A New Jersey man died by suicide in a Camden County jail a day after he was found guilty of killing his wife, officials said Wednesday.
Shawn Lichtfuss, 53, of Voorhees Township, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Camden County Correctional Facility shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
Despite life-saving measures conducted by officers, Lichtfuss was declared dead at approximately 11:49 p.m.
An autopsy conducted Monday by the Gloucester-Camden-Salem County Medical Examiner’s Office determined he died of asphyxia and ruled the manner of death a suicide.
The incident occurred just a day after a Camden County jury found Lichtfuss guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Stefanie Caraway, just over four years ago.
Caraway, 38, was found dead by the Voorhees Township Police Department on the morning of Aug. 3, 2021, in the bedroom of the couple’s home on the 1400 block of Lincoln Drive.
Lichtfuss was located later that day in a vehicle parked at a nearby gas station. He was taken into custody and confessed to detectives that he had put his wife in a chokehold, telling investigators he “snapped” during an early-morning argument, according to documents obtained by NJ Advance Media.
The medical examiner ruled Caraway’s death a homicide from neck compression.
On Sept. 18, after a six-day trial in Camden County Superior Court, a jury deliberated for about 45 minutes before finding Lichtfuss guilty of murder.
Lichtfuss’s death was reported to the Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, and the prosecutor’s office will investigate the case. The findings will be submitted to the attorney general’s office for review, in accordance with office policy and the AG’s directive.
No further information will be released at this time, prosecutors said.
