Convicted Killer Freed From NJ Jail After Murder Charge Dismissed

MAYS LANDING, NJ — A convicted killer has been freed from prison and had his murder charge tossed after an appeals court ruled that key evidence had been illegally obtained.

Timothy P. Wright, 45, was convicted in 2022 of the 2014 murder of Joyce Vanderhoff, 25, in Mays Landing. Critical evidence from Wright's cell phone showed turn-by-turn driving directions from a spot near where Vanderhoff's naked body was found tangled in briar and vegetation to Wright's home in Pennsylvania, time-stamped the night before her body was discovered. Authorities ruled that Vanderhoff had been strangled to death. Wright was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

But this past May, an appellate court ruled that Wright had revoked his initial consent for detectives to keep and search that phone. That meant the crucial evidence in securing his conviction never should have been used.

Wright testified that he had given written consent for detectives to search his phone and was told it would take 15 to 20 minutes, according to the 53-page appellate court decision. But he said he was then told there were computer issues and the phone had to be kept longer. That was on Feb. 15, 2014, the day after Vanderhoff's body was found. Wright had been told he could revoke his consent at any time, and he did so on Feb. 24, the decision reads. A search warrant for the phone was not obtained until March 24, 2014.

A trial judge ruled that holding onto the phone for a month with no warrant was lawful and even justified, documents say. But the appeals court ruled that the phone evidence should have been suppressed and Wright's conviction overturned.

Wright was released from state prison, records show, and taken to Atlantic County jail. Last Thursday, he was released from there, when the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office dismissed Wright's 2019 indictment charging him with murder.

He had been in jail for six years, two of which were spent in New Jersey State Prison.

"While the State had prima facie evidence at the time of the indictment presentation, the State will not be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial," the motion to dismiss reads.

It was dismissed without prejudice, so Wright could be charged again if stronger evidence is discovered.