Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County man who killed a Temple police officer, found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison

A Philadelphia judge on Wednesday sentenced Miles Pfeffer to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder for fatally shooting Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald in 2023.

The sentence, imposed by Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson, capped a three-day trial that revisited a crime that had stunned the city when it happened more than two years ago.

Bronson called Pfeffer’s crime “the worst of the worst,” saying he not only cut short the life of a 31-year-old father of four, but that he’d done so in a “cold-blooded murder of a police officer.”

“The system collapses when people attack and kill police officers,” Bronson said, adding that Pfeffer killed Fitzgerald “for nothing — for no reason at all.”

The jury, composed of six men and six women, took only about 20 minutes to convict Pfeffer of charges including first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and weapons offenses. They also found him guilty of carjacking a Temple student moments after the shooting, a crime he committed before fleeing to his mother’s house in Bucks County, where he was arrested the next day.

In addition to the life sentence for murder, Bronson imposed an additional penalty of 22 ½ years for the robbery charges.

The verdict led to an outpouring of emotion in the courtroom, which had been packed all week with supporters of both Fitzgerald and Pfeffer, as well as a host of city and Temple officials.

Fitzgerald’s father, Joel — a former Philadelphia police officer who has worked in law enforcement across the country — told Bronson before sentencing that his son resisted chances to move elsewhere so that he could continue serving his home city.

Fitzgerald’s widow, Marissa, called Pfeffer “pathetic” and a “waste of life,” saying he’d denied Fitzgerald’s children a chance at a life with their father.

Pfeffer declined to address Bronson during his sentencing hearing, and his relatives declined to comment while leaving the courthouse.

Throughout the three-day trial, prosecutors told jurors Pfeffer had intended to kill Fitzgerald when he fired six shots at the officer on the 1700 block of Montgomery Avenue on Feb. 18, 2023.

“This was not just a killing of another human being,” Assistant District Attorney Bob Wainwright said during his closing arguments Wednesday. “This was an execution.”

Fitzgerald had run after Pfeffer, then 18, around 7 p.m. that night while working patrol in the neighborhood. When the officer caught up to him after a brief foot chase, the two engaged in a physical struggle, at which point Pfeffer pulled a gun and shot Fitzgerald — then stood over him and fired another three rounds at his head.

The crime was captured on video, and prosecutors said the footage was clear proof that Pfeffer committed an intentional killing worthy of a first-degree murder conviction — and the automatic life sentence it carries.

Pfeffer’s public defenders had sought to convince jurors that Pfeffer — a high school senior at the time — had acted impulsively and out of fear, afraid of being chased by a police officer in a part of the city he’d visited on an aimless Saturday with his brother and a friend.

They asked jurors to find him guilty of third-degree murder, a conviction that could have permitted him to seek parole at some point in the future.

The killing led to a sustained outpouring of grief in the weeks and months that followed. A block near Temple’s campus was later renamed for Fitzgerald.

Months after charges were filed, District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office announced it would not seek the death penalty. Fitzgerald’s relatives have criticized that decision, saying Pfeffer should face the most serious consequences permitted by law.

Separately, the Fitzgeralds sued Pfeffer and his parents, accusing them of failing to prevent the crime by allowing Pfeffer to access guns as a teen and failing to address earlier episodes of misbehavior. The lawsuit remains pending.

The murder occurred after Pfeffer had wandered around different parts of the city with his younger brother, Dean, and a friend. They ended up near Temple’s campus, and after leaving a corner store at 17th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, Dean Pfeffer testified, the trio noticed police watching them, started running, and split up.

Fitzgerald chased after Pfeffer, catching up to him on the 1700 block of Montgomery Avenue.

After Fitzgerald grabbed Pfeffer and told him to get on the ground, video showed, Pfeffer, without warning, began shooting. He then regained his footing, video showed, stood over Fitzgerald, and fired three more times before running away.

Then, evidence showed, Pfeffer carjacked a student on a nearby block, putting a gun in the man’s face and telling him to turn over his keys.

Pfeffer ditched the car but ended up at mother’s house in Buckingham Township, where he was arrested the next day.

Fitzgerald, meanwhile, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was declared dead not long after the shooting.

Spectators this week included Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, Temple president John Fry and Vice President of Public Safety Jennifer Griffin, former District Attorney Seth Williams, at least one Common Pleas Court judge, and a variety of attorneys. Fitzgerald and Pfeffer have also each had large contingents of family or friends in the courtroom.

Krasner, speaking after the verdict, declined to say why his office had declined to seek the death penalty in the case.

But he credited Philadelphia police and other agencies for working quickly and diligently on the investigation, calling the shooting of Fitzgerald an “absolutely a heartbreaking case.”

“There has been some great work that has been done inside and outside this office,” he said, “by people who genuinely care.”