Big Break In Infamous NJ 1990 Cold Case Killing

SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ — Nearly four decades after a Sussex County woman was found killed, investigators have arrested their primary suspect.

Robert William McCaffrey Jr., 54, was arrested last week in North Carolina in connection with the 1990 murder of Lisa Marie McBride.

On June 23, 1990, McBride disappeared from her Vernon home. Her remains were discovered by hunters four months later in Sandyston in the Delaware Water Gap area. She would have been 27 years old when her remains were found.

Federal investigators interviewed hundreds of suspects, but nobody was ever charged. Until now.

Thanks to “significant advancements in DNA technology,” authorities were able to identify McCaffrey, a former Sussex County resident, as the primary suspect for McBride’s murder.

He was arrested in Manteo, North Carolina, on Friday around 8 p.m. He is being held in Dare County as he awaits extradition back to New Jersey.

He is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and burglary.

McCaffrey is the former suspect in the 2012 disappearance of his wife, Gayle McCaffrey, according to ABC4. The report added that McCaffrey faked a farewell letter from his missing wife, and he was charged with obstruction of justice.

He was later charged with his wife’s murder, but a grand jury did not indict him due to a lack of evidence. He served 10 years in prison for the obstruction charge and was released in 2023.