A man whose murder conviction in the death of a 25-year-old South Jersey woman was overturned because an investigatory error was freed last week from jail after being incarcerated for six years, two of which were spent in state prison.
Timothy Wright, 45, was found guilty in the death of Joyce Vanderhoff in 2022 after a roughly two-week trial in Atlantic County Superior Court. However, his attorney successfully appealed his conviction earlier this year, arguing that he revoked his initial consent to have his cell phone searched, which he contended he did multiple times.
Wright, who was living in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, at the time he was arrested in 2019, is believed to be possibly the last person to see Vanderhoff alive before her naked body was found beside a rural Atlantic County road on Feb. 14, 2014.
He was charged with murder in her death after detectives reviewed cell phone data that showed him searching for directions between where the victim’s body was found and his then home in Mays Landing. That evidence became the strongest evidence to prosecute Wright, who was sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Wright was released on Thursday, according to jail records, which were confirmed to NJ Advance Media by Atlantic County officials.
On Tuesday, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said it dismissed Wright’s indictment after he was released from state prison and returned to the local jail. The office said that without Wright’s cell phone records, it is doubtful to secure a conviction if Wright was given a new trial.
“This investigation will remain open, and our office will continue to investigate this case and pursue justice for the victim and her family,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement to NJ Advance Media.
The judge ultimately allowed the phone’s contents into evidence, ruling Wright had not revoked his consent, and the device’s month-long retention was lawful. The judge then went a step further, ruling that even if Wright had rescinded his consent, “probable cause and exigent circumstances independently justified the prolonged warrantless seizure of the cell phone before obtaining a warrant.”
That was wrong, the appeals judges found. The New Jersey Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the county prosecutor said.
Wright was defended by John Bjorklund and Alex Settle, neither of whom could be reached for comment.
Vanderhoff, a graduate of Egg Harbor Township, was raised by her grandmother, Kathy Lydon, since age 3. Her family has been distraught since learning Wright was freed.
In the hours before she died, prosecutors have said Wright and one of Vanderhoff’s friends obtained narcotics before driving to her motel in Egg Harbor Township’s West Atlantic City section. Afterward, Vanderhoff was brought back to Wright’s former home.
She later was found on a snow-covered road near a large blueberry field, and authorities ruled she was strangled to death.
“I’m just disgusted that they let him loose without me being able to see him or nothing,” Lydon said Tuesday. “We’re just so upset about the whole damn thing.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
