Friends stunned by killings of ‘devoted mom’ and her best friend. Corrections officer faces 2 murder charges. – NJ.com

When Anna Shpilberg ended her engagement with Fabian Goni, he considered the breakup temporary and believed they would be together again. More than a year later, he’s helping to plan her funeral while trying to make sense of the double-homicide that left her and her best friend dead in separate locations in Newark.

“We were on a break,” Goni, a landscaper from Randolph, told NJ Advance Media in an interview Thursday. “She met this younger guy, but I still had her stuff in my house. I wanted her back. I’m still in love with her.”

The younger man, John Menendez, 23, who works as a Hudson County corrections officer, was charged this week with gunning down Shpilberg and her best friend, Luiza Shinkarevskaya. The women, both 40, and from Morris County, were found fatally shot about a mile apart in Newark on Tuesday night.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has not released a possible motive, but noted Shpilberg’s relationship with Menendez in announcing his arrest. Shinkarevskaya, of Riverdale, was found at 9:53 p.m. suffering from a gunshot wound in the 100 block of Haynes Avenue near Newark Liberty International Airport, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Shpilberg, of Randolph, was found dead at 9:55 p.m. in the passenger seat of her vehicle in the area of Edison Place and Bruen Street near Newark Penn Station, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Menendez is charged with two counts of murder and weapons offenses.

Both women had previously lived in Brooklyn, New York, having emigrated to the United States from the Ukraine when they were children, friends said.

Goni’s sister-in-law told NJ Advance Media on Thursday that Shpilberg in recent months had been reaching out to the Goni family, trying to re-establish a connection lost about 14 months earlier when the wedding was called off.

“I opened up my home to her. We were like a family to her,” Claudia Marcela Goni said. “She wanted to reach out and make peace. I was there for her.”

Before her death, Shpilberg showed Goni a photo of Menendez.

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

On Valentine’s Day, Goni texted a photo of her baby to Shpilberg but didn’t get a response. Goni said Shpilberg read the text two days later about 7 p.m. on Tuesday night. But there was no reply. Two hours later, Shpilberg – a mother herself – was found dead.

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

Fabian Goni’s brother, Alex, said Shpilberg had visited their family around Christmas and brought her 15-year-old son from another relationship.

“We were spending time together again. She was so sweet and this is so tragic,” Alex Goni said.

Fabian Goni said Shpilberg will be remembered for her devotion to her son, her volunteer work and her passion for fine dining and fashion.

“She loved going out to dinner and trying new restaurants,” he said. “She loved shopping. She knew everything about fashion.”

A registered dental hygienist who worked at a practice in Staten Island, the Gonis said Shpilberg will be remembered most of all for how much she loved her son.

“He was the biggest love of her life,” Fabian Goni said.

While at a loss for a motive for the shootings, Goni described Menendez as “controlling,” and said he demanded that Shpilberg “report to him” regularly on her whereabouts.

“He wanted texts and videos as proof of where she was,” Goni said. Claudia Mercela Goni also said her friend sent regular texts and videos to Menendez during their visits.

At 56th Street Deli across from Menendez’s apartment in West New York, worker Juan Hernandez remembers the corrections officer as easy-going regular who ordered a cheeseburger with peppers and onions.

“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.”

Menendez remained in the Essex County Jail on Thursday, jail records show. A court date has not been set.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.