SURF CITY, N.J. (TCD) — A 57-year-old Pennsylvania woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for fatally stabbing and shooting her father and his girlfriend in New Jersey in 2021.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced that on May 10, a judge sentenced Sherry Heffernan to two consecutive life sentences in New Jersey State Prison. In March, a jury found Heffernan guilty of the murders of her father, 87-year-old John Enders, and his girlfriend, 75-year-old Francoise Pitoy.
According to the prosecutor’s office, on Oct. 3, 2021, at around 4 p.m., Surf City Police officers responded to a home on North 7th Street, where they found the bodies of Enders and Pitoy. An affidavit reviewed by NJ.com says police found blood all over the home, as well as bloody foot prints and a discarded rubber glove.
An autopsy determined Enders died of multiple stab wounds with “severance of the right carotid artery and blunt force trauma,” and he suffered a gunshot wound to the face. Investigators discovered Pitoy also died of multiple stab wounds and sustained a gunshot wound to the face. The victims’ deaths were ruled homicides.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Enders owned the home where the victims were found, but Pitoy often stayed with him.
Heffernan, a real estate agent, became upset because her father allegedly didn’t want her to be the broker on his house, which was listed for $1.9 million. A friend told police that Enders revised his will and took Heffernan and his other daughter out of it, NJ.com reports.
Pennsylvania State Police arrested Heffernan at her home in Landenberg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 4, 2021. She has been in custody at the Ocean County Jail since her arrest.
Billhimer said, “This defendant will spend the rest of her life in prison. This is an appropriate sentence, and we are hopeful that this brings some measure of closure to the family and friends of John and Francoise.”
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