Monmouth County Prosecutors thaw 25-year old cold case
On December 8 1994, a 24-year old woman was found by Long Branch Police Officers dead and barely clothed inside of her bedroom in the Prospect Street Apartment she shared with her boyfriend and two young children.
Six months later, a 51-year old man was found dead in a Van Dyke Place home.
Police were able to link these homicides but the case went cold, until now.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni has announced that Jose Carrerro,48, of Jackson and Ted Connors, 47, and Dolores Morgan, 66, of Del Ray Beach, Florida have been charged in the deaths of Ana Mejia and Nicholas Connors.
Gramiccioni said that Mejia was found stabbed multiple times and had a white powdery substance rubbed on her face when she was found.
Her children were found safe within the residence.
Six months later, on May 14, 1995, Long Branch police officers were dispatched to the Van Dyke Place home of Nicholas Connors who was found on a sofa, deceased from multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
An investigation into these killings was commenced by the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office and the Long Branch Police Department shortly after these homicides.
Investigators found additional evidence recently uncovered by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Cold Case Unit and Long Branch Police Department resulted in charges being signed against the three defendants.
Mejia, who was found stabbed 23-times, and Connors were both in-laws, according to NJ.com, who also reports that the white powder found around her mouth and nose turned out to be baby formula and all of this was witnessed by her 1 and 3-year old children.
Connors was found by his wife and while his 12 and 13-year old children were home, they were asleep, NJ.com further reports.
A motive for both homicides remains unknown.
Carrero is scheduled for his first appearance in court tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, A detention hearing for is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2020, before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon.
He is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in
Freehold Township.
Ted Connors and Morgan are both currently being held in the Palm Beach County Detention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
They are expected to return to New Jersey following an extradition hearing in the Palm Beach County Courthouse, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
If convicted of first degree Murder, each defendant faces a sentence of between 30 years to life imprisonment.
The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Meghan Doyle, Director of the Cold Case Unit, and Assistant Prosecutor Noah Heck.
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