An woman accused of killing her sister and making it look like a drug overdose will stay in jail, a judge ordered Monday.

Sarah Errickson, 36, allegedly incapacitated her sister with Xanax, then shot her up with about a dozen bags of heroin Feb. 16, 2023, inside the Upper Township home they shared at the time.

The victim's fiance told investigators weeks later that he held his hand over Emily Cruddas' mouth and told her to take her medicine as the lethal injection was made. 

Errickson and her sister's fiance, Joe Ragan, are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Ragan is a fugitive.

Cruddas, 21, was found dead by police responding to the home the next day. Three bags of drugs stamped "White House" were nearby.

"This was not an impulsive act," Assistant Cape May County Prosecutor Ed Shim told the judge during a detention hearing Monday. "This was a cold, calculated, deliberate murder of a family member fueled by revenge, and demonstrates this person’s disregard for human life, especially a a family member."

    Sarah Errickson at her detention hearing with defense attorney Kate Weigel, front.
  

The murderous plan allegedly was created by Errickson in retaliation after she blamed Cruddas for getting her children taken away.

Errickson's older son and twin daughters are with other family members. She had custody of an adopted son.

Cruddas was getting out of the hospital following a suicide attempt when Errickson allegedly decided to take action.

"This defendant preyed on her sister, and then waited until her sister was at her most vulnerable to put her plan into effect," Judge Dorothy Garrabrant said.

While Ragan came forward less than a month after the killing, it took nearly two more years for the state to have enough to charge.

Defense attorney Kate Weigel argued that they still do not.

In April, a man named Stanley Vannote gave investigators a backpack that was given to him by Errickson's then-boyfriend, Timothy Barrus.

Inside was an orange toolbox containing 18 cell phones, 15 waxfolds with the same stamp that was found by the victim and a piece of notebook paper that had "a handwritten note to include a 'schedule or plan' to the events that surround the suspicious death of Cruddas," the affidavit of probable cause states.

But it was not until last month when Barrus — accompanied by his attorney — talked to investigators that the charges came.

Shortly after he walked out of his interview with police Jan. 23, Errickson was arrested.

Weigel said that all may make Barrus look suspicious but shows no connection to her client.

She noted that even with Ragan making the accusations two years ago, Errickson did not try to run away.

While Errickson did visit Florida shortly after her sister's death, she did return home.

"Even when Mr. Ragan was wandering around telling people my client killed her own sister, this is still where she came, judge, because this is where she resides," Weigel said. "She is innocent of these charges."

    A page heralding Sarah Errickson and Timothy Barrus' 2024 wedding is still accessible online.
  

The judge referred to Barrus as Errickson's co-defendant, even though he is not currently charged in connection with the case. It was not clear if he would avoid prosecution due to the information he apparently provided.

He and Errickson were engaged at one point, with a "honey fund" collecting donations to various elements of their honeymoon still online. A family member told BreakingAC that it was Barrus' parents who she visited in Florida.

Errickson was ordered held after the judge found there was not enough to overcome the presumption of detention in the murder case under bail reform.

"At any point during this timeline, the defendant could have stopped or gotten the victim help," Garrabrant said. "She chose not to do so."

Errickson now will remain in the Cape May County jail.

READ MORE: Fiance wanted in Upper Township woman's killing 

   Emily Cruddas posted on TikTok about the love she shared with Joseph Ragan. He is now wanted on murder charges in her death.