Colts Neck Man Indicted For Brutal Murder Of Barnegat Light Man

An Ocean County grand jury has indicted a Colts Neck man for the brutal murder of a Barnegat Light man in his home in November 2015.

Conrad Sipa, 52, Homelands Drive, was charged with first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon, one count ofhindering apprehension or prosecution and one count of tampering with physical evidence, according to the indictment.

Sipa is accused of murdering Richard Doody Jr., a former New York City firefighter and a friend - sometime between Nov. 21 and Nov. 23, 2015. An autopsy revealed that Doody suffered blunt force trauma to his head and slash wounds to his neck.

Long Beach Township police discovered Doody's battered body in his Central Avenue home on Nov. 23, 2015, after a concerned family member was unable to reach him, said Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Sipa is alleged to have used a knife, golf club and/or a ceramic lamp to kill Doody. He is also accused of trying to clean up the crime scene and removing items to avoid apprehension. Sipa was arrested and released last year on $1 million bail, Della Fave said.

Doody's skull was fractured and he was nearly decapitated when his neck was slashed. He was struck so hard with the golf club that the graphite neck of the club split and his neck was severed "so severely that his trachea was cut through and through," Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Meghan O'Neill said in court last year, according to nj.com

Sipa also returned to the home several times by cleaning up around Doody’s body, authorities said.

O’Neill said Sipa’s fingerprints were found in Doody’s bloody home.

The investigation in this case has been conducted by detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and White Collar Crimes Units, the Long Beach Township Police Department and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Investigations Unit.

The lead detectives are Detective John Murphy from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Sergeant Ron Hullings of the Long Beach Township Police Department.

"The victim’s residence was meticulously examined and processed by members of the Crime Scene Investigations Unit of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department," Della Fave said.

Images: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office