A Colts Neck man was found guilty in the brutal 2015 killing of a New York firefighter in Ocean County.
It took jurors just two hours to convict Conrad Sipa of murder in the death of his longtime friend, Richard Doody Jr.
Doody, 60, was found dead inside a blanket at his Long Beach Island home Nov. 23, 2015.
He had been beaten in the head with a golf club and a lamp and his throat slit with a knife, according to the evidence.
The defense claimed Doody threatened Sipa with the knife, and that the killing was self-defense.
But jurors found otherwise.
They convicted Sipa, 56, of murder, two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, along with one count each of unlawful possession of a weapon, hindering apprehension and tampering with physical evidence.
Sipa was taken into custody and is being held in the Ocean County Jail pending his sentencing, set for June 14.
He faces possible life in prison.
Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer applauded the diligence and dedication of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Sheehan and Senior Assistant Prosecutor Meghan O’Neill.
He also thanked Detective John Murphy and the staff of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Detective Sgt. Ron Hullings and the Long Beach Township Police Department, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Unit and Allison Betts, a victim-witness advocate.
