2008/06/28... Man who allegedly killed his wife at YMCA was under court restraint
The man who allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife Thursday night as she watched her son in a YMCA swim class had a court order forbidding
him from having any contact with her, law enforcement officials said yesterday.

2008/04/10 Thu  Man found guilty of murdering wife in minivan -- Landscaper shot his estranged spouse at Rockaway Townsquare mall 
... ended in an argument and he shot his wife Barbara. But he said he never intended to kill her as they sat together in her minivan at the Rockaway Townsquare mall. In his summation, Morris County Assistant Prosecutor John McNamara told jurors Melendez's testimony would have been "fall-down funny" had it not ended in the death of the 49-year-old teacher's aide. The stocky Melendez showed no reaction as the verdict, which also found him guilty of weapons charges, was announced. Superior... 

2008/04/08 Tue  Man and woman are found dead in their home 
... A man and a woman were found dead yesterday morning in a Jersey City apartment in an apparent murder-suicide, officials said. The pair, in their late 40s to mid-50s, could not be publicly identified until the woman's family is notified, First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory said, adding he expects that will be done today. He would not comment on the relationship between the two. A relative of the man's discovered the bodies in the second-floor... 

2008/04/05 Sat  Man charged in murder of his wife 
... try after killing his wife, Dawn Yurchak, 49, on Feb. 19 at their Mountain Road home, authorities said. Yurchak, who shot himself in the head, was critically injured and was hospitalized at Morristown Memorial Hospital before being transferred to an unidentified rehabilitation facility, authorities said. He was released Thursday from the rehabilitation center and arrested by Hardyston and Franklin police at 4:30 p.m. near his home, according to the prosecutor's office. Yurchak...

2008/04/04 Fri  COUPLE'S DEADLY ARGUMENT -- Defendant says he thought of suicide He claims wife's shooting was an accident 
... AL FRANK STAR-LEDGER STAFF Taking the stand in his murder trial, George Melendez yesterday said he was contemplating suicide when he instead shot his wife six times after an argument. But his memory of what led up to the 2003 shooting at the Rockaway Townsquare mall varied. While being questioned by his attorney, Cathy Waldor, Melendez said he had been depressed by seeing his successful landscaping business reduced to nothing after a restraining order barred him from operating... 

2008/03/20 Thu  Justices target race bias in jury picks -- Court tosses murder guilt, saying blacks were improperly excluded 
ERIC WERNER AND MARK SHERMAN ... Snyder was convicted of first-degree murder in Jefferson Parish, just outside New Orleans. He was found guilty of repeatedly slashing his estranged wife, Mary Snyder, and a man, Harold Wilson, with a knife when he found them in a car outside her mother's home in August 1995. His wife survived, but Wilson died. Adding to the Simpson comparison, Snyder told police just before his arrest that he was suicidal. Simpson, armed with a gun and apparently considering suicide, led police... 

2008/01/20 Sun  High Ranking Executive of a Collapsed Subprime Mortgage Lender Kills Wife and Self 
 ...  Marital woes led to murder-suicide Marital problems led a high-ranking executive of a collapsed subprime mortgage lender to kill his wife inside their home and then jump to his death from the Delaware Memorial Bridge, authorities in Marlton said yesterday.... 

2008/01/14 Mon  Authorities track Marine fugitive in slaying of pregnant colleague 
 ... The remains were sent to the state medical examiner's office in Chapel Hill for a formal identification. That same day, authorities issued a murder warrant for Laurean, 21, of the Las Vegas area. They believe he fled Jacksonville before dawn Friday after leaving behind a note in which he admitted burying her body but claimed Lauterbach cut her own throat in a suicide. The federal warrant announced yesterday charges Laurean with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said FBI officials... 

2008/01/11 Fri 2 family arguments take fatal turn in L.A. 
 ... had lived together for several years. Their relationship had been strained in the past, but he did not think his sister was at risk, he said. Elsewhere, a man shot and wounded his daughter and her mother before killing himself yesterday at a suburban home in eastern Los Angeles County, authorities said. Paramedics found three people with head wounds after a 911 call summoned them to the home, authorities said. The man, 54, was dead at the scene, a sheriff's statement said. A woman,... 

2007/12/12 Wed   Mexican cannibal killer hangs himself in jail 
 ...  Mexican cannibal killer hangs himself in jail MEXICO CITY - A murder suspect dubbed "The Cannibal" was found dead in his prison cell of an apparent suicide yesterday, two months after police found cooked and seasoned bits of his girlfriend's corpse on a fork and plate in his apartment.

2007/10/22 Mon  Prof charged in ex-wife's murder -- ECC instructor also accused of attempting to blow up her apartment 
SHARON ADARLO ... this afternoon when friends learned Sandi was accused of fatally stabbing his ex-wife and then trying to blow up her apartment in Hillside - while other tenants were in their upstairs unit. The 40-year-old Sandi remains under suicide watch in Union County Jail, where he faces charges of murder and arson, county Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said yesterday. Attempted murder charges are pending because of the tenants, two of whom are disabled children, who were in the home when Sandi allegedly... 

2007/09/16 Sun ... A tale of faux love, murder and suicide MILWAUKEE — A man killed himself in jail while facing charges that he murdered a woman
who had agreed to a sham marriage and left him at the altar. Dean Barrette, 44, was found unresponsive in his cell Friday with... 

2007/09/04 Tue Legend + dead actress + trial = cliffhanger 
LINDA DEUTSCH ... Jackson began his case with the tales of Spector's encounters with other women and he is likely to end with them as well. Among them was Dorothy Melvin, a former Spector girlfriend who managed comedian Joan Rivers. "Phil is a very brilliant and charming man," she said. "Only when drinking he snaps and becomes a lunatic." The defense claims what is more relevant is the despair that gripped Clarkson before her death. Two of her friends told of the financial desperation that drove...

2007/08/08 Wed  Cops probe two deaths by nail gun -- Ocean case appears to be murder-suicide 
... RUDY LARINI STAR-LEDGER STAFF The deaths of an elderly Stafford Township couple who died of multiple wounds from a nail gun is being investigated as an apparent murder-suicide, authorities in Ocean County said yesterday. Authorities believe the husband used the nail gun to kill his wife, then turned it on himself. Police summoned to the home on Cutlass Avenue by a 911 call Monday night found Susan Tomkinson, 76, dead in a bedroom and her 77-year-old husband, James, critically wounded... 

2007/07/08 Sun SUBTEXT: NOTHING GOOD COMES FROM ’ROID RAGE 
... A steroids-induced “rage” may have played a role in the murder-suicide case of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, (right), who killed his wife and son and then hanged himself by the pulley of his weightlifting machine. Wrestling officials argued that steroids couldn’t be the cause of death because Benoit’s actions took place over several days, which suggested deliberation instead of rage. How long does ’roid rage last? It depends on the ’roid and the person who’s... 

2007/06/29 Fri  Young pawns in domestic abuse cases 
MARSHA PAPANEK, SUZANNE GROISSER AND JANE M. HANSON ... involving real pain, terrorized spouses and children brandished as disposable pawns. In one case, a corporate manager "punished" his estranged wife and severely damaged their child by refusing to see the boy for months on end, not even on his birthday. The wife had obtained a restraining order after years of physical and mental abuse. The man told the boy it was his mother's fault, that she had gotten the restraining order that kept him away — even though the order provided for... 

2007/06/26 Tue Wrestler and family found dead in Georgia 
... DEBBIE NEWBY ASSOCIATED PRESS FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, and son were found dead yesterday and police said they were investigating the deaths as a murder-suicide. Detective Bo Turner told television station WAGA that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn't be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab. The station said that investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son,... 

2007/06/23 Sat  Man is convicted of beating murder -- Manville woman put on rails to hide crime 
... JENNIFER GOLSON STAR-LEDGER STAFF A Manville man was convicted of murder yesterday for beating a local woman to death and dragging her body onto railroad tracks to make it look like a suicide. Robert Carman, 39, faces 30 years to life in prison for killing 23-year-old Jacqueline Bodo on Oct. 12, 2003, in Manville. His right hand on his chin, Carman closed his eyes for a few seconds, but otherwise maintained his impassive demeanor after the verdict. Superior Court Judge Robert Reed's... 

2007/06/22 Fri  Jury deliberations begin in Manville murder case 
JENNIFER GOLSON ... JENNIFER GOLSON STAR-LEDGER STAFF The blood on the boot. That's what an assistant prosecutor yesterday kept telling a jury to remember before they started deliberating in the murder trial of a Manville man accused of beating a local woman and placing her body on a set of railroad tracks to make it look like a suicide. Jurors yesterday spent about three hours discussing the case against Robert Carman Jr., 39, who is accused of killing Jacqueline Bodo, 23, on Oct. 12, 2003, in Manville.... 

2007/06/02 Sat   Man in murder-suicide distraught over woman PERTH AMBOY: A man who fatally shot a woman May 26 and wounded three other people
before fatally turning the gun on himself was apparently distraught over his failed relationship with the woman,... 

2007/06/01 Fri   UNION COUNTY, ELIZABETH/Family mourns woman slain in murder-suicide:
...Ten-year-old Janeris Vega stood before the makeshift memorial erected on her front lawn in Newark, staring silently at the photographs of her mother and 19 flickering votive candles. Her mother, 29-year-old nurse Jarikza...

2007/05/04 Fri  Lawyers make closing arguments in murder trial -- Jury to decide fate of South Plainfield man charged in girlfriend's slaying
 ... came from the defendant himself," Lamb said, asserting Cibelli packed items, including the roofing gun and his bloody T-shirt, with the body when he dumped it. Plastic trash bags used to contain the victim were similar to ones she purchased on the night she went missing, and were similar to bags recovered from Cibelli's garage, Lamb said. He said the woman had probably gone outside to smoke a cigarette on a second-floor deck when she was repeatedly struck about the head, face and... 

2007/04/26 Thu  Prosecution outlines its case in music mogul's murder trial 
... man who on February 3, 2003, put a loaded pistol in Lana Clarkson's mouth — inside her mouth — and shot her to death," Jackson told the nine-man, three-woman jury. The prosecutor showed a photograph of Clarkson slumped in a chair, her face covered with blood. Spector appeared tense during the televised proceeding as the prosecution laid out the murder case against him. Spector's attorneys were to present their opening remarks later. Spector, 67, whose "Wall of Sound" transformed... 

