Lindorff gets 7 years in murder-for-hire plot

Lindorff gets 7 years in murder-for-hire plot

Friday, August 08, 2008

Randall Clark

rclark@sjnewsco.com

SALEM A onetime Franklin Township man was sentenced to seven years in prison in a failed murder-for-hire plot the latest episode in a series of legal battles stemming from the 2001 death of his adopted son while the family was living in Gloucester County.

James Lindorff, 58, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge William Forrester on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Lindorff's mother-in-law, Mildred Cullinan, 76, of Elsinboro Township was given a 90-day jail term for hindering in an investigation.

Lindorff, also of Elsinboro, was serving a Salem County Jail sentence in August 2007 for endangering the welfare of a child when he sought to hire a hitman to kill a person who had personal knowledge of the alleged abuse.

Cullinan met with a person she thought would carry out the plot in exchange for $5,000 and a handgun at the King Fried Chicken eatery in Salem on Aug. 30, 2007. That person turned out to be a police officer working undercover.

"It was not as though she was delivering cookies," Forester said. "This is not a harsh sentence considering the seriousness of the matter."

Lindorff and his wife, Heather, were convicted of child abuse in 2001. Adoptive parents of six, the then Franklin residents were charged with abuse in the death of Jacob Lindorff, 5. He died six weeks after coming to live with the Lindorffs.

Authorities said Jacob Lindorff suffered from a fatal blow to the head. He also sustained second-degree burns on his feet and had bruises all over his body. Heather Lindorff was sentenced to six years in prison in connection with the case.