Sheridan sons continue to maintain that their father didn't commit suicide.
MONTGOMERY -- In an exhausting legal battle to clear their father's name, the sons of John P. Sheridan Jr., former chief executive officer of Cooper Health Systems, have submitted an expert opinion to New Jersey authorities seeking to overturn a ruling that their father committed suicide, according to a report on Philly.com.
The sons, who are asking authorities to reverse a ruling that their father committed suicide on Sept. 28, 2014, filed an affidavit six weeks ago with the state Medical Examiner's Office and the Attorney General's Office from nationally-recognized pathologist Michael Baden stating that the death appears to be a homicide, not a suicide, according to the report.
The New York Times magazine on Sunday also published an extensive look at the sons' attempts to have the case reexamined.
On March 27, 2015, the Medical Examiner's Office and the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office announced that Sheridan, 72, fatally stabbed his wife, Joyce, 69, and set the bedroom of their Montgomery Township home on fire, as previously reported by NJ Advance Media. He then took his own life, stabbing himself five times in the neck and torso, according to both offices.
The state autopsy report said he died of "sharp force injuries and smoke inhalation."
In early April, the couple's four sons - Tim, Dan, Matt, and Mark - asked authorities to change the cause of their father's death from suicide to undetermined, NJ Advance Media reported. They maintain their parents, married 47 years, were killed by an intruder.
The sons are in rarely charted waters because seldom are causes of death overturned after an official ruling, according to the Philly.com report.
Based on information in the Philly.com report, the New Jersey Department of Health stated nearly 7 percent of the more than 73,000 death certificates filed in 2014 were amended - some simply fixed for misspelled names, incorrect dates, or updated causes of death. The department does not track how many times a manner of death has been amended.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.