Manalapan Woman Tied to Brutal Home Invasion Murder, Police Say

Manalapan, NJ - A Manalapan woman was arrested Tuesday night and charged Wednesday for her role in three separate 2011 home invasions, as well as the brutal murder of a Freehold man whose home was set on fire after he was killed.

Ranu Sinha, 36, of Precedent Place of Manalapan, was arrested late Tuesday night by Manalapan Police.

Police say Sinha took part in the armed robberies alongside 38-year-old Neptune man Ellis Goodson. Both Sinha and Goodson were charged as accomplices to Newark men Jeffrey Mayhue, 52, and Richard Busby, 58, who have already been indicted for the murder.

Their robbery spree started May 14, 2011, police said. The first home the foursome hit was on Brickyard Road in Howell. Mayhue broke in with a handgun, bound the occupants and stole a large sum of money, police said. Sinha and Goodson were charged as accomplices.

The second robbery was on July 31, 2011. Mayhue and Busby were armed with a handgun and looking for money when they entered Michael Conway’s home on Jackson Mills Road in Freehold in the early-morning hours.

Conway and his girlfriend were inside the home. Mayhue and Busby killed Conway, set fire to the house and fled the scene. Conway’s girlfriend was able to escape from the burning house through a window, ran to a neighbor’s house, and called 911.

Mayhue and Busby were indicted in November 2012 for Conway’s murder. Sinha and Goodson will now join Mayhue and Busby for their roles in both the robbery and Conway’s fiery murder, the Monmouth County prosecutor said.

The third robbery occurred on September 8, 2011, when Mayhue forcibly entered a residence on Drummond Avenue in Neptune Township brandishing a handgun. The robbery was thwarted by the victims, who held Mayhue until police arrived on scene. Sinha and Goodson were charged Wednesday for their roles in that crime, as well.

Sinha and Goodson are each being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, on $1.5 million cash-only bail.

If convicted of murder, Sinha and Goodson each face a minimum 30 years in state prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Photo: Firefighters leave the scene of Michael Conway’s burned home on Jackson Mills Road in Freehold Township.