Daughter murdered elderly couple inside $2M Surf City, NJ home, cops say

SURF CITY — The daughter of the man found dead Sunday in his Long Beach Island was charged with stabbing him and his girlfriend to death.

Police found the bloodied bodies of John Enders, 87, of Surf City, and Francoise Pitoy, 75, of Manchester, were discovered by Surf City Police at Enders' home on North 7th Street around 4 p.m. after they were called to perform a wellness check, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer.

Enders and Pitoy were dating and Pitoy stayed at the home frequently, according to Billhimer.

The sprawling home is listed online for sale as a $2 million bayfront property.

Pennsylvania State Police arrested Enders' daughter, Sherry Lee Heffernan, 55, at her Landenberg, Pennsylvania home on Monday and charged her with two counts of first-degree murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

She will be extradited back to New Jersey and will be held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Billhimer did not disclose a motive for the stabbing.

An exam of Enders determined the cause of his death to be multiple stab wounds with severance of the right carotid artery and blunt force trauma; the manner of death was ruled to be a homicide. A post-mortem examination of Pitoy is scheduled for today.

Billhimer credited the work of law enforcement in several states with quickly identifying Herrernan as the suspect.

“We were able to determine very early on in the investigation that there was no immediate danger to the public. From there, these detectives went to work doing their absolute best to solve these horrific crimes. Every law enforcement officer involved this investigation has my profound gratitude,” Billhimer said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