2007/01/23 Tue   Man arraigned in domestic attack NEWARK:
...  Man arraigned in domestic attack NEWARK: A 36-year-old Manhattan man appeared for video arraignment yesterday on charges he ransacked and set fire to his estranged wife's North Caldwell home in what police said almost resulted in a murder-suicide. Jesus Reza stood before a video camera in the Essex County Jail in Newark and gave monosyllabic answers to Judge JoAnne Watson, who was conducting his arraignment at Central Judicial Processing Court. Reza, who owns a... 

2007/01/22 Mon  Attack on estranged wife is foiled -- Police report a phone call saves woman from assault, fire set by her husband.  
...Reza forced his wife into the basement, where he held her captive and tried to sexually assault her at knifepoint, police said. But a friend's chance phone call and the woman's panicked screams stopped what authorities said could have been a murder-suicide. "The way this fire was starting to move . if another couple of minutes had gone by, we would've been dealing with a couple people (trapped by fire) in the basement," Police Chief Joseph Clark said yesterday. "We

2007/01/15 Mon  Sussex County man kills wife, then self -- Health problems believed to spur shooting 
... RALPH R. ORTEGA STAR-LEDGER STAFF A man shot his wife of nearly 50 years and then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide at their Sussex County home, authorities and friends of the couple said yesterday. Edward Powell, 74, and his wife, Theresa, 70, both of whom had health problems, were found in a bedroom at their home on Pidgeon Hill Road in Wantage Township, according to the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office and friends of the couple. State Police discovered the couple... 

2007/01/08 Mon  Motive for killing Ocean Gate family is unclear, police say --
...Suspected murder-suicide is Ocean County's third in four months ...motives for the killings is unclear. While one neighbor remembers hearing the husband and wife argue loudly and into the night, others described them as a happy couple. Though violent crime is a rarity in Ocean Gate, population 2,100, the deaths were the third murder-suicide in Ocean County in four months. Shellhamer, who attended the couple's wedding, called the pair "very nice, pleasant people." Kyle, she said, used to play in the yard with her two sons. Married last April, Peckham and... 

2007/01/07 Sun   A woman, her young son and her boyfriend were found dead inside an Ocean County home
... was released from the Somerset County Jail yesterday after posting 10 percent of $10,000 bail. Couple, boy found dead in Ocean County home. A woman, her young son and her boyfriend were found dead inside an Ocean County home yesterday in an apparent murder-suicide. Jeff Eyerly, 46, was found hanged inside the East Point Pleasant Avenue home in Ocean Gate, authorities told the Asbury Park Press of Neptune for a story posted on their Web site. The bodies of Carol Ann Peckham, 41,... 

2006/11/11 Sat Police baffled in double murder-suicide 
... MARYANN SPOTO STAR-LEDGER STAFF Authorities remained stymied yesterday as to a motive for Thursday's double murder-suicide in Stafford Township, in which two sisters were shot to death by their mother's ex-fiancée, who then killed himself. An autopsy conducted yesterday, one day after the sisters were gunned down outside their Mercer Avenue home, confirmed that Melissa and Jessica Veitch each died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, said Capt. Jeff Harper, spokesman for the... 

2006/10/20 Fri  Edison couple's murder-suicide blindsides family. 

-- S. Brunswick developer accused of killing wife who sought divorce  JIM O'NEILL ... section of Monmouth Junction. Boretsky's attorneys, Joseph Benedict and Philip Nettl of New Brunswick, contend there was no murder, asserting Moukhametova had been depressed and killed herself. Boretsky, whose trial began Tuesday, is facing nine counts, including charges that he murdered his wife and tampered with the crime scene to try and make it appear as though she committed suicide. If convicted, he faces a possible death sentence. Keephart, the divorce lawyer, spent most... 

2005/12/08 Thu  Neighbors: Woman was too happy to kill herself -- S. Brunswick wife was abused, they say 
JIM O'NEILL ... who faces a possible death sentence if he is convicted of murder. Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutors Nicholas Sewitch and Nicole Albert contend Boretsky, angry that he was facing a costly divorce, ambushed his wife in their farmhouse on Ridge Road in Monmouth Junction, stabbed her once in the chest, then told police she killed herself. Boretsky's lawyers, Joseph Benedict and Philip Nettl of New Brunswick, argue Moukhametova committed suicide, asserting she was depressed and...   

2005/12/07 Wed  Prosecutor asks jury to reject suicide story -- Man's estranged wife bled to death, but defense says she stabbed herself
... JIM O'NEILL STAR-LEDGER STAFF After stabbing his wife, a South Brunswick housing developer watched her bleed to death, tried to clean up the crime scene and planted her fingerprint on the murder weapon before calling police to tell them she had committed suicide, a prosecuting attorney told a jury yesterday in Middlesex County. A defense lawyer countered that evidence in the trial of Boris Boretsky, 56, will support his contention that Saoule "Lana" Moukhametova committed suicide,... 

2005/12/04 Sun  Builder's murder trial set to start this week 
JIM O'NEILL ... of death if he is found guilty of murdering his wife of eight years. Boretsky's lawyers, Joseph Benedict and Phil Nettl of New Brunswick, contend there was no murder and that Moukhametova did, in deed, kill herself. In pretrial hearings, the defense attorneys won a court ruling allowing them to present evidence that Moukhametova attempted suicide in 1999. In addition, an autopsy revealed that on the night of her death, Moukhametova tested positive for two types of barbiturates... 

2005/10/02 Sun  Jersey City man kills woman and himself 
... STAR-LEDGER STAFF A man shot and killed a woman in a Jersey City apartment yesterday afternoon, then fled to a nearby building and turned the gun on himself, authorities said. Investigators declined to release other details of the murder-suicide last night, including the names and ages of the man and woman. "I don't even know the extent of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim," said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. "Based on the preliminary investigation,... 

2005/07/29 Fri   Irvin Morales, 40, faces murder, kidnapping and weapons charges in the death of his former girlfriend
... Irvin Morales, 40, faces murder, kidnapping and weapons charges in the death of his former girlfriend, Linda Wilson of Brooklyn and formerly
of Sparta, whose body was found Sept. 11, 2000, off Route 15 in Sparta. In February 2004, Morales was sent from the county jail to a state corrections
psychiatric hospital for evaluation after being put on a suicide watch at the county jail. Last month, Morales' attorney argued.

2005/04/20 Wed  Woman dies in fire; boyfriend survives plunge 
... dispatched early yesterday to tell a man's girlfriend that he had survived a plunge into the Delaware River in her vehicle found the couple's Evesham Township home on fire and the woman dead inside. Authorities have not said whethe...Bludgeoned wife, hanged husband had just celebrated first grandchild ... between his little sister and her husband. In addition to the recent birth of their grandchild, Jaime Malimban's 56th birthday was Tuesday. Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Julie Davidson said the Malimbans' deaths are being investigated as a murder-suicide, but declined to speculate on a motive. Police said Elenita Malimban was struck several times with a blunt object that left shallow puncture wounds. Davidson said the exact causes of the deaths were pending autopsy results.... 

2006/10/11 Wed  Husband convicted in murder of teacher -- Wife, 36, strangled, dumped into grave 
... separate hearing after the verdict, Superior Court Judge John Triarsi, certain that the defendant will appeal, said he wanted the record to clearly show the defendant refused to come to court. He faked back pain and attempted suicide with stored-up sleeping pills to force a delay of his murder trial - choosing to appear only on the last day of the week-long trial. Triarsi said Gregory Banks will be sentenced on Nov. 17 "even if he has to bring him up on a stretcher." He faces life... 

2006/10/05 Thu  Man, 86, fatally stabs wife, then plunges to his death 
... on Kim's body that led them to the couple's apartment, where they found Choi's body, Gregory said. Kim's son told investigators the couple sometimes had disagreements about money but said he did not know what led to yesterday's apparent murder-suicide.  Residents of the North Bergen Housing Authority building where the couple lived said they were shocked by the incident, and that the couple caught a bus every morning to attend Mass. They said they frequently saw Choi tending to... 

2006/10/03 Tue  Jury sees remnants of teacher's last day -- Plainfield husband on trial for murder  
.... said his client was defending himself and did not mean to choke his wife to death. Jurors have yet to see the defendant in the flesh. The 48-year-old former Marine has refused to come to court since the trial began Sept. 27. He has tried to commit suicide, complained of back trouble and in recent days refused to eat. Triarsi said yesterday he believes Banks is faking his injuries. Banks, who made an unexpected appearance in the courtroom in a wheelchair after jurors were excused... 

2006/09/22 Fri  Couple shot to death in Lacey -- Case apparently a murder-suicide 
... went frightfully wrong. After an argument, David Walters followed his wife into the garage and shot her in the head, authorities said. He then turned the gun on himself. Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas Kelaher called the deaths an "apparent murder-suicide." Neither he nor Lacey Township Police Chief William Nally knew what caused the argument. David Walters did not leave a suicide note, Nally said. "Why wouldn't he just walk away? What could be so bad that he couldn't just walk... 

2006/09/19 Tue Verona man indicted in Glen Ridge slaying 
... was matched to skin found under the 58-year-old victim's fingernails, is accused of killing Galligan in her Astor Place home on Dec. 7, 2005. She was found partially disrobed on the floor of her garage with a plastic lawn bag tied around her head, the victim of asphyxia and blunt force trauma. Yesterday, Maisenbacher's attorney, Anthony Mautone, could not be reached for comment on the indictment, returned Friday and unsealed yesterday. Maisenbacher and Galligan, a divorcée, had... 

2006/09/19 Tue  Verona man indicted in Glen Ridge slaying 
... was matched to skin found under the 58-year-old victim's fingernails, is accused of killing Galligan in her Astor Place home on Dec. 7, 2005. She was found partially disrobed on the floor of her garage with a plastic lawn bag tied around her head, the victim of asphyxia and blunt force trauma. Yesterday, Maisenbacher's attorney, Anthony Mautone, could not be reached for comment on the indictment, returned Friday and unsealed yesterday. Maisenbacher and Galligan, a divorcée
 
2006/09/12 Tue   A prison guard fatally shot his estranged girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself
... kills girlfriend, then self CHILLICOTHE, Mo. — A prison guard fatally shot his estranged girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself while both were on duty at a women's prison, authorities said. Daniel Bunton, 35, and Stacey Davis, 31, died in the murder-suicide Sunday at Chillicothe Correctional Center, said Livingston County Coroner J. Scott Lindley. The couple had been living together but recently separated, authorities said. Bunton and Davis passed each other in a hallway Sunday... 

