A New Jersey man has been convicted in the 2021 murder of his wife.
Shawn Lichtfuss, 53, of Voorhees, was found guilty of killing his wife, Stefanie Caraway, inside their apartment more than four years ago, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.
A jury reached the verdict after a six-day trial and just 45 minutes of deliberation.
Police found Caraway, 38, dead inside a bedroom at the Village Apartments on the 1400 block of Lincoln Boulevard. They responded to the residence on the morning of Aug. 3, 2021, after a concerned caller reached out to police, saying they’d received texts from Lichtfuss implying he was going to hurt himself.
Lichtfuss had already fled the scene by the time law enforcement arrived, police said, but he was apprehended some eight hours later when he was found parked in a vehicle at a gas station.
In a subsequent interview, Lichtfuss admitted to strangling his wife, telling investigators he “snapped” during an early-morning argument with Caraway, according to documents obtained by NJ Advance Media. He also texted someone to tell them goodbye following the murder, in addition to asking that they look after the couple’s son.
“There are 3 cats that’ll need you [to take care of] and she had a fish and a lizard. I’m sorry for doing this … I just snapped,” Lichtfuss wrote in a separate text, per the documents.
Lichtfuss’ sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
