Girl’s Dying Initially Deemed Overdose; Now, Her Boyfriend and Sister Are Charged with Homicide

It was a couple of month after the demise of Emily Cruddas that her boyfriend Joseph Ragan approached police with a stunning admission that might reopen the investigation into her demise and result in a stunning conclusion.

In response to Ragan, he and the sufferer’s sister, 36-year-old Sarah Errickson, had been really those chargeable for Cruddas’ demise.

Cruddas was pronounced lifeless on the scene when New Jersey State Police arrived at her residence 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, in response to Legislation & Crime.

Ragan allegedly made his assertion to police with out a lawyer current and of his personal will after approaching them, with Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI reporting he was not arrested after that preliminary communication.

In response to the prison grievance filed after Ragan’s admission, he instructed 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 had been a number of crushed Xanax drugs, in response to Ragan.

He then alleged that Errickson ready 10 to fifteen baggage of fentanyl-laced heroin and a hypodermic syringe, in response to the doc. Ragan instructed 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 demise was listed as poisonous results of fentanyl, per WPVI, however was modified to undetermined on Could 5, 2023, amid the reignited investigation into her demise.

It was nearly a 12 months later, on April 19, 2024 per courtroom 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 similar as what was discovered on Cruddas’ nightstand subsequent to her physique.

Additionally they allegedly discovered “a handwritten notice to incorporate a ‘schedule or plan’ to the occasions that encompass the suspicious demise of Cruddas,” as detailed within the possible trigger affidavit.

Errickson’s son and twin daughters are at the moment residing with different relations, whereas she does have custody of an adopted son, in response to 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 instructed by Ragan.

Barrus added an extra potential motive for the crime, in response to investigators, when he alleged that Errickson had made an announcement that Cruddas was “the reason for her shedding her kids and that she was taking her residence,” referring to an inheritance battle over the household residence after their mom’s demise, 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 individuals 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 Could 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 going through the identical fees, per BreakingAC.

“This was not an impulsive act,” Assistant Cape Could County Prosecutor Ed Shim stated throughout Errickson’s first courtroom look, as lined 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 extra particulars concerning the inheritance battle between the sisters, which allegedly started when the sisters’ mom left the household home to each of them upon her demise in 2020.

After Cruddas’ demise, the home offered for $325,000, per WKXW, with Errickson finally being awarded the total proceeds after overcoming authorized challenges from Cruddas’ father.

Presiding Choose Dorothy Garrabant acknowledged in courtroom, referring to the actual 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 weak to place her plan into impact.”

Errickson’s protection legal professional, Kate Weigel, believes the state nonetheless would not have ample proof, arguing in courtroom, per BreakingAC, that the actual 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 individuals my shopper killed her personal sister, that is nonetheless the place she got here [back after a Florida trip], decide, 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 the moment charged in any respect in relation to Cruddas’ demise.

If you happen to or somebody you recognize wants assist, name 988 to achieve the Suicide and Disaster Lifeline. You may also name the community, beforehand referred to as the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, textual content HOME to 741741, or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/sources for extra sources.