Surf City, New Jersey— In 2021, a 57-year-old woman from Pennsylvania killed her father and his girlfriend by stabbing and killing them. She will spend the rest of her life in prison.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said that on May 10, a judge gave Sherry Heffernan two life terms that will run consecutively in New Jersey State Prison. A jury found Heffernan guilty in March of killing her father, John Enders, who was 87 years old, and his girlfriend, Francoise Pitoy, who was 75 years old.
The office of the prosecutor says that on October 3, 2021, around 4 p.m., Surf City Police went to a home on North 7th Street and found the bodies of Enders and Pitoy inside. A police report that NJ.com looked at says they found blood all over the house, along with bloody footprints and a used rubber glove.
A body autopsy showed that Enders died from multiple stab wounds, “severance of the right carotid artery and blunt force trauma,” and a gunshot wound to the face. Pitoy also had multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the face, according to the police. The deaths of the victims were ruled murders.
The prosecutor’s office says Enders owned the house where the bodies were found, but Pitoy often stayed with him.
A real estate agent named Heffernan got mad because her father supposedly didn’t want her to be the seller on his $1.9 million home. According to NJ.com, Enders changed his will and left Heffernan and his other daughter out of it, according to a friend who spoke to police.
Heffernan was caught by Pennsylvania State Police on October 4, 2021, at her home in Landenberg, Pennsylvania. Since she was arrested, she has been in the Ocean County Jail.
Billhimer said, “This woman will be locked up for the rest of her life.” We think this is the right sentence, and we hope it helps John and Francoise’s family and friends move on with their lives.
