New Jersey Woman Sentenced to 63 Years for Stabbing Her 87-Year-Old Father

By Jordan Mercer. Jan 10, 2025

Sherry Lee Heffernan was sentenced to two consecutive life terms - totaling approximately 63 years and nine months without the possibility of parole - for the murders of her 87-year-old father, John Enders, and his 75-year-old girlfriend, Françoise Pitoy, at Enders’ $1.7 million waterfront home on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, on September 29, 2021. The judge described the crime as “committed with extreme depravity.”

The Motive

Heffernan and her sister had recently been removed from their father’s will. Enders had also refused to allow Heffernan, a realtor, to list his six-bedroom Barnegat Bay estate for sale - a property she had expected to profit from. Enders left his entire estate to his nephew, Andrew Vero. According to an affidavit by Surf City Police Detective Sgt. Victor Rice, Enders had argued frequently with Heffernan and was estranged from her sister.

The Attack and Discovery

Heffernan traveled from her home in Pennsylvania to Long Beach Island on September 29, 2021, and entered the home. She shot both Enders and Pitoy in the jaw at point-blank range, then stabbed Enders 51 times and Pitoy 39 times. Their bodies were discovered on October 3 after concerned family members requested a welfare check when calls to Pitoy went unanswered.

Evidence and Conviction

Key evidence included three of Heffernan’s footprints found in blood-stained areas of the kitchen floor, GPS tracking of her Winnebago’s movements from Pennsylvania to Surf City and back on the day of the murders, and cell phone records placing her at the scene. In 2024, a jury convicted her on murder and weapons charges. The property sold for $1.7 million in January 2022, after the murders.

References: Woman, allegedly upset over being cut out of will, learns fate for murdering dad, his girlfriend | Daughter found guilty in LBI murders of father and girlfriend | Daughter Was Sentenced for Killing Dad, His Girlfriend After Being Cut Out of Will: Here’s What She Told the Judge