2006/09/03 Sun  After suicide attempt, man arrested in killing EAST WINDSOR  
 ... After suicide attempt, man arrested in killing EAST WINDSOR — Police responding to a 911 call from a man claiming to have killed his girlfriend found the man barely alive after an apparent suicide attempt and later charged him with murder. Donald Zampini, 70, made the emergency call early Friday. When police arrived about 1 a.m., they found Zampini lying on a couch, nearly unconscious from taking sleeping pills. In the same room, police... 

2006/07/26 Wed  Hudson deaths called slay-suicide 
He declined to release their names pending notification of family members. However, the shooter, who also lived in Jersey City, was known to the police, DeFazio said without elaborating. The incident, which the prosecutor labeled a murder-suicide, began at about 7 p.m. when the couple was heard arguing outside the apartment building. It was not immediately known what started the argument. The man then chased the woman into her apartment, where he shot her "numerous"... 

2006/06/21 Wed  COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN MANALAPAN HOME -- Police say man shot his wife, then himself 
MARYANN SPOTO AND BRIAN DONOHUE ... two children — ages 4 and 9 — to his brother's home earlier in the afternoon, Valentin said. Valentin said that as early as last week, Vincenza Importuna had made comments about dissolving her marriage, a prospect that may have driven her husband to the murder-suicide. "The preliminary investigation reveals that there were efforts being made by the (wife) to dissolve the marriage . and the husband had been served with documents earlier last week," Valentin said. Authorities are... 

2006/06/17 Sat Pg 005, 344 words  Man toting wife's head kills 2 others in car crash 
... was carrying a suicide note and had set aside money for unspecified arrangements after his death, the prosecutors said. Thursday's collision, on a major road through downtown Boise, killed Samantha Nina Murphy, 36, and daughter Jae Lynne Grimes, 4, both of Boise. Murphy's other daughter, 8-year-old Syndee Murphy, was in fair condition yesterday at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. A judge in Canyon County has denied bail for Time, who was charged with first degree-murder... 

2006/05/26 Fri   Murder-suicide suspected in Cumberland shootings -- Sex assault defendant and his family are found slain 
... ranch house on the outskirts of Millville to find all four dead. McCarter was sitting in a living room chair with the shotgun by his side; the others were in their beds, Cumberland County Prosecutor Ronald Casella said. "It would appear to have been a murder-suicide, where his family - his wife and the two children - were murdered first and then he turned the gun on him," Casella said. There was no suicide note and no sign of forced entry or a struggle, he said. Authorities weren't... 

2006/05/05 Fri  Shock and mourning follow Middlesex murder-suicide 
TOM HAYDON, SULEMAN DIN AND NAWAL QAROONI STAR-LEDGER STAFF Their romance started with a personal ad in a newspaper and quickly led to a wedding
in a Las Vegas chapel. But their marriage was turbulent, neighbors and friends said, leading Donna Palladino to seek a restraining order against
her 32-year-old husband, Joseph Palladino Jr. Less than 24 hours after he was served with the order, Palladino killed his 36-year-old estranged wife
early Wednesday morning, stabbing her between... 

2006/05/04 Thu  MURDER-SUICIDE LEAVES THREE DEAD IN AMBOYS -- Woodbridge man kills estranged wife, her mom and himself 
... Donna Palladino, who lived in Barnegat, had been staying with her mother in the South Amboy home since her father's death. William Beckmann's wake was to be held yesterday and his funeral today. Both were postponed. Yesterday's murder-suicide came less than a day after Joseph Palladino was served with a final restraining order his wife had obtained in Ocean County. The order was the result of threats her estranged husband had made against her in telephone conversations,... 

2006/05/02 Tue  Man, 72, is ruled insane in fatal razor attack on girlfriend -- Psychiatrists determine the Boonton Twp. resident was psychotic 
DeLillo inflicted only superficial cuts on his neck and wrist, and when an officer arrived on the scene, DeLillo lied and said, "We went after each other with razor blades," Foy said. "Minutes after the murder, he's making excuses." But even Martinson said DeLillo's suicide attempt was real, Ahto said. The state's original expert became one of the defense's expert witnesses after concluding DeLillo was insane. When DeLillo was hospitalized for severe depression in... 

2006/04/06 Thu  Justices back cop questions at murder site -- An emergency can trump a quick Miranda application 
... statements to the police officers who responded to his emergency call reporting that his 56-year-old wife attempted suicide. Prosecutors wanted to use the statements during Boretsky's trial in December. The trial judge and an appeals panel ruled that prosecutors could not use the statements because Boretsky invoked his constitutional right to counsel when he called his lawyer from the murder scene and tried to get the officers to talk to him while they were ministering to his wife.... 

2006/02/17 Fri Husband denies guilt in murders of family -- Held without bail in deaths of wife and baby 
... His attorney, Elliot Weinstein, lashed out at news coverage of the case after the hearing. "I don't know that Mr. Entwistle will ever be able to get a fair trial on these charges," Weinstein said. "I am certain that anybody watching this telecast or reading the reporting of today's arraignment has already formed an opinion with respect to Mr. Entwistle's guilt. And that opinion is based on absolutely no facts and absolutely no evidence, and that is quite unfortunate." More than... 

2006/01/01 Sun    Man and woman killed in a murder-suicide
... A real estate agent showing a prospective buyer a condominium in Vernon discovers a grisly scene inside — the bodies of a man and a woman killed in a murder-suicide. Harold Miller Jr., 47, shot and killed Linda Weaver, 38, and then turned the gun on himself, authorities said. APRIL 2: Skylands Ice World, a popular indoor hockey/ice skating rink that opened 17 months before on Route... 

2005/12/31 Sat Katrina family in murder-suicide 
... DALLAS MORNING NEWS GRAPEVINE, Texas Three family members who sought refuge here following the hurricanes and were facing eviction were found shot to death early yesterday in an apparent murder- suicide. Grapevine police officers found the bodies of a 40-year-old man, his 37-year-old wife and their 14- year-old son. Police say the family was from La Place, La. The bodies were found shortly after 9 a.m. in an upstairs unit of the Village on the Creek Apartments. A shotgun was found... 

2005/12/15 Thu  Cop says accused wife-killer was calm -- Slay scene described at immigrant's trial 
 ... The testimony was offered by prosecuting attorneys who say the 56-year-old Russian immigrant fatally stabbed his wife, Saoule "Lana" Moukhametova, and that his behavior betrays his contention that she killed herself on the night of March 3, 2002. The defense, which argues Boretsky was in shock after he saw his wife plunge an 8-inch-long kitchen knife into her chest, attempted on cross-examination yesterday to show police downplayed the defendant's reaction to the death... 

2005/12/09 Fri  Attorney: Man wanted slain wife out of house -- S. Brunswick woman was seeking divorce 
...  Boretsky's attorneys, Joseph Benedict and Philip Nettl of New Brunswick, contend there was no murder, asserting Moukhametova had been depressed and killed herself. Boretsky, whose trial began Tuesday, is facing nine counts, including charges that he murdered his wife and tampered with the crime scene to try and make it appear as though she committed suicide. If convicted, he faces a possible death sentence. Keephart, the divorce lawyer, spent most... 

2005/12/09 Fri  Lawyer: Slain woman's husband wanted house
or it was a botched murder-suicide attempt or came about through other circumstances. Emergency operators received a call about a vehicle splashing into the Delaware River in Palmyra shortly before 2 a.m. Firefighters used a boat to rescue the man, who... 

2005/04/02 Sat  Man kills woman, self in condo near ski resort -- Realtor makes grim discovery in Vernon 
JIM LOCKWOOD ... Thursday in Miller's condo at Great Gorge Village off Route 94, which is near the Mountain Creek ski resort, police said. Sussex County First Assistant Prosecutor William Fitzgibbons said autopsies conducted yesterday determined the deaths were a murder-suicide. Fitzgibbons said Miller shot Weaver in the chest and then shot himself in the mouth. He said the shootings occurred around noon Thursday. Realtor Kevin Detwiller of Mountain Resort Properties at Great Gorge Village said... 

2005/03/23 Wed Dover Twp. man killed wife, then himself, police say 
... detected carbon monoxide in the house, located in the East Dover section of town. Neither he nor Gasser knew how long the couple had been dead. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed on William Byrne today, Gasser said. "We believe it to be a murder-suicide," Gasser said. He said investigators did not find any suicide note. The couple's pet poodle was found dead upstairs under their bed, apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning, he said. Detectives found no weapons in the house,... 

2004/12/02 Thu  Putting justice in jeopardy -- Presumption of innocence in peril as Britain lets juries hear of prior crimes 
... NORA V. DEMLEITNER Imagine that a jury acquits a defendant of murder, believing that his wife committed suicide in the bathtub. After the trial is over, the jurors find out the defendant has a prior homicide conviction: He drowned his first wife. How would you feel if you had been a juror in such a case? Or imagine if it was a rape case, and you found out only after the acquittal that the defendant had a prior conviction for rape and had used the same defense. You’d feel frustrated,... 

2004/08/19 Thu  Suicide attempt history allowed -- Husband is on trial in wife's knife death 
... JIM O'NEILL STAR-LEDGER STAFF A South Brunswick developer who was charged with capital murder after telling police his wife fatally stabbed herself will be allowed to present evidence that she abused alcohol and barbiturates and had attempted suicide on a prior occasion, a judge ruled yesterday. Superior Court Judge James Mulvihill, sitting in New Brunswick, said jurors should be allowed to consider whether the alleged suicide attempt in 1999 was evidence that Saoule Moukhametova,... 

2004/08/12 Thu  Moved by 'Passion of Christ,' man pleads guilty 
... Despite the confession, Leach had pleaded innocent, and his murder trial had begun Tuesday with jury selection. After he switched his plea yesterday, the jury immediately began hearing the punishment phase of the trial. He faces from five years to life in prison. Ashley Nicole Wilson, 19, was found dead in her apartment in January. It appeared she had hanged herself, and the Harris County medical examiner's office ruled the death a suicide. Two months later, Leach, 21, said he... 

