Person Of Interest In Florence Killing Found Dead In PA: Police

COOPER TOWNSHIP, PA - The last known person to have seen a New Jersey woman alive before she was killed in her home last week was found dead on Friday in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Peter Lestician, a South Brunswick High School teacher, was found deceased in a vehicle by an abandoned barn near an ATV trail in Cooper Township in Clearfield County, Pa., Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Florence Township Police Chief Brian Boldizar announced.

The death is being investigated as a potential suicide. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Lestician, 53, had been in a relationship with Sheila Maguire, authorities said, adding that the pair lived together on the 200 block of Birch Hollow Drive in Florence.

Maguire, 54, was found dead late on the afternoon of Aug. 29 after family members had been unable to reach her for several days, authorities said. An autopsy performed by the Burlington County Medical Examiner found that she died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Lestician, a teacher at South Brunswick High School, had not made contact with family members since Aug. 26, authorities said. While he was a person of interest in Maguire’s homicide, “there was no evidence linking Lestician directly to the crime and charges had not been filed against him,” Bradshaw and Boldizar said.

The investigation into Maguire’s death is ongoing. Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Crime Scene Unit detectives are coordinating with the local district attorney’s office in Pennsylvania to forensically examine Lestician’s vehicle.