2 Allegedly Confessed To Long Branch Cold-Case Murders To Friends

LONG BRANCH, NJ — Two suspects confessed to friends that they murdered two Long Branch residents in the 1990s, according to affidavits. The confessions helped authorities piece together the murders of Ana Mejia and Nicholas Connors, which went unsolved for about 25 years.

Dolores Morgan, her son Ted Connors and Jose Carrero were charged with the murders, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday. Read more: 2 Long Branch Murder Cold Cases Cracked; 3 Charged: Prosecutor

Ted Connors and Carrero independently confessed to mutual friends that they murdered Mejia and Nicholas Connors, according to the affidavits. The friends made statements to authorities in 1995 and 1996, which led to implicating the three suspects, the documents say.

Here is how the affidavits described the case:

Nicholas Connors

Morgan returned home from work at 6:50 a.m. May 14, 1995. She found her husband, Nicholas, dead on the couch of their Van Dyke Place home. The 51-year-old had been shot three times.

The only people at home during the murder were their two children — ages 12 and 13. Both were asleep during the killing and didn't wake up until the next morning.

A screen window in the back of the house had been cut as a point of entry that led to the kitchen, according to the affidavits. All doors were locked earlier that evening.

Authorities believe Morgan planned and aided in the murder.

Evidence includes an insurance payout to Morgan, a transcript of consensual recording between Ted Connors and from one friend in September 1995, and a statement from another friend taken in November 2019, authorities said.

Ana Mejia

Mejia, 24, was found dead and partially clothed Dec. 8, 1994 in her Prospect Street apartment. She was stabbed 23 times and left with a white substance, "later determined to be bay (sic) formula, all over her mouth and nose."

Her two children — ages 3 and 1 — were home when she was killed but were found safe. Gisela Vargas, the aunt of one of Mejia's children, found her dead.

Carrero and Ted Connors confessed the killing to one of the same friends, who spoke to authorities in 1996, the affidavit says.

Authorities confirmed friends' statements on both murders through further investigation, some of which occurred in the last two years.

A Breakthrough

The MCPO announced Friday that Carrero, Morgan and Ted Connors were arrested for the murders. They were each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the agency announced Tuesday.

Carrero, 48, of Jackson, was taken to the Monmouth County Jail and held without bail. Morgan, 66, and Ted Connors, 47, were arrested in Florida, where they live now, authorities said. Police took them to the Palm Beach County Detention Center.

Carrero will make his first appearance in court Wednesday, before a detention hearing next Tuesday. Authorities expect Ted Connors and Morgan to return to New Jersey after an extradition hearing in Florida.

A first-degree murder conviction carries between 30 years and life in prison.

Editor's note: At times, authorities have referred to Dolores Morgan as Dolores Connors. Patch did so in a previous version of the story.

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