VILLAS – A 61-year-old Cold Spring man has been charged with his son’s death, allegedly supplying him with the drugs that prompted a fatal overdose, police said in a complaint obtained by the Herald.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Friday, Aug. 8, at 2 p.m. police responded to the Jersey Shore motel on Bayshore Road in Villas after a 911 caller reported a man was unconscious and unresponsive.
The caller, according to the affidavit, was Kirsten Woods, the victim’s girlfriend and roommate. Woods told police the victim, Bradley Pfaff, had taken “one bag,” an expression that the officers said referred to heroin/fentanyl.
Pfaff was transported to Cooper University Hospital-Cape Regional, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m.
Officers collected drugs and paraphernalia at the scene, including one glassine fold stamped in blue ink. On Aug. 15, it was learned that the glassine fold contained Carfentanil, a synthetic opioid used as a tranquilizer for elephants and other large animals.
Carfentanil, according to the county Prosecutor’s Office, is 5,000 times more potent than heroin and has been responsible for multiple overdoses in Cape May County.
Lower Township and county detectives interviewed Woods, who told them Pfaff acquired the Carfentanil from his father, Robert E. Pfaff Jr., 61, of Shunpike Road in Cold Spring. Woods said Robert Pfaff kept drugs in a standing toolbox in a detached garage at his residence, and he did not charge his children for the drugs he supplied them.
On Aug. 7, Woods said, Bradley Pfaff was feeling very sick, and Robert Pfaff was supposed to drop off drugs at the Jersey Shore motel, but had become paranoid about going out. He insisted Woods come by his residence and pick up the drugs.
At about 10 that night, Woods told police, she took a bus to Robert Pfaff’s residence to pick up the drugs for her boyfriend. Robert Pfaff gave four glassine folds to Woods. An examination of Woods’ cellphone text messages corroborated her story, police said.
On Monday, Aug. 18, a search warrant was executed at Robert Pfaff’s Shunpike Road residence, where police seized drugs and paraphernalia, including a glassine fold containing suspected heroin/fentanyl, which tested positive for Carfentanil. Multiple glassine folds with the same stamp were recovered from Pfaff’s bedroom.
Robert Pfaff was taken into custody Aug. 18 and, according to the affidavit, corroborated the events of Aug. 7 and 8, as reported by Woods. Pfaff also admitted to possessing the drugs and paraphernalia found at his residence, according to the affidavit.
A postmortem was conducted on Bradley Pfaff by the Southern Regional Medical Examiners Office. Preliminary observation revealed he had no obvious underlying conditions that would have led to his death. The cause and manner of death await the results of the toxicology report.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
