Son named administrator of Cooper Hospital CEO's and wife's estate

One of the four sons of Cooper Health System CEO John P. Sheridan Jr. and his wife, Joyce, has been named the administrator of his parents' estate.

Documents filed in the Somerset County Surrogate's Office indicate that Mark Sheridan, 40, a North Jersey attorney, has been approved to handle the estate, estimated at a combined value of more than $2 million. The Sheridans, whose Sept. 28 deaths are the subject of a complex investigation, died without a will.

Mark Sheridan's twin brother, Matthew, originally sought to be a coadministrator, but an attorney handling the filings later withdrew his name from the petition. Matthew Sheridan and two other brothers - Tim and Dan - have renounced their rights to administration.

The majority of the estate - including the couple's two-story home in Montgomery Township's Skillman section - is listed in the name of Joyce Sheridan, a retired history teacher.

According to information provided by the Surrogate's Office Monday, Joyce Sheridan's assets - totaling nearly $1.5 million - include the family's home, valued at $600,000; insurance, valued at $750,000; personal property, worth $75,000; and bank accounts containing $38,600.

John Sheridan's assets (estimated at $615,000) include $235,000 in retirement funds; insurance worth $250,000; vehicles worth $65,000; and pension funds totaling $65,000.

The family's steps forward with estate matters come amid a nearly three-month-long, ongoing probe into the Sheridans' deaths. The husband and wife were found unresponsive in the master bedroom of their home after a deliberately set fire ravaged the room during an early Sunday morning blaze. Both also had stab wounds, two sources confirmed to The Inquirer.

John Sheridan, 72, a GOP political insider who helped craft policy, was pronounced dead at the scene. Joyce Sheridan, 69, was pronounced dead a short time later at Princeton Medical Center.

Authorities have ruled Joyce Sheridan's death a homicide, according to a death certificate on file with the Surrogate's Office. John Sheridan's manner of death is listed as "pending investigation" on his death certificate.

Causes of death have not yet been released. The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, the lead investigating agency, has offered few details about the case. The Attorney General's Office and state police became involved in the probe several weeks ago.

The Prosecutor's Office has said there is no threat to the community, and that the sons "played no role" in their parents' deaths. A spokesman for the office did not respond to questions seeking updates in the case Monday.

The Sheridan sons have also hired Michael Baden, a renowned pathologist, to assist them in the case.

A source close to the investigation confirmed that two knives were recovered. It is believed that a third weapon, which has not been recovered, caused wounds to John Sheridan.