A New Jersey man committed suicide just one day after a jury convicted him of his wife’s 2021 murder, officials said.
Correctional officers discovered Shawn Lichtfuss, 53, unresponsive inside his cell at the Camden County Correctional Facility at around 11:18 p.m. on Sept. 19 during a cell check, according to a Camden County Prosecutor’s Office (CCPO) press release. Emergency personnel administered aid, but Lichtfuss was declared dead via telemetry at around 11:39 p.m. The CCPO was informed of Lichtfuss’s death at around 11:45 p.m.
A Voorhees Township man has been convicted at trial for the murder of his wife in 2021. Shawn Lichtfuss, 53, was found guilty on September 18, 2025, of first-degree Murder in the death of 38-year-old Stefanie Caraway. For details: https://t.co/khgNW6gH7a pic.twitter.com/FrNKVeW38h
— Camden Co Prosecutor (@CamdenCoPros) September 19, 2025
A jury convicted Lichtfuss on Sept. 18 of his 38-year-old wife Stefanie Caraway’s 2021 murder, NJ.com reported. Lichtfuss had a dispute with his wife before killing her and the medical examiner determined her cause of death was neck compression.
When investigators interviewed Lichtfuss, the man said he choked Caraway until she was no longer breathing at approximately 3 a.m., NJ.com reported in 2021, citing an affidavit. Lichtfuss also texted two people he knew following the incident, asking one person to look after him and Caraway’s son and telling the other, “I’m sorry for doing this … I just snapped,” the documents read.
The second person Lichtfuss texted then contacted police, who responded to the couple’s apartment. When no one responded upon their arrival, police forced their way inside and discovered Caraway deceased in a bedroom. Police took Lichtfuss into custody roughly eight hours later in a convenience store parking lot adjacent to police headquarters. (RELATED: REPORT: Two Teenage Girls Killed In Hit-And-Run Following Claims Of Stalking)
A post-mortem exam carried out Sept. 22 by the Gloucester-Camden-Salem County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Lichtfuss died of asphyxia by suicide, according to the CCPO.
Lichtfuss was found guilty of first-degree murder in his wife’s killing following a six-day trial, the New York Post reported. The jury reportedly decided on its verdict after merely 45 minutes.