Prosecutor: Woman who stabbed father, woman in NJ also shot them
Authorities have revealed another detail in the brutal killings of an Ocean County man and the woman he was dating — both adults were shot in the face in addition to being stabbed repeatedly.
Sherry Lee Heffernan, 55, of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, was arrested on Oct. 5, accused of the murders of her own father, John Enders and Francoise Pitoy in Enders’ waterfront home on Long Beach Island.
Hefferman now faces two more illegal weapons possession charges stemming from a handgun, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.
The 87-year-old Enders and 75-year-old Pitoy, of Manchester, were found on Oct. 3 when Surf City Police responded to do a wellness check and discovered the bloody scene.
Enders’ cause of death had already been determined as multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma, Billhimer said.
A day later, an autopsy on Pitoy found her cause of death to be multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the face.
That prompted the Medical Examiner to recheck Enders’ body, which confirmed a gunshot wound to the face among his fatal injuries.
Heffernan previously was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two illegal weapons possession counts, stemming from a knife.
Investigators believe the elderly couple, who had dated for about 15 years, was actually killed several days before the grisly discovery.
Surveillance cameras on the Route 72 bridge very early Sept. 29 captured footage of Heffernan driving towards LBI in her 2003 Ford Winnebago, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Other surveillance footage and documentation also track her return home, the affidavit said.
Ocean County Sheriff's Office detectives later found blood stains inside the RV, officials said.
At the time of the killings, the $2 million house had been listed online as a pending sale.
The property has since been taken off-market.
With previous reporting by Dan Alexander