A mother along with her grown son who resides in Del Ray Beach, Florida has been accused of murdering a husband and sister 25 years ago in New Jersey.
Dolores Mejia Connors Morgan, 66, and her son Ted Connors, 47, have been charged with two separate counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Ana Mejia and Nicholas Connors, according to the Monmouth County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office news release.
When Mejia was 24, on Dec. 8, 1994, she was found dead and partially clothed inside her apartment. The mother-of-two had been stabbed multiple times and had a “white powdery substance rubbed on her face when she was found,” the news release states.
Just six months later, on May 14, 1995, Long Branch police officers found Nicholas Connors, 51, dead on a sofa in his home — he had been shot multiple times in the head.
And in new evidence uncovered by detectives, including a 1995 recorded confession by Connors, led to the pair’s recent arrest, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by NJ.com.
Jose R. Carrero, 48, of Jackson Township, was additionally charged with the murders and on Jan. 10 pleaded guilty of two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit murder in a separate prosecutor’s office news release — according to a separate prosecutor’s office news release.
“Carrero admitted he conspired with [Connors] and [Morgan] to kill Mejia in retaliation for what they believed were her actions to tip off law enforcement officers about the illegal activities of her boyfriend,” the news release stated.
At first, investigators believed the white substance on Mejia’s face was cocaine but it was actually baby formula according to the affidavit.
“Carrero also admitted to conspiring with Ted Connors and Connors’ mother, Delores Morgan [then known as Delores Connors] to kill Nicholas Connors,” the news release states. “Nicholas Connors was the adopted father of Ted and then-husband of Delores, who was killed in a successful effort to collect on a life insurance policy.”
Carrero will testify against the mother and son as part of his plea agreement.
Both Morgan and Ted Connors remain held without bond in the Monmouth Country Correctional Institution and it is unclear if they have attorneys or have entered pleas.