2004/08/07 Sat  Newark man is arraigned in killing of former lover and her boyfriend 
GUY STERLING ... the gun under his chin and fired another shot in an apparent suicide attempt but received only minor injuries, according to a police report. Briggs spent a couple of days in the hospital before he was moved to jail, said Gregory DeMattia, an assistant Essex County prosecutor. Briggs spoke in a muffled voice during a brief appearance before Superior Court Judge Paul Vichness in Newark yesterday in which he was advised he was facing two counts of murder. After the hearing, Briggs... 

2004/08/03 Tue   Salt Lake City man arrested in slaying of his missing wife 
... could add a secondmurder charge later. Detectives identified a motive and have found the weapon that killed Lori Hacking, Dinse said. He declined to elaborate. Both Dinse and the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office said failing to find the body would not hinder the case. The couple's families were alerted to the arrest before Dinse's public announcement. "My family and I are profoundly anguished to lose Lori," her mother, Thelma Soares, said yesterday through a spokesman.... 

2004/06/10 Thu  Killer nurse blasts judge for unsealing violent past -- Cullen says media access to domestic abuse complaints hurt his 2 kids 
RICK HEPP ... bout with depression that reached as far back as his childhood, his multiple suicide attempts and stays in mental institutions, and his failing grip on reality in 1993 when Cullen worked at Warren Hospital. Cullen pleaded guilty last month to murdering three Warren Hospital patients during the same time by injecting them with massive doses of medication. He pleaded guilty in April to murdering 13 patients and attempting to murder two others at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville.... 

2004/03/29 Mon  Violent marriage ends with murder-suicide 
... STAR-LEDGER STAFF A marriage marked by domestic violence ended with a husband stabbing his wife more than two dozen times, killing her before fatally stabbing himself, Ocean County authorities said. An autopsy performed Friday, two days after the murder-suicide in Forked River, Lacey Township, showed that 37-year-old Kurt Rosenberger stabbed 33-year-old Kathleen Rosenberger 28 times, said Lt. Robert Urie, a spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. 

2004/03/12 Fri  Old Bridge man killed woman and himself, authorities say 
... The son went to a neighbor's house, and called police, who arrived around 8:20 Wednesday and began to search the house, said Assistant
Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch. What they discovered was a gruesome murder-suicide. Citron's mother, Marguerite Citron, was found
dead in the second-floor bedroom of the modest Cape Cod home. Shoplock, 52, was found in the basement, slumped in a chair and dead from a single
shotgun blast to the head.... 

2004/03/12 Fri   Man killed woman and self, police say -- Old Bridge deaths three days apart 
... walked out of sight, they said. The son went to a neighbor's house, and called police, who arrived around 8:20 Wednesday and began to search the house, said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch. What they discovered was a gruesome murder-suicide. Citron's mother, Marguerite Citron, was found dead in the second-floor bedroom of the modest Cape Cod home. Shoplock, 52, was found in the basement, slumped in a chair and dead from a single shotgun blast to the head.... 

2004/03/04  Jilted man held in grisly slaying of his girlfriend 
 ... his aunt called 911 to say he had left a suicide note and had a gun. Police found him in a park around 1 p.m. They reportedly went to the Valentine Avenue address, where they discovered the macabre scene, after Lopez told police he had hurt Madera. Authorities said two blood-covered kitchen knives were found in the bathroom. The couple had an 18-month-old son, who was at a baby sitter's home at the time and was not harmed. Lopez faces charges of second-degree murder and criminal... 

2004/03/03 Wed   Husband had no violent history -- Man who killed wife, self was depressed 
... their first- floor living quarters. He, his wife and other relatives attended a 6:30 a.m. Mass yesterday at St. Therese's Roman Catholic Church, at which prayers were offered for Luis and Sarah Perez, the Rev. Joseph Davis said. The night before the murder-suicide, relatives visited at the Toby Drive home, and everything seemed normal between Perez, 92, and Sarah, 84, authorities said. Shortly after 3 a.m. Monday, their daughter-in-law heard noises coming from downstairs, and Jose... 

2004/03/03 Wed  Roxbury man was depressed before murder-suicide, cops say -- Roxbury man had no history of hurting wife 
 ... their first- floor living quarters. He, his wife and other relatives attended a 6:30 a.m. Mass yesterday at St. Therese's Roman Catholic Church, at which prayers were offered for Luis and Sarah Perez, the Rev. Joseph Davis said. The night before the murder-suicide, relatives visited at the Toby Drive home, and everything seemed normal between Perez, 92, and Sarah, 84, authorities said. Shortly after 3 a.m. Monday, their daughter-in-law heard noises coming from downstairs, and Jose... 

2004/03/03 Wed  On-again, off-again beau held in woman's murder -- Man reportedly strangled her, tried suicide 
... ANA M. ALAYA STAR-LEDGER STAFF A 27-year-old Hunterdon County man was charged yesterday with strangling his girlfriend and then bashing her head with a pry bar before trying to take his own life, authorities said. Morgan Cameron, 35, had returned only a few hours earlier from a vacation to the Cayman Islands when Ronald Daigle of Clinton attacked her while she slept in her Cliffside Park apartment, authorities said. Daigle used a shoelace to strangle Cameron, then attacked her... 

2004/03/02 Tue  Man, 92, kills wife, then self -- Roxbury resident was distraught over recent death of a friend 
The wounds to Sarah Perez's arms and hands indicated that she tried to fight him off, he said. The couple had no history of domestic violence, and there was no indication they had argued before the attack, which Rubbinaccio classified as a murder-suicide. Authorities believe Sarah Perez was sleeping when her husband approached her with a black plastic garbage bag. A friend of Luis Perez's died a few days ago, and he was distraught over it, police said. Luis Perez emigrated... 

2004/02/15 Sun  The scourge of domestic violence -- Plainfield incident one of many in Jersey 
... stabbing death of his fiancée. Another Plainfield man killed his live-in girlfriend and fled to Ecuador, his birthplace. A 67-year-old
Elizabeth man apparently shot his wife dead and then committed suicide. Also, an Elizabeth woman was charged with fatally stabbing her fiancé, and a Hillside man was charged with the murder of his wife, local teacher Deanna Banks. For those who physically abuse their wives, husbands, girlfriends or boyfriends, many of them are chronic offenders,... 

2004/02/09 Mon  Police ID body as slain woman reported missing 57 years ago 
 ... by police at the time. After Liberato was killed on Nov. 18, 1937, Manzo told police he shot the woman in self-defense. He then fled New Jersey. Albany police returned Moccio, who was 64, to New Jersey, where he was convicted of the Jersey City murder. He committed suicide in prison. Investigators in New York said they identified the body of Moccio's wife through an engraved bracelet bearing her maiden name. Money and clothing found with the body was from the 1940s and helped police... 

2003/11/19 Wed  Judge decides 9 confessions can be used in wife-killing trial 
... yesterday to Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa, who ruled in New Brunswick that statement, as well as eight others, were voluntary and could be used against Shashkov at trial. Two additional admissions could not be used, the judge said, asserting they came at a point at which police should have advised the unemployed warehouse worker of his constitutional, or Miranda, rights. In one of those admissions, Shashkov told police he killed 47-year-old Alla Fleyshman, and, police... 

2003/10/26 Sun  Couple die in apparent murder-suicide -- Authorities say husband shot wife, himself in the presence of toddler granddaughter 
... In this story about a murder-suicide in Elizabeth, the gender of a 2-year-old child found in the house with dead grandparents was misidentified due to incorrect information provided by the Union County Prosecutor's Office. The child was a boy, not a girl. A man with a history of domestic violence apparently shot his wife and then himself yesterday, leaving their distraught 2-year-old granddaughter
trapped in their Elizabeth apartment... 

2003/07/10 Thu  Dad in S. Jersey murder-suicide was seen as unfriendly, aloof 
... Still, residents were stunned Tuesday afternoon when police, acting on a tip, discovered the decomposed bodies of Wasserman, his two children and a 33-year-old woman described as his former girlfriend in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide. An autopsy revealed that Wasserman bludgeoned Valerie Soto of Chester, Pa., to death with a baseball bat. He also killed daughter Rhiannon, 10, though a cause of death had yet to be determined yesterday. Wasserman and... 

2003/07/09 Wed   4 bodies in house labeled murder-suicide -- Magnolia police find man, girlfriend, 2 kids 
... STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS The decomposing bodies of four people, including two children, were found in a Philadelphia suburb in Camden County yesterday in what authorities described as a murder-suicide. A man, his girlfriend and his young son and daughter were found in a single-family house in Magnolia, said Police Chief Robert Doyle. The bodies had been dead more than two days, and were discovered when a friend of the woman got suspicious after not hearing from her and called 

2003/01/14 Tue   1 dead, 1 injured in murder-suicide 
 ... ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman died and a man was in critical condition yesterday after an apparent murder-suicide attempt, authorities said. Cumberland County Prosecutor Arthur Marchand said Mary Pierce, 46, was found dead in her Millville home around 5:30 a.m. yesterday. He said authorities had not determined how she died. "There was a lot of blood," he said. In the same house, police found the woman's boyfriend, who did not die after shooting himself in the head with a .22-caliber... 

2002/12/23 Mon  Dad sought after bodies of wife, kids found 
... in a remote area of the Tillamook State Forest and police were looking for the father, authorities said yesterday. The case is being investigated as a homicide, though the causes of death had not been determined and authorities had not ruled out a murder-suicide, Tillamook County Sheriff Todd Anderson said. Rene'E Morris, 31, and her children, Bryant, 10, Alexis, 8, and 4-year-old Jonathan had been reported missing Saturday from their Portland home, Anderson said. He said police... 

2002/12/23 Mon    Newark police probe murder-suicide
... Newark police probe murder-suicide A Newark man committed suicide yesterday after fatally shooting his girlfriend in the basement of a Summer Avenue apartment building, said Detective Todd McClendon, a police spokesman. The shootings took place in a windowless basement laundry room at 409 Summer Ave. just after noon. The couple's names were not released because investigators were unable to immediately notify their families. McClendon said it appeared that the woman lived in the... 

