Prosecutors in New Jersey say a state trooper killed his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, a volunteer firefighter, before taking his own life. Sgt. 1st Class Ricardo Jorge Santos, who once served on Gov. Phil Murphy's security detail, was found dead in a Mercedes SUV around an hour away from where the bodies of 33-year-old Lauren Semanchik and 29-year-old Tyler Webb were found in Franklin Township on Saturday, ABC News reports. Semanchik's relatives say the veterinarian dated Santos for around six months and he had been stalking her since they broke up almost a year ago, reports CBS News.
Sources tell the New York Times that Santos was in the governor's protection detail a few years ago and was more recently assigned to the unit protecting other state government VIPs. Prosecutors believe Santos shot Semanchik and Webb on Friday. Surveillance video captured his vehicle following her home from work at the Long Valley Animal Hospital on Friday, and a person was seen "surreptitiously walking through the wooded area along the driveway," prosecutors say. Police responded to a report of gunshots and screaming Friday evening but they were unable to determine where the noises came from. Semanchik's father found the bodies the next day.
Deanna Semanchik tells NBC News that Santos vandalized her sister's car and placed recording devices in her home. "I made her get cameras and put a lock on her door," she says. "I live in Colorado, and I wanted her to be safe. There was only so much I could do. This was my biggest nightmare." She says her sister filed a police report in May after her car was keyed but local police didn't seem to take her concerns seriously. "A lot of agencies failed her. She tried to get restraining orders. Nobody called her back," mother Jeannine Semanchik says.
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