nelson killed McLaughlin, a 38-year-old Air Force veteran, when the investigator and a Haddon Heights police detective, Richard Norcross, tried to serve a warrant at her house.

Norcross was shot multiple times, but survived the fusillade from Nelson's assault rifle.

Leslie Nelson serving life term

But the detective’s brother, John Norcross, a 24-year-old borough patrolman, was killed outside Nelson’s Sylvan Avenue home.

Nelson, known to neighbors for unusual behavior, surrendered after a stand-off of more than 14 hours.

Now 66, she is serving a life term with no parole eligibility until 2048, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Richard Norcross spent 12 years with the intelligence unit of the prosecutor’s office after retiring from the police department.

At Thursday’s ceremony, he praised McLaughlin’s dedication and courage in remarks before law officers from across Camden County..

He also noted lessons learned from the tragedy, including how to cope with trauma, have become part of training sessions that help protect others in law enforcement.

Prosecutor Grace Macaulay struggled to maintain her composure as she recalled "a sea of blue police uniforms" at McLaughlin's services and schoolchildren saluting from sidewalks as his motorcade passed by.

"We were trying to make sense of it all, evoking every kind of emotion and at the same time feeling the greatest outpouring of love," she said.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden County Prosecutor's Office honors Investigator Jack McLaughlin