Investigators revealed that a New Jersey woman who passed away from a drug overdose in 2023 was actually murdered by her older sister, with assistance from the victim’s boyfriend.
The Cape May County prosecutors stated that Emily Cruddas, 21, of Upper Township, and her sister, Sarah Errickson, 36, of Millville, were involved in an inheritance dispute when Cruddas was found dead from what initially seemed to be a fatal overdose of fentanyl-laced heroin.
Initially ruled as a suicide, Cruddas’ death was later changed to “undetermined.” The disturbing murder scheme was exposed after Cruddas’ boyfriend, Joseph Ragan, 22, of Philadelphia, confessed to authorities about a month after her demise.
Ragan disclosed that Errickson provided her sister with two capsules containing crushed Xanax pills, causing Cruddas to become unconscious. Errickson then mixed 10 to 15 bags of heroin into a single syringe and injected Cruddas while she was incapacitated.
Ragan confessed to holding his hand over Cruddas’ mouth as Errickson administered the lethal dose, out of fear of Errickson. The plan to murder Cruddas was allegedly devised after she suffered a miscarriage and was hospitalized.
Recently, a third individual came forward with their own confession, along with a backpack containing heroin that matched the one found at the scene. Errickson, who had lost custody of her children, blamed Cruddas for her troubles and was embroiled in an inheritance dispute with her.
Errickson had expressed her desire to kill her sister to multiple people, citing a lethal dose of drugs as the method. Both Errickson and Ragan were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder on January 23.
