Mother and son charged with murder in 25-year-old cold case

A former New Jersey woman who authorities say enlisted her son to kill her husband and sister in the 1990s has been indicted on murder charges after 25 years, authorities said.  

A Monmouth County grand jury ruled in favor of indicting Dolores Morgan, 66, and her 47-year-old son, Ted Connors, on seven counts of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 shooting of Nicholas Connors and the 1994 stabbing of Ana F. Mejia. 

Prosecutors said Ted carried out the murders with his best friend, Jose Carrero, at the request of Morgan.  

The murders were unsolved and remained a cold case until Carrero made a confession to police in January, leading to the trio’s arrests. 

Dolores Morgan (left) and Ted Connors (right) were indicted on murder charges on Thursday in the deaths of Nicholas Connors and Ana F. Mejina

New evidence uncovered by the Long Branch Police Department and the cold case department also prompted their arrests. 

Carrero, 48, has since been arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit murder on February 22. 

He has agreed to testify against the alleged crime duo and is expected to face five to 10 years in prison for each charge when he is sentenced, NJ.com reports. 

Authorities say Mejia was found dead and only partially clothed inside her Long Branch apartment bedroom on December 8, 1994.  

She had been stabbed 23 times and officers found a white substance thought to be cocaine around her mouth. 

It was later determined that it was baby formula belonging to her two children, ages one and three. 

Both children were inside the apartment at the time of the murder, but were unharmed.  

Ted recently admitted to authorities that he was a drug dealer in the 1990s and his mother was aware of it. 

He said he lost money because Mejina and her boyfriend were arrested in a 1994 drug case. 

Prosecutors say they killed Mejina because of what they perceived was her attempt to tip off authorities about her boyfriend’s illegal actions.

Ted’s attorney, Jonathan Petty, said many people had a reason to kill Mejina over her reputation as a possible ‘snitch’.

Petty said a search warrant executed at her home one week before the murder led police to find  a kilo of cocaine and more than $130,000.  

Six months later, Connors, who was Morgan’s husband and Ted’s adoptive father, was shot dead on a sofa inside his home with several gunshot wounds to the head.

Jose Carrero (pictured), Ted Connors best friend, confessed to authorities about the murders and has pleaded guilty 

Prosecutors claim Connors was killed over his $200,000 life insurance that Morgan collected one day after his death.

Following the murders, Morgan, Ted and his then-girlfriend traveled to the Dominican Republic. 

Ted’s former girlfriend told police that during the trip, Morgan said: ‘We already have two deaths on our hands. We can’t afford another. We can’t afford the police snooping around our house again’.

‘[Morgan] has done nothing but hide her involvement and manipulate the system to ensure she was protected,’ prosecutors said.

Within a year, the pair escaped to Florida to start new lives. The three suspects are currently being held in jail pending trial.