Photo: Essex County Jail / Courtesy
John P. Menéndez, a young correctional officer from New Jersey, confessed that he shot and killed his girlfriend and her friend, jealous and angry that she I didn’t answer their calls .
“I killed them at two, just arrest me, brother ”, said Menéndez (23) to police, according to court documents.
The West New York (NJ) Hudson County Corrections Officer was charged this week with two counts of murder and gun crime in the deaths of his girlfriend Anna Shpilberg and Luiza Shinkarevskaya, both of 40 years, immigrants from Ukraine.
Police officers who responded to reports of a shooting near Newark International Airport Liberty on Tuesday, Shinkarevskaya was found dead by a bullet to the head on a sidewalk in a commercial parking. At the site, a 9mm Glock pistol registered to Menéndez’s name was found, authorities said.
A short time later, the bloody suspect allegedly approached a Newark police officer and confessed to killing both women. “This is crazy, I can’t believe I did this,” he told the officer and then directed him to the crime scene.
Shpilberg was found dead in the passenger seat of her car near Bruen St and Edison Place, in the vicinity of Newark Penn Railroad Station.
A witness told police that the women arrived on a flight on Tuesday and that Menéndez was scheduled to collected, according to court documents.
The women lived in New Jersey, and previously in Brooklyn. Shpilberg was a dental hygienist working on Staten Island, reported NJ.com
Menéndez said he shot his girlfriend because she had been ignoring his calls after going on vacation with Shinkarevskaya. Also constantly demanded videos as proof of his location, according to a relative.
Suspect was being held without bond Friday at the Essex County Jail.
‘I killed both of them. Just arrest me, bro, ‘corrections officer told cop after he shot girlfriend, her friend, authorities say https://t.co/C2URWuBEZB
– njdotcom (@njdotcom) February 19, 2021