A tattoo-covered brute who strangled his wife to death died by suicide in his New Jersey jail cell just one day after a jury convicted him of the 2021 murder, prosecutors said.
Shawn Lichtfuss, 53, was found unresponsive in his lockup at Camden County Correctional Facility at 11:18 p.m. on Sept. 19 when guards making their rounds stumbled on the grim scene, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday.
Medical staff responded and rendered emergency aid, but the inmate was pronounced dead at 11:39 p.m.
An autopsy conducted Monday by the Gloucester-Camden-Salem County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the Voorhees Township man died of asphyxia and his death was ruled a suicide, officials said.
Lichtfuss’s death came after a six-day trial ended with him being found guilty of first-degree murder for killing his 38-year-old wife, Stefanie Caraway, on Aug. 3, 2021.
The jury reportedly reached a verdict in just 45 minutes.
Caraway was found dead in the couple’s bedroom during a welfare check, and her husband was arrested hours later, sitting in his car outside a convenience store next to police headquarters, NJ.com reported.
The convicted killer later told investigators he “snapped” and put his wife in a chokehold during an early-morning argument, according to a police report obtained by the local outlet.
Officials ruled Caraway’s death a homicide caused by neck compression.
Lichtfuss’s death is now being reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office.
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