Francoise “Frenchy” Pitoy (Surf City Volunteer Fire Company), Sherry Heffernan (Ocean County Jail), John “Jack” Enders (obituary photo)
A Pennsylvania realtor who was convicted of stabbing her father and his girlfriend dozens of times, shooting both in the mouth in 2021 after being cut out of a will, insisted on her innocence at sentencing, adding that she wished she was the “one who was killed” instead.
Sherry Lee Heffernan, now 57, learned Friday in a New Jersey courtroom that she will spend the rest of her days serving two life sentences behind bars for the Sept. 29, 2021, murders of John “Jack” Enders, 87, and Francoise “Frenchy” Pitoy, her father’s 75-year-old girlfriend of 19 years, at the victims’ Surf City residence.
That Heffernan proclaimed her innocence was not a new development — she declared “I am being framed” years ago — but the convicted double murderer went a step further at sentencing by saying she’d rather be dead than be “blamed” for killing loved ones.
“I really wish I was the one who was killed, that I was the one who died,” she said in court, calling it “horrible pain,” according to the Asbury Park Press. “It’s horrible to lose people you love and then be blamed for it.”
Heffernan reportedly added that the victims were “were priceless people” that she will “forever miss.”
Prosecutors in Ocean County argued and jurors were persuaded, however, that Heffernan carried out the extremely violent murders while angry that her father cut her out of his will and did not let Heffernan, a real estate agent, sell his million-dollar home.
In early March, Heffernan was convicted by a jury of her peers as the double murderer based on evidence that her RV was caught on video driving down the Long Beach Island Bridge on the early morning of Sept. 29, 2021. Next, Heffernan traveled on foot toward her father’s home. With an orange bag and clothes “too large” for her, she hopped a backyard fence, and later that day, drove her RV back over the same bridge as before.
Days later, authorities conducting a welfare check found both victims shot in the mouth and stabbed dozens of times at the home on North 7th Street. Enders was reportedly stabbed 51 times and Pitoy 39 times.
“On October 4, 2021, the Ocean County Medical Examiner performed a post-mortem examination of Mr. Enders and 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,” the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. “A post-mortem examination of Ms. Pitoy performed on October 5, 2021 determined the cause of her death to be multiple stab wounds as well as a gunshot wound to the face; the manner of her death was likewise ruled a homicide. Based upon the gunshot wound to Ms. Pitoy, the Medical Examiner performed an additional examination of Mr. Enders and found that he had also suffered a gunshot wound to the face.”
While Pitoy was found dead on a staircase in the home, Enders was in a recliner. Testimony established that the murderous assault began in the early morning hours, when the victims were asleep — and prosecutors said that Heffernan was the one who put her father in the recliner to continue stabbing him while staring him down.
While Enders was a U.S. Air Force veteran who served during the Korean War, according to his obituary, Pitoy was remembered locally by the Surf City Volunteer Fire Company as a beloved and cheerful figure.
“It is with a heavy heart that we acknowledge the sudden passing of Surf City Women’s Auxiliary member ‘Frenchie’ Pitoy,” said a 2021 Facebook post on Pitoy’s death. “Frenchie was an active and much loved member of our organization. Our hearts are broken as we remember the light, love and laughter that Frenchie brought to us. Continue to keep us and her family in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate this very difficult time.”
As for Heffernan, she’s not going anywhere other than a prison cell for the rest of her life, prosecutors said.
“This defendant will spend the rest of her life in prison. This is an appropriate sentence and we are hopeful that this brings some measure of closure to the family and friends of John and Francoise,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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