SURF CITY – A woman who murdered her father and his girlfriend was given two consecutive life sentences, police said.
Police had visited the home of John Enders, 87, of Surf City on October 3, 2021 to perform a wellness check when they found his body and that of Francois Pitoy, 75, of Manchester. They had both been stabbed several times and shot in the face. Enders additionally had blunt force trauma. Their deaths were estimated to have taken place on or about September 29, 2021.
Sherry Lee Heffernan, 57, of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, was taken into custody at her home in Landenberg, Pennsylvania the day after the bodies were discovered. She has been in custody since then.
“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 Francois,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said.
Prosecutor Billhimer applauded the efforts of Chief Trial Attorney Michael Weatherstone and Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman, who tried the case on behalf of the State. The Prosecutor likewise extended his gratitude to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Economic Crime Unit, Intelligence Squad, and High Tech Crime Unit, as well as the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office and Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Surf City Police, Long Beach Township Police, Stafford Police, New Jersey State Police, Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, Ocean County Motor Vehicle Services, Pennsylvania State Police, Collegeville (Pennsylvania) Police Department, Horsham Township (Pennsylvania) Police Department, Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney’s Office, Chester County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney’s Office, Maryland State Police, and North East (Maryland) Police Department, for their combined and collective efforts investigating and solving these heinous and senseless crimes – ultimately resulting in Heffernan’s guilty verdicts, and now her lengthy state prison sentence.
