Mother and son charged with murder in 25-year-old cold case in which the son shot his dad and slaughtered his aunt

Dolores Morgan, 66, and her 47-year-old son, Ted Connors, were indicted on seven murder and conspiracy charges on Thursday

Authorities say Morgan enlisted her son Connors to kill her husband, Nicholas Connors, and sister, Ana F. Mejina, in Long Branch, NJ, in December 1994 and early 1995

Connors allegedly killed the two family members with best friend Jose Carrero, who confessed to police in January and took a plea deal 

Mejia was found stabbed 23 times in her Long Branch, New Jersey, home in December 1994 allegedly was killed because Connors suspected his aunt had snitched on his drug dealing to cops

She was found with a white substance believed to be cocaine around her mouth, but it was later proven to be baby powder  

Connors Sr who was shot dead in May 1995 and had several gunshot wounds to the head in the home he shared with his wife and children, was killed for $200,000 insurance payout

The duo vacationed in the Dominican Republic before settling in Florida after the murders  

Monmouth County grand jury ruled in favor of indicting Dolores Morgan, 66, [photo], and her Ted Connors, on seven counts of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 shooting of Nicholas Connors and the stabbing of her sister Ana F. Mejia a year earlier 

A former New Jersey woman who authorities say enlisted her son to kill her husband and sister in the 90’s has been indicted on murder charges after 25 years, by authorities in Florida today.
A Monmouth County grand jury ruled in favor of indicting Dolores Morgan, 66, and her 47-year-old son, Ted Connors, on seven counts of murder and conspiracy in the 1995 shooting of Nicholas Connors and the 1994 stabbing of Ana F. Mejia.
Prosecutors said Ted carried out the murders with his best friend, Jose Carrero, at the request of Morgan.
The murders were unsolved and remained a cold case until Carrero made a confession to police in January, leading to the trio’s arrests.

Mother and son Dolores Morgan [left] and Ted Connors [right] were indicted on murder charges on Thursday in the deaths of Nicholas Connors and Ana F. Mejina

New evidence uncovered by the Long Branch Police Department and the cold case department also prompted their arrests.
On February 22 Jose Carrero, 48, pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit murder before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ellen Torregrossa-O’Connor.
In keeping with his plea agreement he will testify at the trials of Dolores Morgan, the alleged mastermind of the murders, and her son Ted Connors who is accused of helping Carrero carry out the killings in Long Branch.
Police say Mejia was found dead and only partially clothed inside her Long Branch apartment on Dec. 8, 1994, stabbed 23 times. A white substance smeared around the 24-year-old’s mouth and nose, first thought to be cocaine, was later determined to be baby formula, the documents say. Her two children, 3 and 1, were inside the apartment at the time of the murder, but were unharmed.
Five months later, Nicolas Connors was found shot to death on a couch in his Long Branch home. He was discovered by his wife, Delores, in the Van Dyke Place home they shared. Two of their children, 13 and 12, slept through the crime.
Connors recently admitted to authorities that he was a drug dealer at the time and his mother was aware of it.
He claims he lost money because Mejina and her boyfriend were arrested in a 1994 drug case. Prosecutors say the murder suspects killed Mejina because of what they perceived was her attempt to tip off authorities about her boyfriend’s illegal actions.
Ted Connors’ attorney, Jonathan Petty, said many people had a reason to kill Mejina over her reputation as a possible ‘snitch’.
Petty said a search warrant executed at her home one week before the murder led police to a find of a kilo of cocaine and more than $130,000.
Six months later, Connors, who was Morgan’s husband and Ted’s adoptive father, was shot dead on a sofa inside his home with several gunshot wounds to the head.

Prosecutors claim Connors was killed over his $200,000 life insurance that Morgan collected one day after his death.
Following the murders, Morgan, Ted and his then-girlfriend traveled to the Dominican Republic.
Ted’s former girlfriend told police that during the trip, Morgan said: ‘We already have two deaths on our hands. We can’t afford another. We can’t afford the police snooping around our house again’.
‘[Morgan] has done nothing but hide her involvement and manipulate the system to ensure she was protected,’ prosecutors said.
Within a year, the pair escaped to Florida to start new lives. The three suspects are currently being held in jail pending trial.
In that 1995 slaying, Carrero told authorities he and Ted Connors cut through a screen door to make the crime look like a robbery. They found Nicholas watching television, and Carrero said he then went into another room, and heard Ted shoot his own adopted father.
Carrero is expected to spend 5 to 10 years behind bars for his role in the killings, officials said.
Ted Connors and his mother Dolores Morgan are behind bars awaiting trial. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors.