LBI murder trial: 'This should be on 'American Greed,' defendant said in call from jail

TOMS RIVER -  Sherry Lee Heffernan told a friend in a call from the Ocean County Jail that her camera contained her alibi for the crimes she was being accused of.

"I was at the beach for over an hour and a half, taking pictures at that time, and people saw me,'' Heffernan told her friend. "It's still dated, it's a digital camera. I definitely was there at the beach for an hour and a half.''

Her friend, Sara Weldin, told Heffernan that authorities had video of her recreational vehicle  at the Surf City home where Heffernan's 87-year-old father and his girlfriend were murdered.

"Yea, it doesn't mean I was driving it,'' Heffernan told Weldin. "It doesn't mean I went in the house.

"I can't take pictures of sunrises until the sun comes up,'' Heffernan told her friend. "I have to sleep somewhere.''

She told her friend, "We have nothing to hide, nothing to gain.''

The phone call was played for an Ocean County jury Thursday at Heffernan's trial on charges she murdered her father, John Enders, and his longtime girlfriend, Francoise Pitoy, 75, on or about Sept. 29, 2021.

Both were shot in the face. Enders was stabbed 51 times, and Pitoy was stabbed 39 times. Their bodies were discovered in Enders' North Seventh Street home by police performing a welfare check on the couple on Oct. 3, 2021.

Detective Denis Mitchell of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the lead investigator on the case, testified that Heffernan's telephone call to Weldin from the jail occurred on Nov. 5, 2021, which was a day after Heffernan's detention hearing generated media coverage that the two friends discussed on the call.

"They made a big, sensational thing about the blood in the RV,'' Heffernan told Weldin in the phone call.

"They have video of the RV at the house,'' Weldin responded.

Police documents have alleged Heffernan killed her father because he cut her out of his will.

Mitchell testified that at the time the couple was killed, Enders' waterfront home was under contract to be sold for $1,935,000.

In the conversation she had with Weldin from the jail, Heffernan discussed her own will, which she said left everything to her son. She told her friend she wanted to make sure she had a copy of her will, in case anything happened to her.

"What this is coming down to is, it looks like this should be on 'American Greed' show,'' Heffernan told Weldin, referring to a documentary television series focusing on cases of embezzlement and financial crimes.

"There's a scam going on with the Vero family, with my sister and her ex-husband and Andy trying to get their lottery ticket,'' Heffernan told her friend.

Last week, Andrew Vero, Enders' grandson and the son of Heffernan's sister, testified he learned after his grandfather's death that he was the sole heir to his estate. Vero, 32, of Morgantown, West Virginia, testified he didn't know how much the estate was worth because it is being held in trust for him until he turns 40.

Heffernan, in the phone conversation with Weldin, said the blood in her RV, a Ford Winnebago, could have been hers or even that of her dogs.

Forensic tests ultimately could not determine that the reddish-brown stains in the RV were in fact blood, previous state witnesses have testified.

Regarding photographs in Heffernan's camera, there were several of sunrises at the beach, which were displayed to the jury, but they were time stamped as being taken on the morning of Sept. 27, 2021, two days before authorities allege the murders were committed.

The state rested its case Thursday at the conclusion of Mitchell's testimony.

Heffernan's attorneys then called their own witnesses, which included Weldin, a neighbor of Heffernan's, Nicole Quirk, and Heffernan's stepson, Matt Ainsworth.

Defense attorney Steven Altman played surveillance videos for each of the defense witnesses showing what prosecutors allege was Heffernan climbing over a fence in the yard of her father's home and walking away from the house after the murders. Altman also showed the defense witnesses photographs of the subject, wearing oversized clothing that were blown up from the video.

All three witnesses testified they did not believe the person in the video was Heffernan, and they couldn't identify the person in the blown-up photographs. The witnesses said the person in the video looked to be a man.

When the trial resumes on Tuesday, Heffernan is expected to tell Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill whether she will testify. If she chooses not to, it is expected that attorneys will deliver their summations to the jury.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: LBI murder defendant's alibi: she was taking pictures on the beach