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sheridan case Continued from page 77 really happened in their final, desperate moments? How had the county detectives who investigated the case allegedly botched things so badly, failing to dust for fingerprints, discounting blood spatter in a back hallway, missing a fireplace poker that matched bruises on their father? There were allegedly so many missteps, so many omissions and missed opportunities by local lawmen and medical examiners that the state was eventually compelled to retract its official finding that John had murdered his wife and then himself, somehow managing to set fire to the bedroom and pull a massive armoire on top of himself at the same time. “Undetermined” became the official designation for the cause of John's death, while Joyce’s death remained classified as a homicide. John and Joyce Sheridan had been married for 47 years when they were found dead in their two-story ’70s-era colonial home in the well-heeled section of Montgomery Township, just north of Princeton. By all accounts, they had been happily married. Joyce was a public school teacher who took time off to raise their boys. The couple had many friends and spent a lot of their time hunting for antiques. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny morning on September 28, 2014, when a neighbor called police after spotting smoke coming out of a second-floor front window of the Sheridan house. When firefighters arrived, they found a horrific scene. The couple’s bodies were sprawled on the floor of the main bedroom. They had both been stabbed to death, and an armoire was lying across John. The room had been set on fire. Police called all four adult Sheridan sons to come home. When Sheridan, the eldest of the brothers, arrived at the scene, the house was surrounded by emergency responders, and he was not allowed inside. When Sheridan learned that the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office was considering calling the case a murder-suicide, he knew right away that they had to be wrong. To his knowledge, there was nothing in his parents’ lives that could have led to a murder-suicide: they were happily married and had no financial problems, no affairs and no issues with addiction. “I think my parents were murdered; there’s nothing to suggest otherwise,” he says. “I don’t know if there’s a connection with the Galdieri murder, but what struck me was the similarities between the two crimes. In both cases, they were stabbed to death and the rooms were set on fire.” Joyce had been stabbed 12 times in the head, chest and hands; they were obviously defensive wounds. Sheridan says that not a drop of Joyce’s blood was found on his father, even though blood spatter from his mother was found 6-9 feet away from her body. “It would seem to be nearly impossible for that to happen if he did it,” he says. John had five stab wounds, shallow cuts to his neck and torso. County investigators believed that the cuts resembled so-called hesitation wounds similar to those found on people trying to commit suicide, according to the prosecutor. Investigators apparently came to the conclusion within days that John had killed his wife before committing suicide. When the prosecutor’s office called him and his brothers in for a meeting to explain their belief that the killings were a murdersuicide, the discussion grew heated, Sheridan says. The investigators then demanded DNA samples from all the brothers, even though police had already checked their telephones, E-ZPass, and credit card records and had found nothing to implicate the children in their parents’ deaths. “The county had their mind made up right away that it was a murder-suicide, so they never collected evidence or pursued leads like they should have,’’ Sheridan says. Accusations that the county investigation was flawed mounted quickly. There was a bloody fingerprint found outside of the Sheridans’ bedroom that was never explained. Nearly $1,000 in cash and valuables, including expensive jewelry, were left untouched in their room. The house showed no sign of forced entry. Within days of the deaths, the Sheridan brothers hired forensic pathologist Michael Baden to redo autopsies on their parents. Baden found surprising errors, including a cut on John's neck had penetrated his jugular vein and likely killed him. A weapon that matched the fatal wound, however, was never found. A county investigator who took part in the Sheridan probe later filed a whistleblower lawsuit, claiming the county had made serious errors during the investigation, including improperly collecting, preserving and subsequently destroying evidence in the case. The Somerset prosecutor’s office declined to be interviewed for this story. The whistleblower lawsuit was eventually dismissed and the cause of John's death was later officially changed from suicide to undetermined. The phrase murder-suicide connected to John still grates on family and friends. John Farmer Jr., a former attorney general under Govenor Christine Todd Whitman who was a friend to the Sheridan family, says he feels badly that the children have to live with the intimation that their father was a murderer. “Mark had to explain to his children that his father killed his mother. There’s a lack of empathy there. When I first spoke to him, he was trying to process what they told him,” says Farmer, adding that Mark was understandably outraged about the mistakes in the autopsy. Farmer said the developments regarding the Sean Caddle case and news that the Sheridan investigation is being reopened, gives some hope that there may finally be answers for the whole Sheridan family. “I don’t know if there’s a connection between the two murders, but I do know that the police were very dismissive,’’ Farmer says. “Someone could have staged a murder-suicide like that and covered it up. ” Many murder investigations, Farmer says, end up hitting brick walls. But, he believes that the state should have a formal process in cases where a murder-suicide is suspected, and the family disputes it. Sheridan realizes the chances of finding out just why his parents died are slim. Too much evidence is gone or was never collected, he says. Too much time has passed. But with the state’s new interest in the case, and with the Caddle case percolating, Sheridan has something he has not had for years: hope and a chance for closure. “Look, I don’t know what happened to my parents, and I am not saying their deaths are definitely linked to” Caddle’s hit man or Camden, Sheridan says. “I’m just saying, let’s finally investigate these issues the way they should have been from the start.’’ If the recent past is any indication, the future courses of both cases are sure to take some intriguing twists. Caddle’s sentencing is scheduled for early December. Jeff Pillets, an investigative reporter, has won numerous writing awards and was a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist. 116 SEPTEMBER 2022 NJMONTHLY.COM
where+when SEPTEMBER EVENTS BY FALYN STEMPLER f e s t i v a l s PUPPY PLAY September 17 Bring your furry friend to DogFest Tri-States, which includes training demonstrations, a doggie costume contest, and fundraisers for Canine Companions, which helps people with disabilities by pairing them with service dogs. 1-4 pm. Campus Town at the College of New Jersey, Ewing Township. p2p.onecause.com/dogfesttristates22 PHOTOGRAPHS (CLOCKWISE ): COURTESY OF MORRIS MUSEUM; COURTESY OF CANINE COMPANIONS; COURTESY OF ROBYN VON SWANK; COURTESY OF COUNT BASIE CENTER FOR THE ARTS a r t CELEBRATING BLACK CULTURE Thru September 25 This is the last month to see “For the Culture, by the Culture,” Morris Museum’s Black art, activism and achievement collection. This exhibit sees personal expression speak truth to power and references figures and feats dating back 30 years. $8-$12. Morris Museum, Morristown. morrismuseum.org s p e c i a l e v e n t CONVERSATIONS ON CIVIL RIGHTS September 15 Princeton University professor emeritus Cornel West facilitates a community conversation about social justice and race relations in the country and state. 7 pm; $29-$65. Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Red Bank. thebasie.org. c o m e d y BAMFORD’S BRAZEN BANTER September 11 Maria Bamford, the first female comic to have two half-hour Comedy Central specials, is bringing her revered jokes about her mental illness to New Jersey. 7:30 pm; $30-$45. South Orange Performing Arts Center, South Orange. sopacnow.org SEPTEMBER 2022 NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 117
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