Questions remain regarding the death of John Sheridan, former president and CEO of Cooper University Health System in Camden, N.J., more than two years after he was found unresponsive in his home.
On Sept. 28, 2014, Mr. Sheridan and his wife Joyce were found unresponsive in the master suite of their home in Skillman, N.J. The room had been set on fire. Mr. Sheridan, 72, died at the scene, and his wife was pronounced dead at University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro (N.J.).
In March 2015, the deaths were ruled murder-suicide. Geoffrey Soriano, the Somerset County prosecutor at the time, concluded that Mr. Sheridan fatally stabbed his wife, set fire to their home and stabbed himself five times.
The Sheridan family hired a forensic pathologist who performed a second autopsy on Mr. Sheridan. Based partly on the fact that authorities never found the weapon that caused his wounds, the pathologist concluded it was more likely Mr. Sheridan was killed in an attack.
John and Joyce Sheridan's four sons, who firmly believe their father did not murder their mother, filed a petition in late 2015, requesting the New Jersey medical examiner's office to change the cause of death on their father's death certificate. On Jan. 13, the New Jersey Attorney General's office announced the state medical examiner had changed Mr. Sheridan's cause of death from suicide to undetermined, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Sheridan family is hoping officials will launch a new criminal investigation into the deaths. New Jersey Medical Examiner Andrew Falzon said in the report released last week that Mr. Sheridan's manner of death could be amended again if new information regarding the case is found, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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