Prosecutor: Sheridan children had no role in parents' deaths

The Somerset County, N.J., prosecutor said Friday that the four children of Cooper Hospital chief executive John P. Sheridan Jr. and his wife had no involvement in their deaths.

Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano, in a statement released to The Inquirer, said, "At this point in our investigation, we are very confident that the four sons of John and Joyce Sheridan played no role in the death of their mother and father."

John Sheridan, 72, was pronounced dead at the scene of a Sept. 28 fire at the couple's home in Montgomery Township. His wife, 69, died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

Authorities have said that the fire, confined to the second-floor master bedroom, was intentionally set and that there was no threat to public safety.

They have not disclosed what else they have learned from the investigation and have not answered questions from The Inquirer about the case.

Officials have not said whether authorities had made preliminary determinations of what caused the deaths, whether the couple had injuries beyond those sustained in the fire, or whether investigators know who set the fire.

"Continued efforts of the various media outlets to obtain information from this office - beyond which is required by governing authority and which has already been supplied - is unjustly and unreasonably causing speculation as to the circumstances involved in the investigation," Soriano said in the statement Friday.

"As we have continuously maintained, when all laboratory analyses are received and reviewed by relevant participants in the investigations, we believe we will be in a position to share the findings of our investigation. Until then, the investigation remains ongoing."

Tom Wilson, a spokesman for the Sheridan family, wrote in an e-mail Friday night that the family had nothing to add.

John Sheridan, a Republican, was well known in political circles. He had ties to Gov. Christie and two other governors.

Before joining Cooper in Camden in 2005, Sheridan was a senior partner and cochairman of the Morristown law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti L.L.P. He was also general counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Sheridan was transportation commissioner under Gov. Thomas H. Kean.

Joyce Sheridan was a retired history teacher in the South Brunswick and Cedar Grove School Districts.