Corrections officer, 23, is charged with murdering his girlfriend, 40 – Daily Mail

A New Jersey corrections officer has been charged for the murder of his girlfriend and her best friend in two separate shootings. 

John Menedez, 23, was charged in connection to the killing of Anna Shpilberg and her friend Luiza Shinkarevskaya, both 40.

Menedez, a correction officer for Hudson County, is accused of killing the women who were found fatally shot just a mile apart in Newark on Tuesday night, NJ.com reports. 

A possible motive has not been released by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office but they did release the nature of the relationship between Menedez and Shpilberg. The man has been charged with two counts of murder and weapon offenses.

Shinkarevskaya – a Riverdale resident – was found in the passenger seat of her vehicle suffering from a gunshot wound on the 100 block of haynes Avenue close to the Newark Liberty International Airport at around 9.53pm, according to prosecutors.

Shpilberg was found roughly 20 minutes later at 9.55pm. The Randolph woman was found in the passenger seat of her vehicle near Edison Place and Bruen Street close to Newark Penn Station.

The two friends had previously lived in Brooklyn, New York. They had both immigrated from the Ukraine as children, friends shared. 

Fabian Goni, Shpilberg’s ex-fiance, said that he and his former love had been reestablishing communications in recent months after splitting 14 months ago. 

He described Menedez as ‘controlling,’ constantly demanding that Shpilberg ‘report to him’ about where she was. 

‘He wanted texts and videos as proof of where she was,’ Goni added. 

Claudia Mercela Goni, the woman’s friend and almost sister-in-law, said that Shpilberg would routinely send texts and videos to Menedez during her visits. 

Just before her death, Claudia shared that Shpilberg showed her a picture of Menedez. 

‘I thought he was too young for her,’ she said. ‘But it wasn’t my business. We didn’t talk about him after that.’ 

Claudia said that she texted a photo of her baby to the mother on Valentine’s Day but didn’t get a response. She added that Shpilberg read the text on Tuesday night at around 7pm, two days later. She was found dead just two hours later.   

 ‘It’s so heart-breaking,’ Claudia said. ‘We connected and I really wanted her to be back in my life, in my house and around my family.’

Juan Hernandez, a worker at the 56th Street Deli that was across the street from Menedez’s apartment in West New York, said that the corrections officer was a easy-going regular.   

‘I’m from Guatemala, so he would always say, “Hey Guatemala” when he came in. Always a nice guy, no problems with him at all,’ Hernandez said. ‘I can’t believe this happened and that he was arrested for it.’

Menedez is currently being held in the Essex County Jail, according to jail records. A court date has not been set.