New Jersey Political Murder Mystery From 2014 Is Topic Of New Podcast, 'Dead End'

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — This past January, after a prominent New Jersey political consultant pleaded guilty to having killed a state senator's son in 2014 — with the motives still unclear — there were more twists in the case, including questions about the similar (and unsolved) deaths of the former state transportation commissioner and his wife four months later.

On Jan. 25 of this year, Sean Caddle, 44, of Hamburg, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire in the stabbing death of Michael Galdieri in Jersey City in 2014.

Prosecutors said Caddle "admitted arranging and paying for a murder by two other people."

The plea sent shockwaves around the state, as Caddle had worked even recently for prominent Democrat Ray Lesniak and others. And no one knew for sure what led to his murdering his former business partner, Galdieri, who lived alone in a Jersey City apartment at the time. READ MORE: Political Aide's Role In Hudson County Murder Sends Shockwaves

Galdieri was stabbed in May of 2014, and his residence set on fire, but no one was charged with the crime until this past January.

Only a week after the plea, newspapers reported that a son of former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner John Sheridan asked Somerset County prosecutors to take another
look at the death of Commissioner Sheridan and his wife in September, 2014 under similar circumstances.

That year, the couple was stabbed and their bedroom was set on fire. Somerset County officials eventually ruled the case a murder-suicide, something the couple's sons did not believe — and the finding was later overturned.

On the heels of more recent developments in the Galdieri case — including the second hired "hitman" pleading guilty in March — a podcast kicked off this week about the possibly related case of former Commissioner Sheridan and his wife.

WNYC Studios debuted the new podcast,"Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery," on Monday.

The first episode, "Meet the Sheridans," included interviews with Sheridan's son, former Gov. Christie Whitman, and the Sheridans' friends.

"In both cases, people involved in politics were stabbed to death, and the room set on fire," says reporter Nancy Solomon, introducing the podcast on Monday. "And both crimes happened just four months apart in 2014."

"This was just not the John and Joyce any of us knew," former Gov. Whitman tells Solomon, of the initial determination that John Sheridan had killed his wife.

Solomon says that over the next seven episodes, "I'll follow a trail that raises questions about New Jersey's top law enforcement agencies and some of the most powerful people in the state."

Solomon said that she had been looking into the case for two years, and didn't know the Caddle story would break in January.

Other Developments

Meanwhile, there have been a few recent updates in the Galdieri murder case:

• Earlier this month, Sean Caddle's sentencing was postponed from June 7 to Dec. 7. He is on house arrest wearing an ankle monitor.
• In March, George Bratsenis, 73, became the second hired man to plead guilty in Galdieri's death. He awaits sentencing in the killing, but is already serving time for bank robbery. Bomani Africa, 61, of Philadelphia, was the other co-conspirator. He pleaded guilty in January to co-conspiring to commit murder for hire.

The fact that Caddle is on home detention has drawn many to wonder if he's cooperating in political cases.

In a Jan. 31 story about the Sheridan case, the New York Times reported that Caddle's lawyer said he was cooperating with the FBI in an "important investigation." READ MORE: Political Aide's Role In Hudson County Murder Sends Shockwaves

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