2002/11/28 Thu  Companion seized in Linden man's killing -- Authorities suspected woman in shooting of former bar owner 
... former bar owner slumped in an easy chair with a gunshot wound to his head. A handgun lay on the floor at his side. At the time, police could not determine if he had committed suicide or was the victim of foul play. Yesterday, however, Union County authorities charged Bertolo's longtime companion, Elizabeth Starjak, 60, with his murder. They say she intentionally shot him with a .357-magnum handgun during a heated argument on Nov. 3. Investigators said they suspected Starjak of... 

2002/11/10 Sun  Estranged husband kills wife, 3 kids and himself 
... Another boy and the father died shortly afterward, Ollar said. "We believe they were in the process of getting a divorce and that he had recently arrived at the house from Yuma, Ariz., with the three boys," Ollar said. "We believe basically it's a murder-suicide." The children who fled out the back door were the couple's daughters, ages 10 and 2, police said.... 

2002/11/08 Fri  Marital discord blamed in Fort Bragg slayings -- Report: Army culture deters reaching out for help 
... unlikely to have been at fault. Side effects of the drug, also known as mefloquine, have been known to include psychotic episodes. Authorities say four Fort Bragg soldiers killed their wives in June and July. Two of the men committed suicide and the other two are charged with murder. Three of those cases involved Special Operations soldiers who had served in Afghanistan. In a fifth case, a woman is charged with killing her husband, a Special Forces major. The report recommended

2002/09/29 Sun  Husband, wife killings may be murder-suicide 
... STAR-LEDGER STAFF An ailing former Clifton police officer and his wife, who was also seriously ill, were found dead from single gunshot wounds in their Ocean County home yesterday morning. Authorities said the deaths may have been the result of a murder-suicide pact because Frank Sperlazzi, 79, and his wife Anna, 77, had debilitating illnesses. They were found laying side by side on their bed by a nephew, whom they had called earlier in the week and asked to come to their Manchester... 

2002/09/18 Wed  NYPD denies 2 victims of office shooting linked romantically 
... DEVLIN BARRETT ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Detectives have found no evidence suggesting the two victims in a Midtown office double murder-suicide had any romantic connection, police officials said yesterday. Investigators initially believed insurance executive John Harrison, an ex-FBI agent, shot Isabel Munoz, 36, and Vincent LaBianca, 34, out of frustration stemming from an office love triangle before turning the gun on himself. But a day after the killings, investigators have found... 

2002/09/17 Tue  Estee Sawyerr, 24, aspired to fashion 
... to her life's ambition - opening her own store where she would sell her own designs. "She had such a promising career," said her aunt, Frances Burgess of Irvington. "She was such a darling, such a sweet person." Ms. Sawyerr was killed Wednesday in a murder-suicide. Authorities say her boyfriend, Michael Spellman, killed her and then leaped to his death from the window of his East Orange apartment. She was 24. Only a few weeks ago, William Sawyerr received a message from his daughter,... 

2002/09/13 Fri  Father shocked by slaying of daughter in East Orange 
... and had her own apartment in another location in East Orange. Spellman leaped to his death from his apartment's seventh-floor window. Their deaths remain under investigation, but authorities have said a preliminary investigation shows it to be a murder-suicide. 

2002/09/12 Thu  E. Orange man jumped to death after killing girlfriend and setting fire, police say 
... Spellman was the owner of Kinkz, the Nappy Spot, a salon on Lincoln Avenue in Orange where he was well-liked by employees and customers. His friends and family members held a vigil at the shop yesterday, trying to come to grips with the murder-suicide. "We've had so much tragedy in this family," said Crystal Spellman, one of Michael's 11 siblings, recalling how one brother died from cancer several years ago and two sisters died from drug overdoses. "It's hard to talk... 

2002/07/17 Wed  Newark woman dies in apparent murder-suicide -- Boyfriend stabbed Central Ward resident, then shot himself, police say 
BARRY CARTER ... BARRY CARTER STAR-LEDGER STAFF A 51-year-old Newark woman was stabbed to death Monday night, allegedly by her boyfriend, who then shot and killed himself, police said yesterday. Carmen Briceno, a resident of the Stephen Thompson Village apartments in the city's Central Ward, was stabbed once in the chest by Israel Torres, 45, police said. Briceno's death was the city's 10th homicide in the past 11 days. Sgt. Robert Koval, a police spokesman, said the bodies were discovered shortly... 

2002/07/17 Wed  Newark woman dies with boyfriend in apparent murder-suicide 
... BARRY CARTER STAR-LEDGER STAFF A 51-year-old Newark woman was stabbed to death Monday night, allegedly by her boyfriend, who then shot and killed himself, police said yesterday. Carmen Briceno, a resident of the Stephen Thompson Village apartments in the city's Central Ward, was stabbed once in the chest by Israel Torres, 45, police said. Briceno's death was the city's 10th homicide in the past 11 days. Sgt. Robert Koval, a police spokesman, said the bodies were discovered shortly... 

2002/06/20 Thu  Police identify man in murder-suicide NEWARK
... Police identify man in murder-suicide NEWARK: Police identified Timothy Harris as the man who killed his girlfriend, then himself Saturday night as police arrived at his Bergen Street apartment during an altercation. When police arrived at his apartment about 9:45 p.m., Harris, 37, shot and killed himself, said Sgt. Robert Koval, a city police spokesman. He identified the girlfriend as Kimberly Chalmers, 33, of Newark. Koval said the incident happened so fast that officers Antonio... 

2001/12/11 Tue  Police probe apparent murder-suicide Warren County -- Firefighter shot his girlfriend, then himself 
... Authorities said yesterday they are still trying to determine why a Linden firefighter fatally shot his girlfriend and then killed himself in a secluded house in Warren County. Police found 28-year-old James Hoehman and 22-year-old Christina Sturgis each with a bullet wound to the head Saturday morning in the home they rented on Karrville Road in Mansfield. Hoehman's employer, the Linden Fire Department, asked authorities to check... 

2001/08/20 Mon  Trento man killos his wife yesterday morning  
 ... of the car. Mizell Anderson, of Trenton, was charged with killing his 39-year-old wife at their home yesterday morning, Capt. Robert Tedder of the Trenton Police Department said. Tedder said police found a bloody baseball bat, a claw hammer and a pair of scissors in the Andersons' house. He said one or all three of the items were apparently used to kill Sharon Anderson. Mizell Anderson, 43, was in critical condition last night at Duke University Medical Center in Durham. North... 

2001/07/14 Sat   AUTO RACING Rick Lewis was killed in what police believe was a botched murder-suicide with his wife
 ... AUTO RACING Rick Lewis, the radio "Voice of Daytona" to millions of NASCAR fans, was killed in what police believe was a botched murder-suicide with his wife. The 52-year-old studio voice of the Motor Racing Network, was found dead Wednesday night on a bed in his South Daytona, Fla., home with a single gunshot wound to the head. Wanda, his wife of 35 years, was... 

2001/06/22 Fri  People were found dead yesterday in a condominium rented to a police officer appearing to be murder-suicide
 ... people were found dead yesterday in a condominium rented to a police officer, police said. County attorneys had obtained a search warrant and detectives and a coroner were inspecting the condo, but spokeswoman Fran Gomez said the case appeared to be a murder-suicide. She declined to identify the officer to whom the suburban Denver condo was rented. An officer responding to a 911 call shortly after 9 a.m. saw the bodies of a man, a woman, a young boy and a young girl, Gomez said.... 

2001/03/27 Tue   A Newark man was charged with stabbing his female roommate to death in what may have been an attempted murder-suicide
 ... Flaherty was taken to Overlook Hospital. Police have filed no charges at this time. City man accused of killing roommate NEWARK: A Newark man was charged with stabbing his female roommate to death in what may have been an attempted murder-suicide, authorities said yesterday. Police responding to a reported domestic dispute Saturday at 350 New St. found the victim, Shirley Kelley, 38, lying under a quilt on the bed with multiple stab wounds to her torso, the authorities... 

2001/01/18 Thu  Couple die in murder-suicide 
 ... ASSOCIATED PRESS A Pitman woman and her boyfriend were found dead on her living room floor in what appeared to be a murder-suicide, police said. The bodies of Linda Whittaker, 23, and Miles D. Foster, 25, were found by Whittaker's mother late Monday night, police said. The woman went to her daughter's house because she had not heard from her, police said. Debra Donohue, spokeswoman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office, said Foster shot Whittaker in the head with a .38-caliber... 

2001/01/01 Mon  Newlywed confesses to wife's slaying -- Man's map leads cops to body in Water Gap 
SUSAN TODD ... the search for Petrone-Hand led investigators to Farrington Lake, which straddles North Brunswick and East Brunswick in Middlesex County. Investigators initially believed they were dealing with a possible suicide. Pike County District Attorney Douglas Jacobs said New Jersey authorities intend to file murder charges against Hand and will seek his extradition from Pennsylvania. _ Staff writer Josh Margolin contributed to this report. PETRONE- HAND T... 

2000/12/17 Sun  Past foreshadowed pair's deaths -- Warnings preceded the violent demise of troubled couple 
... talking specifically indicating how he would commit the homicide and suicide; and being depressed, according to Evan Stark, a forensic expert on domestic violence and professor of public administration for Rutgers University-Newark. "Murder-suicide is a very common pattern when men kill their wives or partners," Stark said. As investigators sort through the details of the murder, the shooting and the history of Holtz and Schroeder- Carta, they are also trying to determine... 

2000/09/05 Tue  Man charged in murder is under suicide watch 
 ... After receiving treatment for slicing his own wrists, throat and stomach, the man being held in the murder of his ex- girlfriend in her Florham Park home on Sunday was moved from a hospital to a jail cell yesterday. Vincent Conte, 48, of Berkeley Heights was under a suicide watch at the Morris County Jail in Morris Township, said Undersheriff Ralph McGrane. He is being held in lieu of $750,000 cash bail. Police say Conte stabbed and beat... 

2000/08/11 Fri  Jury weighs Perth Amboy man's mental state during '89 killing 
... remorseful man, not a crazy one. 'He was acting wacky because he just killed a woman that he loved," the prosecutor said. "He didn't count on how bad he would feel." Cassidy said Rodriguez, a janitor, told co-workers that he planned to kill Santos if she again refused to have sex with him, and that the defendant told his ex-wife and other family members that he had killed her. As for his acting crazy during his years in the mental institutions, Cassidy said those instances occurred... 

