Ex-Morris Clerk Victim in Murder-Suicide, Prosecutor Says

The former Morris County clerk and longtime political figure was the victim of a murder-suicide involving her husband inside their Denville home, the prosecutor’s office said Friday.

An autopsy determined Joan Bramhall was killed by a gunshot wound inflicted by her husband, John, the prosecutor’s office said. John Bramhall then committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the prosecutor’s office said.

A family member discovered one of the bodies inside the Arden Road home Thursday morning, the prosecutor’s office said. Responding officers then found the second body also inside the residence, the prosecutor’s office said.

The investigation revealed there was no evidence of outside intrusion into the residence, the prosecutor’s office said.

Joan Bramhall served as Morris County Republican Committee chairwoman from 1988 to 1994 and was a freeholder from 1993 to 1998. Bramhall, who served as a freeholder alongside now-Gov. Chris Christie, held the county clerk position from 1999 until she retired in 2013.