Prosecutor: Fire That Killed Two in Montgomery Was Intentionally Set
The Somerset County Prosecutor announced this afternoon that the fire that killed two Montgomery residents early Sunday morning was intentionally set.
Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said that detectives from the Montgomery Township Police Department, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the Crime Scene Investigations and Forensics Unit, the Arson Task Force, and the New Jersey Regional Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene and have been conducting an exhaustive investigation into what caused the fire that killed the Cooper University Health Care System CEO and his wife.
Investigators assigned to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Arson Task Force have determined that the fire was intentionally set within the master bedroom.
At about 6:13 a.m. on Sunday, Montgomery Township Police and Montgomery Township Fire personnel responded to a 9-1-1 call alerting them of a residential fire at 49 Meadow Run Drive in the Skillman section of Montgomery Township. The fire was contained to the upstairs master bedroom of the residence. Fire personnel located two unresponsive occupants of the residence in the room, who were identified as John P. Sheridan, Jr., 72, and Joyce C. Sheridan, 69. Emergency personnel attempted life saving measures on the couple. Mr. Sheridan was pronounced dead at the scene, and Mrs. Sheridan was transported to the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, where she was pronounced dead.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Sheridans are part of an active and ongoing investigation. Laboratory results are still pending, the prosecutor’s office said.
Officials ask that anyone with information pertaining to this incident is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100, the Montgomery Township Police Department at (908) 359-3222, or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All calls will be kept confidential.
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
Strange that they still haven’t said cause of death. What’s taking so long? This is a strange story in itself.