2000/08/10 Thu  Specialists cracking crimes in cyberspace -- Internet fraud cases spur county to hire pair of detectives, legal adviser in computer unit 
... and transmit graphic photos of themselves, he said. In one case, Union County officers investigated the posting and sale of pornographic children's photos of Union County juveniles. In May, the officers' technical assistance was needed in the murder- suicide investigation of a 23-year-old Seton Hall University student who was killed by a Westfield man she met on the Internet. Sohayla Massachi was kidnapped from in front of Seton Hall in South Orange and taken to a Westfield apartment... 

2000/07/18 Tue   Maplewood Custody crisis
... a system that will not work, will waste billions of dollars and will start a new arms race. -  Maplewood Custody crisis Is anyone listening to the cries for help? In the past several weeks, I have read about a hostage situation, a murder-suicide (a father and his children), a murder (an ex-wife and children) and a Texas millionaire who plotted to have his wife killed. Don't our lawmakers read the newspapers? All these cases had to do with child custody and visitation... 

2000/05/16 Tue  No charges for Seton guards in abduction -- Police: Inaction cost precious time in case that led to murder-suicide 
... yesterday they could not press charges against a security guard and his supervisor who apparently ignored pleas for help from a witness to last week's abduction of a Seton Hall University student. The victim was later killed by her ex-boyfriend in a murder-suicide at his Westfield apartment. 'We really don't have a charge to file against them," said Lt. Frank Brunelle of the Westfield Police Department, the agency leading the investigation. As Christopher Honrath, 24, forced Sohayla... 

2000/03/28 Tue  Two Wives Vanished, One Man Under Suspicion -- DNA test could bring answers to families 
... he was from Ohio. He told Weiss he hailed from Indiana. Both women say he claimed he had never married. There was a house in Connecticut, they knew, but they didn't know where. Smith told them a sister, Cathy, lived there. It would be a year before they learned Smith did not, in fact, have a sister named Cathy and that the woman living in Milford, Conn., was Smith's former fiance, Sheila Sautter, with whom he remained close. But if Davis and Weiss had reservations about the relationship... 

2000/03/06 Mon  Girlfriend, 27, shot to death at home -- Police say man tried suicide after murder 
... A 27-year-old New Brunswick woman was shot to death and her estranged boyfriend critically injured yesterday in what authorities believe was a murder-suicide attempt. Delores Polanico died inside her first-floor apartment on Townsend Street of at least one gunshot wound to the chest, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Glenn Berman. Fernando Torres-Peralta, 29, sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, Berman said. He was... 

2000/02/29 Tue Inmate charged in new bid to kill -- Allegedly sought hit man to slay ex-girlfriend 
... to authorities, Tortorici recruited a corrections officer to find him another contract killer to locate the ex-girlfriend and finish the job. This time, however, federal officials say, the "hit man" turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. As a result, Tortorici, who was due to be released from prison in four more years, is facing another decade in a federal penitentiary. And authorities say the corrections officer who allegedly helped him could spend his next 10 years looking... 

2000/01/02 Sun  Husband kills family then self, police say -- Officials still investigating what drove Pennsy machine-shop boss to gun down wife, 3 kids 
... before committing suicide, authorities said. The bodies of Henry Peffer Jr., 46, and his wife, Kimberly, 27, were found in a breakfast nook in their modest brick home, said coroner John Lampros. Kimberly Peffer's three children from previous marriages - identified by neighbors as Tiffany Schaeffer, 12, Dustin Kline, 7, and Jarad Kline, 6 - were found together in an upstairs bedroom, Lampros said. Two were dead when police arrived. The youngest died at a hospital. Police described... 

1999/11/30 Tue  Man denies killing wife 
... again entered a not guilty plea in front of Judge Timothy Sullivan. Rosa, who is just over 5-feet tall, is charged with murder in the bludgeoning of his wife of 52 years on Feb. 13. Esther Rosa, 70, was found in the bottom of a chest-style freezer two days after her husband allegedly beat her to death with a crow bar. Rosa's son found him in his bathtub after he attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrists. The crime shocked the Rosas' neighbors, who said the couple always... 

1999/11/16 Tue  Man strangles his wife, kills himself 
 .. ASSOCIATED PRESS A man strangled his wife in their Pompton Lakes home, then drove to a bridge and jumped 175 feet to his death in a murder-suicide that left relatives searching for answers, authorities said yesterday. Aimee Jakowitsch's 7-year-old son discovered his mother's body at about 4 a.m. Sunday when he went to get a glass of water for his crying 4-year-old brother, police said. The terrified boy phoned his maternal grandfather, who immediately dialed 911. Police said they... 

1999/11/02 Tue  Murder-suicide undetected for days -- Security guard killed Red Bank girlfriend and turned gun on himself 
... A Freehold Raceway security officer shot his girlfriend to death and then killed himself, said Monmouth County authorities, who believe the murder-suicide unfolded days before their bodies were found Sunday in a Red Bank apartment. Ronald Ruffin, a 52-year-old sergeant with the raceway security force, had known Lynn Thomas, 38, only since they met at a funeral last year. But authorities said the couple dated for a year and moved... 

1999/10/07 Thu  Lyndhurst man charged with killing his wife 
... Salvatore Rosa, 75, was found in his bathtub Feb. 15, bleeding from self-inflicted wounds to the wrists and throat. He was arrested after he told investigators he had tried to commit suicide out of remorse for having killed his wife, Esther, 70, two days earlier, authorities said. Along with the murder charge, Rosa was also indicted on weapons charges for using the crowbar for unlawful purposes and for making false statements to the police during the investigation. Rosa's... 

1999/09/26 Sun  Hard times in a blue-collar town -- Scandal, economic slide plague Phillipsburg 
..  After gunning down his estranged wife, Diane, and her new male companion, Stephanos Sarzetakis, Carter shot himself in the head in Sarzetakis' restaurant in Phillipsburg. The town of 15,700 residents was soon soaking in the bloody news of the murder-suicide. People who crowded into bars that night to watch the NCAA men's championship basketball game tuned instead to newscasts of Carter's rampage. Residents who expected a return to normalcy after the hail of headlines have... 

1999/08/02 Mon  Mourners turn to prayer for Atlanta -- Pastor recalls wife, not husband who killed 
... passed out tissues before the service. Mark O. Barton, 44, killed his wife with a hammer Tuesday night in her suburban apartment south of Atlanta. It was the first of a string of murders that would become Georgia's worst mass killing this century. On Wednesday, Barton bludgeoned to death his two children from a previous marriage. The next day, he marched into two brokerage firms in the city's Buckhead commercial district and opened fire with two handguns, killing nine people and... 

1999/08/01 Sun  Atlanta reels from rampage -- While 12 victims are mourned, police try to trace extra guns 
... Barton plotted the killings after having a fight with his wife on Tuesday about his financial losses. Police found Leigh Ann's body covered with a blanket in a bedroom closet of the apartment. In a computer-printed suicide note Barton left for police, he said he was sorry for his wife's murder. `I killed Leigh Ann because she was one of the main reasons for my demise as I planned to kill the others," Barton wrote. "I really wish I hadn't killed her now. She really couldn't help... 

1999/07/30 Fri Top suspect in slayings of wife, kin 
 .. Atlanta following a shooting rampage that left 12 people dead, including his second wife and two children from his first marriage. In the Alabama slayings, the bodies of Debra Spivey Barton, 36, and her mother, Eloise Powell Spivey, 59, both of Lithia Springs, Ga., were found in the camper on Sept. 5. They were spending Labor Day weekend at the lake without Barton. The camper showed no signs of forced entry. Police said the killer dumped the older woman's purse and took two rings,... 

1999/05/23 Sun   Montclair: Take those gun scenes elsewhere -- Town wants to ban filming of violence 
... and violence in "The Sopranos." Since 1995, the toll from gun-related tragedies has grown in Montclair, starting with a post office shooting that left four dead. In 1996, Delfrances Bennett and her three daughters died in an apparent murder-suicide. In 1997, a township resident was seriously hurt in the Empire State Building shooting. Last summer, a Montclair police lieutenant killed his wife and himself in a murder-suicide. Montclair has become a hotbed for gun control activism,... 

1999/05/23 Sun  Dispute ends in murder-suicide 
...  A 27-year-old Newark man yesterday shot and killed another city man who had tried to intervene in a street dispute, and a short time later turned the gun on himself outside a police precinct, police said. The murder-suicide stemmed from an ongoing feud between several teens in the city's Vailsburg section, police said. Detective Sgt. Derek Glenn, a police spokesman, said Earl Givens, 27, of Eastern Parkway shot Kevin Fisher, 26, once in the... 

1999/05/08 Sat  Knife attack cuts short teen mom's aspirations 
... record of prior domestic violence complaints against Belton, he had been arrested five times on drug, assault and other charges in Essex County, police said. On Thursday night, neighbors called police to report hearing screams coming from a third-floor apartment at 214-220 Roseville Ave. Moments later, when Officers Carlos Figueroa and Melvin Berry arrived, there were no sounds coming from the apartment. Inside, Coco and her two daughters lay crumpled together on the kitchen floor.... 

1999/04/22 Thu  Citizens police academy keys on domestic violence -- Officer tells how to make complaints stick 
... For example, he noted, on March 13, domestic violence in Chatham led a jealous husband to shoot and kill his wife and son, before police shot him to death. Last Oct. 3, a Montclair police lieutenant shot to death his wife and then himself in a murder-suicide in West Orange. 'It's the policy of the West Orange Police Department to enforce all laws that will allow a police officer to intervene in a domestic violence situation, with the purpose of eliminating immediate physical violence... 

1999/04/18 Sun  Trust fund established for children left orphaned 
... The families of a Mount Olive couple killed in a murder-suicide prayed together last week and jointly established a trust fund for the three orphaned children. `There is no arguing. We're doing what we can for the children," said Anthony Pascarella, the nephew of Filippo DiMatteo, who shot his wife, Carol, and then himself April 8 in their Ramar Street split level. The couple, separated since August, had met separately with a real estate agent... 

