'His little girl grew up to be the monster' - woman gets 2 life terms in LBI murders

TOMS RIVER - Sherry Lee Heffernan's lips were upturned slightly in a faint smile Friday as she learned of her two life prison terms for two murders described as depraved - that of her elderly father and his father's longtime girlfriend who were both shot and repeatedly stabbed in their Long Beach Island home in 2021.

Heffernan, 57, of Landenberg, Pennsyvlania, stood calmly as Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill imposed the pair of consecutive life prison terms on her for the murders of her father, John "Jack" Enders, 87, and his partner, Francoise "Frenchy'' Pitoy, 75.

Minutes earlier, Heffernan sobbed as she professed her love for the victims and continued to maintain her innocence, despite a jury's guilty verdict following a trial in February.

"I really wish I was the one who was killed, that I was the one who died,'' she said, crying. "This is horrible pain.

"...It's horrible to lose people you love and then be blamed for it,'' she said in a courtroom packed with relatives and friends of both victims.

"They were priceless people, both my dad and Francoise,'' she said. "I will forever miss them. That's all I can say. Just sad.''

She quickly regained her composure and remained calm, with what appeared to be a faint smile, as both the judge and Michael Weatherstone, chief trial attorney with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, described the murders she committed on Sept. 29, 2021.

After driving from Pennsylvania before dawn to her father's home in Surf City on Long Beach Island, Heffernan began her stabbing rampage on the victims as they were asleep in their bed around 5 a.m., Weatherstone said. She shot both victims in the mouth, not to kill them, but to make them suffer as she inflicted more stab wounds on them, he said.

In what he described as a crime of hatred, Weatherstone said Heffernan placed her father in a chair downstairs and continued to stab him while looking him in the eye.

Enders in all was stabbed 51 times, and Pitoy was stabbed 39 times.

"This act was committed with extreme depravity,'' Rahill said.

Andrew Vero, Enders' grandson, told the judge the victims must have suffered not only physical pain, but emotional anguish.

"This was his daughter, a daughter he adored, someone he loved unconditionally,'' Vero, who had attended the trial daily, said of his grandfather.

"I hate the idea that this wonderful man died trying to stop the onslaught of stabs, knowing that his little girl grew up to be the monster in front of him,'' Vero said.

Vero, of West Virginia, appeared virtually on a large-screen television for the sentencing, telling the judge he couldn't come in person because his wife is about to give birth.

"My wife is about to give birth to our second child, this time a girl,'' he said. "How am I supposed to feel about this?

"I saw how much Pop loved his daughter,'' Vero said, referring to his grandfather and Heffernan, his aunt.

"He loved her, and this is what happens to someone who loves and treats his daughter as well as he did?'' Vero said.

"Will this now happen to me and my wife in the future, no matter how much we love and care for our kids?'' Vero asked. "Could they do this to us? I should never have to think these things.''

Weatherstone said Heffernan committed the murders out of hatred and greed. She was angry that her father was selling his valuable, waterfront home, and she wanted the property for her own, the prosecutor asserted. And, he said, Heffernan disliked Pitoy because she interfered with her life.

Valerie Lewis Evans, one of Pitoy's two daughters, said her mother "lit up every room she walked into,'' and Enders was a selfless person who loved not only his own family, but hers.

Sandrine Lewis, Pitoy's other daughter, said her mother was "a loving, compassionate person who loved life'' and "never turned her back on me.''

Marcus Evans, Pitoy's son-in-law, said Pitoy constantly sent his granddaughter beautiful dresses. Enders would give him advice and a kiss on the cheek every time they saw each other, he said. And his wife would speak to her mother every day on the phone, he said.

"All that is gone - my grandbaby won't get those dresses,'' he said. "My wife won't get those phone calls. I won't get those kisses on the cheek.''

Heffernan is likely to never be released from prison. She must serve 63 years, nine months and three days without the possibility of release on parole for each of the murders, the judge said.

Relatives of the victims applauded after the judge handed down the sentence.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: LBI murders: Sherry Lee Heffernan sentenced in dad, girlfriend's murder