NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles.
This is the first part of a two-part series. Check again for other updates related to this story.
The death of a prominent New Jersey couplewas discovered after a suspicious house fire broke out in a suburban Garden State home. There is no specific answer.
The bodies of longtime teacher Joyce Sheridan and her Republican Politico husband John Patrick Sheridan Jr. were found in their bedroom in Montgomery Township, NJ, early on September 28th. rice field. ,2014. The case was initially sentenced to murder-suicide, and Somerset County investigators announced that after John Sheridan stabbed his wife in the chest and killed him, he stabbed himself and killed him.
This September 29, 2014 File photo, Montgomery Township police officer sitting in front of a partially burnt house in John and Joyce Sheridan, Montgomery Township, NJ (AP Photo / Mel Evans, File)
However, loved ones repeatedly questioned their determination, not only hiring the renowned independent forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, but also the New Jersey Attorney General. I asked the office to do my own research.
After years of public criticism from adult children in Sheridan about how to handle the case, a spokesperson for theAttorney General's Officesaid 5 It was revealed in May that the office was under investigation. It is important and will "follow the evidence wherever it leads."
New Jersey AG office begins investigation in 2014 Death of a couple considered murder-suicide before
Spokesman Fox News Digital He requested an interview on the case that did not respond to his recent response and did not answer questions about when the office investigation began or whether the case was updated.
"The investigation is underway and no further information has been released at this time," spokesman Stephen Burns wrote in an email.
A spokesperson for the Somerset County Public Prosecutor's Office referred all inquiries to the State Attorney's Office.
Sheridan's death then became a topic of public and media scrutiny and became the subject of a localWNYC Studiopodcast investigating the situation. I did.
'CURIOUS TO ME'
Dr. Baden is saddened a few days after the couple's death and shortly after Assistant Medical. I got a call from my house. Coroner Dr. Eddie Jean Rilabois had already performed an autopsy on behalf of the state, he told Fox News Digital.
Lira Voice conducted an autopsy of JoyceSheridan, 69, on September 30, 2014. She said, "Burns, sharp force injuries, blunt impact injuries," according to a coroner's report provided to Fox News Digital by her family.
She has a face, neck, and chest. , And appeared to have suffered one and two burns to her limbs. Her body was full of 10 stabs and incisions in her head and chest, the report said.
Lira Voice determined that she died of a "perforated aortic stab in the chest" and that the method of death ofwas "murder."
When John Sheridan, 73, was transferred to the North Regional Medical Inspector's Office in Newark, NJ, he said he had a partially destroyed T-shirt and a "brief description." I was wearing. He also appeared to have suffered from "burns, sharp force injuries, and dull impact injuries," according to an autopsy report also provided to Fox News Digital.
Method About Joyce Sheridan's autopsy report(provided by family)
He suffered "extensive one and two burns" throughout his body, and Lira Voice "There are few preserved areas of skin," reports that his body had five punctures or incisions in the neck, chest, and abdomen, and suffered from a rib fracture.
The causes and methods of his deathwere initially listed as "pending further research" and "pending investigation", respectively. Liravois later determined that John Sheridan committed suicide as a result of "sharp force injuries and smoke inhalation."
But his family disagreed.
Dr. Baden, according to an affidavit he wrote in late 2015 to revise his records, with John Sheridan at the Coroner's New Ark office on October 4, 2014. Sheridan had a second autopsy. He also reviewed the findings from the investigation of Joyce's body, but was specifically asked to analyze John's death situation amid family concerns about the investigator's "suicide" decision, he said. rice field.
In the report, Baden wrote that Mr. Sheridan's injury was "more consistent with murder than suicide."
"They are consistent with what was inflicted by a third party," he wrote. "The weapon used to stab John Sheridan has not been recovered and indicates that it has been removed by a third party."
John Sheridan's initial report(provided by family)
Baden is Henry C, the founder of the University of New Haven's Self-proclaimed Forensic Institute. I quoted Dr. Lee. ,DNA evidence also indicates the presence of a third party, perhaps a male,, the report states. And blood evidence "does not support the conclusion that John Sheridan stabbed Joyce Sheridan."
Baden concludes, "This is my opinion on the reasonable consensus of medical certainty that the method of death of John Sheridan is properly recognized as undecided."
The state changed course in 2017 and, in line with Baden's proposal, ruled that the method of Sheridan's death was "undecided."