1999/04/09 Fri  Answers unknown in Flanders killings 
... mother at the Ramar Street house later that night. When they discovered she had not returned home yesterday morning, they contacted a friend of hers, who called police on the non-emergency line at 7:50 a.m., authorities said. Police believe the murder-suicide happened Wednesday night, although autopsy results were not available yesterday to pinpoint the times of death. The killings rattled some of the residents in the quiet Flanders neighborhood, where two years ago, another neighbor... 

1999/04/08 Thu  Cop to be buried with wife he killed 
... The ashes of longtime Lopatcong Patrolman Dean Carter will be buried today in the flower-covered grave of the wife he killed in a fit of rage. While friends and family members continue to grieve over the officer's suicide and double murder of Diane Carter and restaurant owner 

1999/04/04 Sun  Funerals held for cop and estranged wife 
... the gun on himself. Nearly 150 relatives and friends attended the services for Diane Carter and police officer Dean Carter Sr. at the Finegan Funeral Home as their families and the normally quiet community continued to try to make sense of the double murder-suicide. On Monday, Dean Carter, 51, killed his 42-year-old wife at a home office she worked out of on Grand Street and then drove to Stephano's Family Restaurant on Walnut Street, where he shot Stephanos Sarzetakis, 52, before... 

1999/04/02 Fri  Autopsies completed in murder-suicide 
... Autopsy results for the victims of Monday's double homicide/suicide in Phillipsburg showed the two murder victims each died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen, the Warren County Prosecutor's Office announced yesterday. Lopatcong Police Officer Dean Carter, who first killed his wife and then a local restaurateur who was her friend and business partner, died of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the roof of the mouth, the... 

1999/03/31 Wed  Officer left first wife for the one he murdered -- A cruel twist in Phillipsburg 
... told him to get out of the house. His former wife's allegation about the Christmas Day bombshell portrays the patrolman as being calm in the face of discord. It is an image not far removed from the one painted by relatives who saw him before Monday's murder-suicide. Prior to leaving his home on Belvidere Road in Lopatcong, a rapidly developing suburb in western Warren County, for the final time, Carter helped his stepson's wife buff her car. He made sure the trash can was placed... 

1999/03/28 Sun  Montclair considering suit against gun makers 
... his litigation idea last week at a ceremony commemorating the fourth anniversary of the post office shooting that left four dead. Since 1995, the tally of tragedy has grown. In 1996, Delfrances Bennett and her three daughters died in an apparent murder-suicide. In 1997, a township resident was crippled in the Empire State Building shooting. Last summer, a Montclair police lieutenant killed his wife and himself in a murder-suicide. 'We keep hoping it's all over and behind us, and... 

1999/03/25 Thu  Man accused of slaying cyber-pal tried to kill self 
... in the stabbing death of a California woman he met on the Internet tried to kill himself in the hours before police arrested him at his parents' Ewing Township home, authorities said yesterday. Prosecutors released details of the suicide attempt as Kevin Lee, 32, was arraigned on murder charges yesterday in Superior Court in Jersey City. Judge Richard Nieto ordered the suspect held on $350,000 bail. He is accused in the slaying of Elaine Sonia Carrillo, 31, a resident of Monterey,... 

1999/03/17 Wed  Custody question looms for surviving boy -- Legal experts say killer's mom is first of kin 
 ... kills someone. We had to reassure the children that they were safe and okay, and just because people fight, it does not mean they will murder people." Meanwhile, Trevor Spranger's ordeal will surely affect him for years to come, according to Donna Schuurman, a counselor who heads a Portland, Ore.-based peer support program for children survivors of parental homicides and suicides. 'It is not uncommon for children to protect themselves by not remembering what happened, at least... 

1999/03/02 Tue  Domestic violence group criticized Newark police -- Task force found response to victims lacking months before murder-suicide of cop couple 
... When Laboy's mother tried to tell the officers what had really happened, she said, they turned her away. This was a clear case of a potentially explosive relationship, Price said. So when Newark Police Director Joseph Santiago responded after the murder-suicide that, "There was nothing to indicate there was a problem; there was no violence, no threats," members of his own brotherhood flinched. 'Someone exhibiting that kind of behavior and there were no signs? Wow!" said South River... 

1999/02/27 Sat  Diary held dread that haunted slain officer -- Newark victim felt family was in peril 
...on again, off-again boyfriend. `She said she couldn't tell anybody; she was scared that he would do something to one of us," said Laboy's sister, Isabel Colon, 24, recalling some of the diary's entries. In the first interview the family has given since the murder-suicide, Laboy's sisters and mother cried at the senselessness of the murder and their belief that it could have been prevented. But at the same time, they laughed at shared memories of "Papoochie," the affectionate nickname given... 

1999/02/24 Wed  Purple and black ribbons for Newark pair who wore blue -- Couple in murder-suicide are laid to rest 
... Kinga Borondy Star-Ledger Staff Newark Police Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez and Officer Magaliz Laboy were buried in a North Arlington cemetery yesterday, marking the final chapter in a tortured relationship that ended with her murder, his suicide and an orphaned son. In separate Masses and separate burials that took place a few hours apart, the former lovers were laid to rest in Holy Cross Cemetery. For Newark's finest, it was a morning to pay their respects to two lost comrades, leaving... 

1999/02/24 Wed Husband pleads not guilty in wife's killing 
... remain at the medical center until his lawyer has a better idea of both his medical and psychiatric condition. 'He's a confused little old man," Neary said. "He looks just like your old uncle you'd expect to see sipping a cup of coffee at the counter in the local deli. But the question is, why has this happened now after 50 years of what everyone seems to say was a happy marriage?" Neary plans to have a psychiatrist evaluate Rosa so he can decide whether to use an insanity defense.... 

1999/02/23 Tue  Police had warning before officer's murder-suicide -- Paper trail indicated a troubled Newark cop 
... was unraveling. 'The department acted responsibly," Santiago said. "We had no information that this relationship had reached a critical point." But experts said the red flags were there. John M. Violanti is the nation's foremost authority on police suicide. He wrote the book on it, "Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue." When briefed on the Gonzalez case, Violanti was incredulous about the way it was handled. This was a clear "red-flag" case of impending trouble, he said. Newark officials,... 

1999/02/21 Sun  Risk of suicide one most officers didn't count on -- Rash of incidents suggests an epidemic 
... fit. His wife eventually returned home, but Perry still seemed agitated, his family said. He was bitter about being on the midnight shift, and even developed a Web site devoted to police work and sleep deprivation. On the night before the murder-suicide, a distraught Perry turned to his colleague, Sgt. Terry. Perry was crying. His wife had told him she needed some space, and he was headed for the hospital. Terry met Perry at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston about midnight.... 

1999/02/18 Thu  2 Newark police officers die in murder-suicide 
...  Ongoing domestic squabbles between two Newark police officers culminated in their deaths yesterday in a murder-suicide. Sgt. Heriberto Gonzalez, 32, shot and killed Officer Magaliz Laboy, the mother of his toddler son, before turning his service weapon on himself, Police Director Joseph J. Santiago said. The shooting occurred in Laboy's 17th Avenue apartment in the city's West District. The 33-year-old Laboy suffered at least... 

1999/02/17 Wed  Son's doubts lead Lyndhurst cops to body of mom and arrest of dad 
... in custody at Hackensack University Medical Center. He is listed in stable condition and is undergoing treatment for the wounds he incurred during the apparent suicide attempt. Schmidt said Rosa will appear in court when he is able to leave the hospital. On Monday, Superior Court Judge William C. Meehan set bail at $2 million. The murder shocked the quiet, working-class neighborhood, where the Rosas were known as a loving couple who kept to themselves but always found the time... 

1999/02/03 Wed  No clues found as to what set off deadly rage -- Family is stunned by murder-suicide 
... contributed to her death, which occurred late Sunday, according to Kapsak. The medical examiner could not estimate how much time lapsed before Joseph Socha killed himself, Kapsak said. Police closed their investigation, calling the deaths a murder and suicide after determining no one else had been inside the Marlboro Road house. Police were unable to determine what prompted the attack. Police and friends said the husband had seemed depressed over the marriage in recent weeks, and... 

1999/02/02 Tue  Old Bridge man kills wife, then himself 
... Jim O'Neill and Bridget Malone Star-Ledger Staff In what authorities believe to be a murder-suicide, an Old Bridge man strangled and repeatedly stabbed his wife before evidently killing himself with the same knife in the living room of their rural home, police said. Relatives made the grisly discovery yesterday morning in the living room of Joseph and Diane Socha's beige ranch house on Marlboro Road, authorities said. Diane Socha, 37, had been stabbed several times in the chest... 

1998/12/30 Wed  Lawyer sticks by story that he didn't kill mistress 
... then bringing her knees up to her chest, in a fetal position. The only trouble he had was getting her feet in, he said. He said he forced her feet in, "but I didn't break any bones." The prosecution questioning did raise some inconsistencies in Capa^no's testimony. Capano testified he wanted his brother, Gerard, to help get rid of the body, but claimed earlier he needed MacIntyre's help in moving the cooler. It raised the question of how he intended to get the cooler, by himself,... 

1998/12/27 Sun  Man kills ex-girlfriend, himself 
... Kate Coscarelli Star-Ledger Staff A New Brunswick man shot his ex-girlfriend several times in the chest and then turned the gun on himself while visiting her in Philadelphia on Christmas Day. Police have classified the shooting as a murder-suicide. Sgt. Charles McMullin of the Philadelphia Police Department said Fausto Torres, 23, was visiting his girlfriend, Marion Ortiz, 19, and their 3-year-old daughter when he called his sister-in-law about 2 p.m. and told her he had just shot... 

1998/12/22 Tue  Attorney accused of killing mistress points to his 'other woman' 
... enough she had a head wound," Capano said. What he did next, Capano said, "was the most cowardly, horrible thing I've done in my life." He was certain that Fahey was dead, so to protect himself and MacIntyre, he did not call police and instead decided to dump her body, Capano said. As Capano testified in an unemotional but sometimes almost inaudible voice, jurors sat mesmerized on the edge of their seats. Fahey family members in the courtroom glared at him. MacIntyre, one of the... 

