The girl was allegedly drugged with Xanax, earlier than 10-15 baggage of fentanyl-laced heroin was injected into her — as her sister advised her to “take your drugs.”
Police thought {that a} 21-year-old girl had died of a drug overdose, and that is likely to be how her story stayed have been it not for a surprising confession by her boyfriend.
It was a few month after the dying of Emily Cruddas that her boyfriend Joseph Ragan approached police with a surprising admission that might reopen the investigation into her dying and result in a surprising conclusion.
In response to Ragan, he and the sufferer’s sister, 36-year-old Sarah Errickson, have been really those accountable for Cruddas’ dying.
Cruddas was pronounced useless on the scene when New Jersey State Police arrived at her dwelling for a reported overdose, which had come shorty after a multi-day keep at a hospital after a suicide try following the miscarriage of her child with Ragan, based on Regulation & Crime.
Ragan allegedly made his assertion to police with no lawyer current and of his personal will after approaching them, with Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI reporting he was not arrested after that preliminary communication.
Fb/Cape Might County Correctional Heart
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Ragan’s Confession Results in Investigation
In response to the prison grievance filed after Ragan’s admission, he advised police that he and Errickson had deliberate the killing upfront. Errickson gave Cruddas two capsules after her launch from the hospital on February 16, 2023. Inside have been a number of crushed Xanax tablets, based on Ragan.
He then alleged that Errickson ready 10 to fifteen baggage of fentanyl-laced heroin and a hypodermic syringe, based on the doc. Ragan advised police that whereas Cruddas was incapacitated from the Xanax, he put his hand over her mouth whereas Errickson injected the medication into her sister’s left hand, all of the whereas telling her, “Take your medication.”
Cruddas preliminary reason for dying was listed as poisonous results of fentanyl, per WPVI, however was modified to undetermined on Might 5, 2023, amid the reignited investigation into her dying.
It was virtually a 12 months later, on April 19, 2024 per court docket paperwork, that an unnamed particular person gave police a backpack containing 18 cell telephones, 15 waxfolds of suspected heroin stamped “White Home,” which authorities allege is identical as what was discovered on Cruddas’ nightstand subsequent to her physique.
In addition they allegedly discovered “a handwritten notice to incorporate a ‘schedule or plan’ to the occasions that encompass the suspicious dying of Cruddas,” as detailed within the possible trigger affidavit.
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Errickson’s son and twin daughters are at present residing with different relations, whereas she does have custody of an adopted son, based on Atlantic Metropolis, New Jersey’s BreakingAC.com. The outlet additional reviews that the backpack was given to the unnamed particular person by Errickson’s then-boyfriend, Timothy Barrus.
Authorities reported that they met with Barrus and his legal professional on January 23, 2025, the place he detailed his understanding of how Cruddas died. His story, they reported of their authorized filings, matched what they’d beforehand been advised by Ragan.
Barrus added an extra potential motive for the crime, based on investigators, when he alleged that Errickson had made an announcement that Cruddas was “the reason for her shedding her youngsters and that she was taking her dwelling,” referring to an inheritance battle over the household dwelling after their mom’s dying, as reported by WPVI.
In response to the affidavit, Errickson had additionally beforehand spoken out on a number of events about killing her sister and different folks by injecting them with a deadly does of a managed substance.
Errickson was picked up by police that very same day and booked into the Cape Might County Jail. She was charged final Monday with first-degree homicide and conspiracy, per New Jersey radio station WKXW.
Ragan was additionally arrested final week in Ottumwa, Iowa, and is dealing with the identical fees, per BreakingAC.
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Errickson in Court docket
“This was not an impulsive act,” Assistant Cape Might County Prosecutor Ed Shim stated throughout Errickson’s first court docket look, as coated by NJ.com.
“This was a chilly, calculated, deliberate homicide of a member of the family fueled by revenge, and demonstrates this individual’s disregard for human life,” he continued, “particularly a member of the family.”
Shim supplied further particulars in regards to the inheritance battle between the sisters, which allegedly started when the sisters’ mom left the household home to each of them upon her dying in 2020.
After Cruddas’ dying, the home offered for $325,000, per WKXW, with Errickson in the end being awarded the total proceeds after overcoming authorized challenges from Cruddas’ father.
Presiding Choose Dorothy Garrabant acknowledged in court docket, referring to the very fact Cruddas was simply out of the hospital after a suicide try, “This defendant preyed on her sister, after which waited till her sister was at her most susceptible to place her plan into impact.”
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Errickson’s protection legal professional, Kate Weigel, believes the state nonetheless does not have adequate proof, arguing in court docket, per BreakingAC, that the very fact Errickson has stayed within the space these previous two years is simply additional indication she is harmless.
“Even when Mr. Ragan was wandering round telling folks my consumer killed her personal sister, that is nonetheless the place she got here [back after a Florida trip], choose, as a result of that is the place she resides,” Weigel stated. “She is harmless of those fees.”
Barras was described as Errickson’s co-defendant on this case, with BreakingAC noting that he’s not at present charged in any respect in relation to Cruddas’ dying.
When you or somebody wants assist, name 988 to succeed in the Suicide and Disaster Lifeline. You too can name the community, beforehand generally known as the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, textual content HOME to 741741, or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/assets for extra assets.
When you or somebody is combating substance abuse, get assist. The Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Companies Administration (SAMHSA) Nationwide Helpline (1-800-662-4357) supplies 24/7, free, confidential assist for folks in misery.