A Mays Landing man was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the murder of an Egg Harbor Township woman whose naked body was dumped on the side of a Hamilton Township road in 2014.
Timothy Wright, now 42, was convicted of strangling Joyce Vanderhoff, who was just 25 when she was found dead Feb. 14, 2014.
It would be more than five years before her family and friends got some insight into what happened to her.
Wright was arrested in Pennsylvania in April 2019.
"He still says he's not guilty," said Vanderhoff's grandmother, Kathy Lydon, who raised the girl and her brother.
But evidence told another story, including GPS directions found from the dump site to Wright's home.
The trip was made the night before police received a call the morning of Valentine's Day 2014, saying a body had been found on the side of County Road 559-Weymouth Road.
Vanderhoff's last known whereabouts had been at Wright's residence.
There was also proof he got the carpet where Vanderhoff died cleaned, and that he kept her body in a cold storage unit before driving to the site where she was found, Lydon pointed out.
"He has no conscience whatsoever," she said Friday, after the sentencing.
A jury convicted Wright in November, and he faced a minimum of 30 years in prison.
That wasn't long enough, Lydon said, saying he could be out before he is even her age with that time.
She was happy that Judge Dorothy Garrabrant sentenced him to 55 years.
"He took a life, let him do life," the still-grieving grandmother said.
Wright "ruined my life," she said. "He ruined my daughter’s life (Vanderhoff's mother), all her friends, everybody. He screwed up so many people’s lives."
He must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence -- or 46 years and nine months -- before he is eligible for parole.
With credit for the time he has served, that leaves about just less than 43 years that he must serve.
"Let him die in prison," Lydon said. "Now I can rest in peace for whatever time I have left."
