By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Matthew Sheridan, the 41-year-old son of the late John and Joyce Sheridan whose bodies were found in the bedroom of their home, pleaded not guilty to possession of cocaine in Somerset County Superior Court on May 3, according to published reports.
Mr. Sheridan was offered a plea deal — to plead guilty to a disorderly persons offense, which does not carry a prison sentence — but his attorney, Henry Klingeman, turned down the offer on his behalf.
Mr. Sheridan, who lived with his parents at 49 Meadow Drive, was arrested on cocaine charges Sept. 28, 2014 — the same day that his parent died in what Somerset County officials have called a murder-suicide.
He allegedly had cocaine and drug paraphernalia in his car, which was searched by police at the scene. He was not home when police and firefighters responded to a call earlier in the day for a fire at the Sheridan house, and arrived later in the day.
Mr. Sheridan was indicted on a cocaine possession charge March 17 by a Middlesex County grand jury. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office was handling the drug possession charge because it occurred in Montgomery Township. The case was transferred to Middlesex County to eliminate any conflict or appearance of conflict due to potential civil litigation by the Sheridan family against the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Klingeman and Mark Sheridan, who is one of John and Joyce Sheridan’s four sons, said Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Hawkes promised not to prosecute Matthew Sheridan because of his parents’ deaths, according to published reports.
Mr. Klingeman said he expects to file a motion to enforce that agreement. He also plans to file a motion to suppress evidence found in Mr. Sheridan’s car, plus any comments he made after the evidence was discovered, according to published reports.
Somerset County Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone will hear the motions June 15.
John Sheridan, who was the president and CEO of Cooper Health System, allegedly stabbed his wife to death and then killed himself. The bedroom was set on fire with gasoline. A half-empty container of gasoline was found in the bedroom. Mr. Sheridan’s DNA was found on the gasoline container, which was usually kept in the family’s garage.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office concluded that Mr. Sheridan killed his wife and then committed suicide. The Prosecutor’s Office said Mr. Sheridan had been observed to be upset and withdrawn, likely because of work-related issues. Ms. Sheridan was upset because her husband’s behavior was out of character.
But the Sheridans’ four sons have challenged the Prosecutor’s Office’s determination that it was a murder-suicide. They want the cause of death for their father to be changed from “suicide” to “undetermined.”
The sons have challenged the qualifications of Assistant Medical Examiner Eddy Lilavois, who performed the autopsy on their parents. They pointed out that Dr. Lilavois lacks board certification in anatomical and clinical pathology, and that he is not board-certified in forensic pathology.The sons hired forensic pathologist Michael Baden, whose autopsy findings contradicted the Prosecutor’s Office’s conclusions. Dr. Baden said Mr. Sheridan was stabbed with a knife that has never been recovered.
Dr. Baden did not find any evidence of mental depression. There was an absence of any motive of any note, and of any weapon that could have caused the cut wound of the neck and jugular suffered by Mr. Sheridan — all of which speak against suicide, he said.Earlier this year, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano was replaced by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael H. Robertson. His removal followed the release of a Feb. 17 letter signed by more than 200 politicians, attorneys, lobbyists and friends that called for the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office to reopen its investigation into the Sheridans’ deaths.