Baden was the chief coroner of New York Cityand told Fox News Digital that he had performed more than 20,000 autopsies over 50 years as a forensic pathologist. .. In particular, one of the wounds on Mr. Sheridan's neck pierced his jugular vein and was struck by an apparent lack of weapons used to end his life.
"They found a knife that stabbed Mrs. Sheridan. The stabbed wound matched the knife," he said. "But I couldn't find the weapon that injured Mr. Sheridan. It was very important to me."
The death of a financier and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Baden, who was involved in other prominent incidents such as Epstein, said that the presence of fire department staff "changed the scene. A little." And there's always a weapon on the scene, "added Fox News contributor Baden.
People are past the portraits of John and Joyce Sheridan File Memorial to the couple at the War Memorial in Trenton, NJ, October 7, 2014(AP Photo / Mel Evans)
Baden Said he appreciated Rila Voice, he said he had worked with him before but did not agree with his decision on investigating Mr. Sheridan's death.
He also repeated the findings of the affidavit, a knife that was used to stab Mrs. Sheridan with DNA that was likely to belong to a man but did not match Mr. Sheridan. Said it was recovered from.
Mrs. Sheridan's puncture wound did not match Mr. Sheridan's puncture wound. Sheridan looked more like a "stiletto-like ... thin and sharp knife."
Coroner overturns hospital leader suicide decision
"Even a fire was of interest to me." He said. "For decades, I've been involved in many fires that occur after someone is killed. Usually, they set fire to the place where the murderer destroys the evidence. It's a murder ... it's very rare for someone to commit suicide. "
When asked if Mr. Sheridan shows signs of defensive wounds, Baden burns a man's hand in a fire. Said that it is difficult to determine the existence of such an injury.
Dr. Lee was abroad and was unable to attend the interview with FoxNews Digital. During that time, Dr. Rila Voice was not asked to comment despite many attempts.
'Special people'
File photo, from left, July 24, 2012, John Sheridan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cooper Health Systems, is George Norcross III, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Dr. Paul Katz. Applaud to. Event in Camden, NJ(AP Photo / Mel Evans, File)
Police and firefighters call just before 6:15 am in September I received it. On 28th 2014, a couple reported a fire at a house in Somerset County. They arrived to discover that the fire broke out only in the bedroom on the second floor. There, police officers discovered that John and Joyce were internally unresponsive.
John was declared dead and Joyce was taken to a local hospital, but he could not be saved.
Joyce Sheridan had been a teacher for over 15 years before her retirement, at which point she "spent a lot of time on her grandchildren," knitting, according to the couple's obituary. I was working on hobbies such as gardening and gardening.
Prior to his death, John Sheridan was President and Chief Executive Officer of Cooper University Healthcare in Camden, NJ.
He spent many years in the state government, working with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's transition team and serving as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and Legal Advisor to New Jersey Turnpike. I did. According to his obituary and reports, he is an authority and deputy prosecutor in New Jersey.
Sheridan was "loved by a large family", leaving behind four sons and three grandchildren at the time.
Hundreds of people, including politicians and elected officials, attended the memorial service in October 2014, and Governor Christie described them as "two truly extraordinary people." called.
"I can, according to a NJ.com report, Christie, don't imagine the pain and loss that Sheridan is feeling right now." We are here for you. "
Eight years have passed since Joyce and John died, but their families have consistently suspected police analysis and findings, and more. Investigators have accused them of trying to create evidence to fit their theory.
They have only a few months investigating a federal murder case involving a New Jersey "politician" in theorizing their parents' case and the possible relationships between the cases. He questioned the similarities of the previous case. The New York Times reported.
Michael Galdieri was reportedly stabbed and fired in his Jersey City apartment. A man reportedly confessed to hiring two hitmen to kill Gardieri.
Mark, one of Sheridan's sons, pointed out similarities in the knives used in both cases when asking prosecutors to look for some connection, the report said. I am saying.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Talk to the Times, Sheridan Admitted that: Almost eight years later, "it will be very difficult to get to something from memory and physical evidence."
He added to his dissertation: "But that doesn't mean we don't want them to try."
Stephanie Pagones is a digital reporter for FOX Business and Fox News. The hint of the story is stephanie. pagones @ fox. You can send to com and Twitter (@steph_pagones).