1998/08/25 Tue  Troubled relationship ends in death 
... Fred J. Aun Star-Ledger Staff By yesterday morning, the normal solitude had returned to rural Stillwater in Sussex County, where the peace had been shattered hours earlier by the second murder-suicide in as many years. Outside 952 Mt. Benevolence Road, where a man killed his former girlfriend and then himself late Sunday night, a cleaning crew was washing away the blood as cars passed occasionally on the country road and deer grazed passively on nearby lawns and fields. The blood,... 

1998/08/21 Fri  Mother of three fatally stabbed in Orange -- Boyfriend later found dead in vehicle crash 
... found Karoll dead shortly afterward in the wreckage of a Ford Explorer that crashed into a concrete overpass at Main Street and Freeway Drive in Orange. Ray Weiss, spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, would not classify the deaths a murder-suicide, though he said investigators were not looking for another suspect. He added the Explorer is believed to have been speeding before the crash. Weiss also said investigators recovered a kitchen knife from the home and a hammer,... 

1998/08/13 Thu  Rowan is sued over student's '96 murder -- Mother says university failed to protect junior who was shot on campus by former boyfriend 
...ASSOCIATED PRESS The mother of a Rowan University student shot to death on campus by an estranged boyfriend is suing the school for failing to protect her daughter. The negligence lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Camden, stems from the Aug. 12, 1996, murder-suicide on the Glassboro campus. It names prosecutors, police, members of the killer's family, the hospitals that treated him for psychiatric problems, and the gun shop that sold him the murder weapon. Cindy Nannay, 22, a junior... 

1998/06/23 Tue  Killer's vacation disturbs parents of victim -- Bias, convicted of Phillipsburg manslaughter, is out on bail while his appeal is pending 
... wife had argued. She died when the revolver she held to her head while threatening or attempting to commit suicide discharged as he tried to grab it, Bias told investigators, as well as the juries in four trials. But prosecutors contended the evidence — which Bias' expert witnesses disputed — showed the gun was not near her head and therefore Bias had pulled the trigger. His first two trials on murder charges ended with hung juries, and while the third jury convicted him of manslaughter,... 

1998/05/27 Wed  Slain girl told friends about fights at home -- Franklin shocked by double murder-suicide 
... of the stomach. At about 2 a.m. Monday, Jordan had gone to a neighbor's house and said he had just killed his wife and accidentally shot his daughter. He told his neighbors he was going back to his house to kill himself. In the aftermath of the double murder-suicide, the family's friends are still trying to sort out the contradictions between Jordan's easygoing persona and often-stormy family life. The same man who was a friend to his neighbors and even a source of reassurance... 

1998/04/28 Tue  Man charged with killing wife takes his own life in Ohio jail 
... his wife, Deborah Venettone Daniels, 37, in her home a day earlier. Venettone's father is former Lambertville Police Chief Jack Venettone and her brother, Jack Jr., is a Raritan Township police officer. Botta was checked every 20 minutes by corrections officers as required, Umpleby said. "At 10:45 a.m., he was fine. At 11:05 a.m., he was dead," said Umpleby. Inmates in the homicide unit wear jumpsuits and sandals. Botta had tied one leg around his neck and the other around a bar... 

1998/03/26 Thu  Autopsy settles educators' deaths as murder, suicide 
... Kevin C. Dilworth Star-Ledger Staff An autopsy has confirmed the deaths early this year of a South Orange couple who served for decades in the Newark school system were a murder-suicide. Gladys Hillman-Jones, a retired assistant superintendent, died from "multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and extremities," Raymond Weiss, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said yesterday. Reading from an Essex County Medical Examiner's Office report, Weiss added Harold Jones,... 

1998/03/23 Mon  Newark man charged in death of girlfriend 
... charged with homicide, possession of a weapon, possession of the weapons for unlawful purposes and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police are investigating the possibility that Baskerville was under the influence of drugs Saturday night when he allegedly killed Furezia Warren, also 32, of James Street, said Detective Sgt. Derek Glenn, a police department spokesman. Warren's body had visible stab wounds and blunt force trauma about her body, but Glenn said the exact cause of death... 

1998/03/20 Fri  County PTA council finds it hard to say goodbye to slain educator 
... under construction, is being established by St. James AME Church — one of the largest congregations in the city. Jones and her husband Harold, who also was a Newark educator, were found dead in their South Orange home in what police determined was a murder-suicide. Police stated Hillman-Jones was fatally shot by her spouse, who then killed himself, following a struggle inside the house. Nearly 1,000 mourners crowded into Bethany Baptist Church in Newark on Jan. 10 to hear her eulogized... 

1998/02/18 Wed  Wife-killing called `psychotic episode' -- Defense doctors describe personality disorder 
... The experts, both of whom were hired by the defense, agreed that Rodriguez was mentally retarded and suffered borderline personality disorder and clinical depression when he murdered his wife. But one of them, Dr. Robert Latimer, said he wouldn't go so far as to say that Rodriguez was unable to tell right from wrong, a key legal standard for a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. When Rodriguez took an eight-inch chef's knife and stabbed his wife in the heart and then stabbed... 

1998/02/14 Sat  Card from teacher's wife triggered deadly delusion 
... he'd be home late," said Terrence Hull, Hudson County's first assistant prosecutor, in describing Metaxas' last known words to his wife. "She did not indicate that he said anything . with respect to a threat of violence to Mr. Sacci." Sacci's murder and Metaxas' suicide had been planned ahead, according to police, who said they found a letter in Metaxas' wallet. It was a brief note asking that his children be called, and it listed their telephone numbers. "He did not mention... 

1998/02/04 Wed  Medical professionals drawn into domestic violence debate 
... gathered for a continuing education lecture at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. According to FBI Uniform Crime Report Statistics, a total of 3,631 women died as a result of homicides in 1996. Of those cases in which the relationship to the perpetrator was known, 33 percent were murdered by a spouse or ex-spouse. Rosenberg's lecture, "Getting the Violence Out of the Lives of Children: Creating a Safe America," began with a slide presentation relaying the true story of 9-year-old Alex,... 

1998/01/27 Tue  Wife-killer set free as his father puts up bail 
... before of reckless manslaughter, but the verdict was overturned about three years later. Two previous trials on first-degree murder charges ended with hung juries. Bias was convicted of recklessly killing his wife, Lise, by firing a gun that prosecutors said he might not have realized was loaded. Throughout his four trials, Bias maintained that the pistol his wife held to her head in a suicide threat discharged when he tried to grab it.... 

1998/01/23 Fri  High court holds firm on bail for wife-killer 
... wife, Lise, in their Phillipsburg home. The couple grew up in Hunterdon County. Bias contended through four trials that his wife died when the gun she held to her head in a suicide threat discharged as he grabbed for it. Prosecutors contended the evidence showed the gun was not near the woman's head when it fired. Two juries considering murder charges against Bias deadlocked when deliberating his guilt or innocence, while a reckless manslaughter conviction in the third trial was... 

1998/01/20 Tue  Anger isn't welcome at rites for couple 
... then shot and killed himself after their 9- year marriage unraveled. "You have never walked a mile in Bob's moccasins. You have never walked a mile in Kim's moccasins," Swift said. "How harshly you judge others is how harshly God will judge you." The murder-suicide of the couple came more than 15 years after Nolan was charged with the stabbing death of his first wife and her boyfriend in 1981 after she had taken steps to dissolve their marriage. He escaped a prison term after one... 

1998/01/16 Fri  Bias wins chance for bail during appeal in wife's death 
... Chester Gasiorowski, Lise Bias had recently been promoted at the Somerville bank where she worked and was taking fertility drugs. Witnesses doubted she would have tried to kill herself, but Bias testified his wife previously had threatened suicide. His first two trials on murder charges ended with hung juries. The charge was downgraded to aggravated manslaughter, and a jury in the third trial convicted him of the lesser offense of reckless manslaughter. Bias appealed, however,... 

1998/01/15 Thu  Arthur Hooper loved to teach in city he adored 
... visited Hooper in Beth Israel Medical Center, said his sister, Theresa Marshall. Two days later, Hillman-Jones, and her husband, Harold Jones, also a retired Newark principal, were found shot to death in their South Orange home. Police are calling it a murder-suicide. Like so many others attending their funerals, Hooper and Hillman-Jones were friends for more than 30 years, winding up their careers as top administrators. "Gladys' visit truly buoyed Arthur," Marshall said. "It made... 

1998/01/14 Wed  Residents help kids after murder-suicide Two orphaned after dad killed mom, -- himself 
... Andrea Orlando Star-Ledger Staff An outpouring of support continues for two Linden boys orphaned a month ago when their father shot their mother and then committed suicide. Residents are planning a fund-raiser for the boys Saturday at the Linwood Inn at 19 Wood Ave. South in Linden. "I feel like I'm part of their family now," said Rhonda Fullerton, a city police dispatcher who has taken up the children's cause. "I'm going to take them ice skating or roller skating soon." The boys,... 

1998/01/08 Thu  'Perfect' duo's end devastates friends -- Shooting deaths appear to be murder-suicide 
... games in his spare time. But the picture-perfect story had an abrupt, unimaginable end. A neighbor saw the door of their neat South Orange ranch home ajar on Tuesday, and found the couple shot to death inside. The crime bore all the hallmarks of a murder-suicide: Authorities say there was no sign of forced entry, and a .38-caliber pistol lay near the bodies. A spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office would not discuss how authorities are classifying the crime. "We're... 

1998/01/01 Thu  Man denies killing 38-year-old spouse 
... Prosecutors and Bloomfield Police Chief McNiff refused to comment on why Tyrone Winn was suspected of the murder and if he confessed during police questioning. McNiff said when police arrived at the house Monday and found Denise Winn's body, Tyrone Winn "had some injuries on his wrists." McNiff would not elaborate, but officials in the Essex County Prosecutor's office characterized the injuries as a suicide attempt. Police said Winn made no other attempts to injure himself while... 

This is a compilation of cases reported by the New Jersey Star Ledger all of domestic violence resuling in murder-suicide, for the last 10 years, 1998-2008.  The study was done to show how many cases of domestic violence are turned deadly, when not intervened and corrected.  This is a very serious crisis in our society, and my purpose is to stop the violence and help as many victims as possible, before they are added to this list.  For a copy of any article in full, contact the New Jersey Star Ledger.