Woman’s Death Initially Deemed Overdose; Now, Her Boyfriend and Sister Are Charged with Murder

It was about a month after the death of Emily Cruddas that her boyfriend Joseph Ragan approached police with a shocking admission that would reopen the investigation into her death and lead to a shocking conclusion.

According to Ragan, he and the victim’s sister, 36-year-old Sarah Errickson, were actually the ones responsible for Cruddas’ death.

Cruddas was pronounced dead on the scene when New Jersey State Police arrived at her home for a reported overdose, which had come shorty after a multi-day stay at a hospital after a suicide attempt following the miscarriage of her baby with Ragan, according to Law & Crime.

Ragan allegedly made his statement to police without a lawyer present and of his own will after approaching them, with Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI reporting he was not arrested after that initial communication.

According to the criminal complaint filed after Ragan’s admission, he told police that he and Errickson had planned the killing in advance. Errickson gave Cruddas two capsules after her release from the hospital on February 16, 2023. Inside were several crushed Xanax pills, according to Ragan.

He then alleged that Errickson prepared 10 to 15 bags of fentanyl-laced heroin and a hypodermic syringe, according to the document. Ragan told police that while Cruddas was incapacitated from the Xanax, he put his hand over her mouth while Errickson injected the drugs into her sister’s left hand, all the while telling her, “Take your drugs.”

Cruddas initial cause of death was listed as toxic effects of fentanyl, per WPVI, but was modified to undetermined on May 5, 2023, amid the reignited investigation into her death.

It was almost a year later, on April 19, 2024 per court documents, that an unnamed individual gave police a backpack containing 18 cell phones, 15 waxfolds of suspected heroin stamped “White House,” which authorities allege is the same as what was found on Cruddas’ nightstand next to her body.

They also allegedly found “a handwritten note to include a ‘schedule or plan’ to the events that surround the suspicious death of Cruddas,” as detailed in the probable cause affidavit.

Errickson’s son and twin daughters are currently living with other family members, while she does have custody of an adopted son, according to Atlantic City, New Jersey’s BreakingAC.com. The outlet further reports that the backpack was given to the unnamed individual by Errickson’s then-boyfriend, Timothy Barrus.

Authorities reported that they met with Barrus and his attorney on January 23, 2025, where he detailed his understanding of how Cruddas died. His story, they reported in their legal filings, matched what they’d previously been told by Ragan.

Barrus added an additional possible motive for the crime, according to investigators, when he alleged that Errickson had made a statement that Cruddas was “the cause of her losing her children and that she was taking her home,” referring to an inheritance fight over the family home after their mother’s death, as reported by WPVI.

According to the affidavit, Errickson had also previously spoken out on multiple occasions about killing her sister and other people by injecting them with a lethal does of a controlled substance.

Errickson was picked up by police that same day and booked into the Cape May County Jail. She was charged last Monday with first-degree murder and conspiracy, per New Jersey radio station WKXW.

Ragan was also arrested last week in Ottumwa, Iowa, and is facing the same charges, per BreakingAC.

“This was not an impulsive act,” Assistant Cape May County Prosecutor Ed Shim said during Errickson’s first court appearance, as covered by NJ.com.

“This was a cold, calculated, deliberate murder of a family member fueled by revenge, and demonstrates this person’s disregard for human life,” he continued, “especially a family member.”

Shim offered additional details about the inheritance fight between the sisters, which allegedly began when the sisters’ mother left the family house to both of them upon her death in 2020.

After Cruddas’ death, the house sold for $325,000, per WKXW, with Errickson ultimately being awarded the full proceeds after overcoming legal challenges from Cruddas’ father.

Presiding Judge Dorothy Garrabant stated in court, referring to the fact Cruddas was just out of the hospital after a suicide attempt, “This defendant preyed on her sister, and then waited until her sister was at her most vulnerable to put her plan into effect.”

Errickson’s defense attorney, Kate Weigel, believes the state still doesn’t have sufficient evidence, arguing in court, per BreakingAC, that the fact Errickson has stayed in the area these past two years is just further indication she is innocent.

“Even when Mr. Ragan was wandering around telling people my client killed her own sister, this is still where she came [back after a Florida trip], judge, because this is where she resides,” Weigel said. “She is innocent of these charges.”

Barras was described as Errickson’s co-defendant in this case, with BreakingAC noting that he is not currently charged at all in relation to Cruddas’ death.

If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.