‘I killed both of them. Just arrest me, bro,’ corrections officer told cop after he shot girlfriend, her frie – NJ.com
The Hudson County corrections officer charged in the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her best friend in Newark confessed the killings to a police officer before he was arrested, according to court documents.
John Menendez, 23, of West New York, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths Tuesday night of his girlfriend Anna Shpilberg and her best friend Luiza Shinkarevskaya, both 40 and Morris County residents. The women were found fatally shot in the head in different parts of Newark. They had just returned home from a trip and Menendez picked them up at Newark airport, authorities said.
Shpilberg was found dead in the passenger seat of her car near Bruen Street and Edison Place near Newark Penn Station. Menendez, who had blood on him, walked up to a city police officer sitting in his patrol car near the scene, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
“I killed both of them. Just arrest me, bro,” Menendez allegedly told the officer. When the officer read Menendez his rights and handcuffed him, the suspect made further admissions, according to the affidavit.
“This is crazy. I can’t believe I did this,” Menendez told the officer, according to court records.
In a recorded interview, Menendez told detectives he was angry that Shpilberg had gone on vacation without him, according to the affidavit.
“Both women had just been on vacation and Menendez said that Anna had been ignoring his calls,” police wrote in court records. “He said he lost it and killed them.”
John Menendez, 23, of West New York.Essex County Jail
“He again said he ‘killed her and her friend,’” police wrote in the affidavit. “When the officer asked where she was, Menendez said she was in the car.”
Shinkarevskaya’s body was found at about the same time on Haynes Avenue near a Newark Liberty International Airport parking lot, the affidavit states. Police said they found the murder weapon, a 9mm handgun, near Shinkarevskaya’s body.
Anna Shpilberg, left, and Luiza Shinkarevskaya, both 40, and Morris County residents, were killed Tuesday in Newark. Shpilberg boyfriend, a Hudson County corrections officer, has been charged with murder.
The women returned from the vacation Tuesday evening, according to a witness, who is not identified in court papers.
The witness “spoke to Menendez on the phone earlier in the evening and knew that Menendez was going to pick up Anna and Luiza,” according to court records.
Shpilberg was the mother of a 15-year-old son and worked as a dental hygienist. Both women had previously lived in Brooklyn, New York, having emigrated to the United States from the Ukraine when they were children, friends said.
Menendez, who has worked for the Hudson County Jail for about a year, remained in the Essex County Jail on Friday. A court date has not been set.
Shpilberg’s ex-fiancee Fabian Goni and other friends told NJ Advance Media that Menendez was controlling and demanded she send video showing where she was.
“He wanted texts and videos as proof of where she was,” said Goni, whose relationship with Shpilberg ended more than a year ago, though they remained in contact.
Anna Shpilberg, 40, of Morris County.Courtesy of Fabian Goni
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.