By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, May 12, 1991
The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03
A 26-year-old former Ridgewood resident who moved to Vermont because of his love of skiing and the outdoors was hunted down and killed by the ex-boyfriend of a woman with whom he was friendly, authorities said Saturday.
Jonathan D. Herz, a graduate of Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, was shot in the head before dawn Thursday outside his house in Johnson, Vt., said Lamoille County Deputy Sheriff Jeff Parry.
Herz was an unlucky bystander in Randy Manosh and Muriel McMahon’s troubled relationship. Authorities said Manosh also killed McMahon’s roommate, Nancy Lowe, who was shot in the head with a .22-caliber revolver while she slept. Manosh later committed suicide, they said.
Parry declined to comment on the relationship between Herz and McMahon, 30.
Authorities gave the following account:
Manosh, 32, went looking for McMahon about 1 a.m. at her Morrisville, Vt., residence and, not finding her, killed Lowe. Upon learning McMahon was with a friend in Johnson, Manosh hitchhiked there.
Manosh tracked McMahon to Herz’s residence, a camp at the end of a logging road, surrounded by pastures and maple trees. In a house filled with family photos and outdoor gear, Herz was killed with a single shot to the head about 1:30 a.m. Manosh dragged the landscaper’s body to the back yard, where he killed Herz’s dog, and then went after his ex-girlfriend, police said.
McMahon ran screaming through the woods to the nearest mobile home and summoned help. Parry said that while officers were interviewing McMahon, Manosh sneaked behind the mobile home and shot her through the kitchen window. He then fatally shot himself.
Manosh, the son of a prominent Vermont developer and nephew of Lamoille County Sheriff Gardner Manosh, had an extensive arrest record, including his fourth for drunken driving the week before the shootings.
McMahon, who was in critical condition from a head wound, had lived with Manosh as recently as November.
Surviving Herz are his father, Peter; his mother, Anne Bean Herz; and two brothers, Mark and Peter.
A family friend reached in Vermont said of Herz, “He was a wonderful boy. He was warm. He was full of life, a good friend, and good helpmate. He was all the things that you want your son to grow up to be.”
Keywords: RIDGEWOOD; MURDER; VERMONT; SHOOTING; JONATHAN D. HERZ
Notes: Bergen page
ID: 17342926 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)
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