Heather Barbera
MAYS LANDING – The daughter and granddaughter of two homicide victims has pleaded guilty for their murders, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner announced Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Heather Barbera, 43, of Ventnor, pleaded guilty to an amended count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of her mother Michelle Gordon, 67, and first-degree murder of her grandmother, Elaine Rosen, 87.
The aggregate sentence is 42 years with 40 years and 2 months without parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2020.
“Heather Barbera did the unthinkable when she murdered her mother and grandmother with a billy club used by her father when he worked as a beat cop in Brooklyn, NY.,” Tyner said in a statement. “This plea will not bring back the Ms. Gordon or Mrs. Rosen, but it will save the family the unnecessary trauma of experiencing a trial while still getting a modicum of justice. This plea agreement will ensure that the defendant will remain imprisoned well into her eighties.”
Elaine Rosen and her daughter Michelle Gordon were found dead at approximately 10:25 a.m., Sunday, July 8, 2018, inside a residence at 4800 Boardwalk, Ventnor City.
The cause of death for Rosen and Gordon was multiple blunt impact injuries and the manner of death homicide.
Through the course of an investigation it was learned that Barbera took a bus to New York City after committing the murders and she was identified by NYPD officers on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 11, 2018 at the Midtown Manhattan Port Authority located at 42nd Street and she was taken into custody. Before her extradition to New Jersey, Barbera was in custody at the Rose M. Singer Center, a women’s facility on Rikers Island.
Barbera remains in custody at the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
This is a joint investigation between the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Ventnor City Police Department.
Assistant Prosecutor Allison Eiselen represents the state in the matter.
