NJ state trooper kills ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend in murder-suicide after months of stalking her: ‘She deserved so much better'
Franklin Township police rushed to a Pittstown home on Saturday around 12:20 p.m. after receiving a report of an unconscious woman, Hunterdon County prosecutors revealed Monday.
Inside, officers found Lauren Semanchik, 33, and Tyler Webb, 29, dead from gunshot wounds in what prosecutors called a 'targeted attack.'
Advertisement
6 Lauren Semanchik was killed by her ex-boyfriend at her home in New Jersey.
Facebook / Lauren Semanchik
Detectives quickly identified Semanchik's ex-boyfriend, New Jersey State Trooper Lt. Ricardo Santos, 45, as a possible suspect and began searching for him.
Soon after the search began, Santos was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his 2008 white Mercedes in Piscataway, about 50 miles away, prosecutors said.
A semiautomatic handgun, believed to be the murder weapon, was found beside Santos.
Advertisement
Investigators later learned that Franklin Township police officers responded to a 911 call in the area of Semanchik's residence the night before — where 'audible gunshots and screaming' were heard by the operator — but were never able to pinpoint where the noises came from.
Police also learned that Semanchik, a veterinarian, had installed cameras in her car after reporting that Santos was stalking her.
Footage captured her vehicle leaving her veterinary office in Long Valley Friday at 5:25 p.m.
Advertisement
6 Tyler Webb (pictured), Semanchik's new boyfriend, was also killed.
Facebook / Tyler Webb
The rear camera recorded Santos' Mercedes closely following Semanchik from her workplace to her home.
Semanchik arrived home just before 6 p.m. Ten minutes later, someone emerged from the woods bordering her driveway.
Nearly half an hour later, Webb's vehicle arrives at the home and parks next to Semanchik's vehicle, prosecutors said.
Advertisement
6 Semanchik and Webb's bodies were found inside her home on Saturday.
Semanchik's family told CBS News her father was the one who discovered his daughters and Webb's body on Saturday, and it appeared that 'she was running away' when she was killed.
'She was shot in the back,' Semanchik's sister, Deanna, said. 'She gave so much of her life to other people and she deserved so much better.'
The family recounted the chilling series of events that began after Semanchik ended her relationship with Santos in September 2024.
Semanchik and Santos had only been dating for three months when she ended the relationship, and soon after began being stalked and 'harassed' by the trooper.
'She tried to block him many times and he continued to call her from restricted numbers. He showed up at her work, that's where the car was keyed,' Deanna Semanchik told the outlet.
6 Semanchik was a beloved veterinarian at Long Valley Animal Hospital.
GoFundMe
6 Semanchik earned her undergraduate and veterinary degrees from the University of Wisconsin.
GoFundMe
Advertisement
'He put recording devices in her home, water in her gas tank. He harassed her left and right.'
The victim's mother, Jeannine Semanchik, said her daughter tried to make law enforcement aware of her crazy ex, but nothing was ever done to protect her.
'A lot of agencies failed her. She tried to get restraining orders. Nobody called her back,' Jeannine Semanchik said.
Santos previously worked as a supervisor on Gov. Phil Murphy's protection detail, CBS News reported.
Advertisement
'We are shocked and devastated by this horrific tragedy,' a spokesperson for his office said. 'Due to the law enforcement investigation currently underway, we will refrain from further comment at this time.'
6 Webb was a member of the Pinewald Pioneer Volunteer Fire Company.
Pinewald Pioneer Fire Co.
Semanchik earned her undergraduate and veterinary degrees from the University of Wisconsin and was a beloved veterinarian at Long Valley Animal Hospital, whose passion for helping animals was unmatched.
'Not only was Lauren a phenomenal veterinarian, she was one of the kindest souls you could ever encounter and a friend to us all,' according to a GoFundMe page launched by her co-workers to help with funeral expenses and to honor her memory through charitable donations.
Advertisement
'She was gentle, never judgmental, and gave hugs and hand-holding to families that needed support the most during their most difficult moments.'
Webb was a member of the Pinewald Pioneer Volunteer Fire Company, who 'served our department with dedication and honor,' the fire company wrote on Facebook.
'He held the positions of Chief Engineer, Past Lieutenant, and Past Trustee during his time with the company. His contributions to our company and community will never be forgotten.'
Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée Robeson confirmed the case was being investigated as an act of domestic violence and a targeted double homicide.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Naked man in gimp mask caught on bizarre video prowling quiet town
A naked man wearing nothing but a black gimp mask and sneakers has been caught on creepy video prowling the streets of a quiet seaside town in England. Video of the phantom flasher wearing a bondage hood while stalking the streets of Lytham at night has some shaken locals spluttering into their tea. 'It's a gimp mask, I've watched the footage. I've no idea what he thinks he's doing,' a resident who didn't want to be named told PA Media. Advertisement Footage of a naked man wearing a gimp mask and strolling around a quiet English town at night has shocked locals. Facebook 'In the days after, we saw a young man, fully clothed, walking around the streets, looking up and around, seemingly checking for cameras,' the source said. 'We think it's the same man.' Advertisement A clip of the perv taken from a car's dashcam was shared in a local WhatsApp group — before more footage from the same night was revealed and posted on Facebook. The man is seen calmly walking through the small town's residential streets around 12:50 a.m. on July 18. The man was seen in video from the town of Lytham. Facebook Some residents saw the funny side. Advertisement 'It'll be someone who's lost a bet,' a Facebook user quipped in the comments under the original post. A second person said jokingly, 'It was a hot night, what can I say?' Another commenter said, 'Brilliant. Is he single, asking for a friend.' Police are hunting for the nude culprit, reviewing the footage and conducting house-to-house enquiries. Advertisement 'We are aware of a concerning video circulating on social media of a naked male wearing a face covering walking around Lytham in the early hours of the morning,' a Lancashire Police spokesperson told Lytham St Anne's News. 'This incident was not initially reported to police and has only been brought to our attention after it has been viewed on Facebook.' Anyone with information is urged to get in touch with Lancashire Police.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Crime down in every category in 2024, FBI report says
Crime decreased in every category in 2024, including murder, violent crime and motor vehicle thefts, according to data released by the FBI on Tuesday. It reflects a trend experts have been tracking as reported numbers of violent crimes continue to drop from a spike immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic. While the report included good news, a violent crime still occurred on average every 25.9 seconds in the United States last year, according to the FBI's annual Unified Crime Report, which compiles crime statistics submitted by law enforcement agencies across the country. This year's report used data submitted by 16,675 different agencies, which the FBI said covers a combined population of more than 325 million people, or about 95.6% of U.S. residents. The FBI's report did not venture to say why the violent crime stats decreased. "It's difficult if not impossible for us to say why, and each reporting agency would have a different reason why," an FBI official said Tuesday in response to a question from CBS News during a briefing. The FBI did note it has seen an increase in the number of officers shot in the line of duty. "Between 2021 and 2024, we saw 258 law enforcement officers feloniously killed in the line of duty," the FBI official said. Violent crime, which the FBI defines as murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, was down an estimated 4.5% in 2024 compared to 2023, with each subcategory also seeing a decrease. The murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate decreased 14.9% year over year. Robbery dropped by 8.9%. Rape saw an estimated 5.2% decrease and aggravated assault was down 3%, the report found The murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate dropped for a second straight year, after dropping from 6.5 to 5.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. In 2024, the rate dropped again, to 5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Over the last 20 years, the high mark in the murder rate was recorded in 2020, with 6.7 per 100,000 residents, while the lowest recorded was in 2014, with 4.4 cases per 100,000 people. Analysis from Jeff Asher, a criminal justice data expert and co-founder of consulting firm AH Datalytics, noted that while murder, rape and robberies have fallen to below pre-COVID levels following a large spike during the pandemic, aggravated assaults, while decreasing, remain "stubbornly high." In a shift from previous years, both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office contributed data to the FBI report. LAPD Chief of Detectives Alan S. Hamilton credited community and violence intervention programs in Los Angeles for contributing to the drop in crime there. "We made an investment in the future and I think these are the dividends," he told CBS News in a phone call Monday night. Rodney Harrison, former police commissioner of New York's Suffolk County and a CBS News law enforcement contributor, said some of the drops in violent crime could be attributed to criminals shifting their efforts to online crimes like identity theft. "If they don't have to go out on the street and run drugs and can make money sitting at the computer, some criminals will do that, which presents a new challenge to police," Harrison told CBS News. Property crime also saw a considerable decrease of 8.1% in 2024, the FBI report found, following a 2.4% drop in 2023. Of note, motor vehicle thefts decreased by 18.6% from 2023 to 2024 following several years of increases. It's the largest one-year drop ever recorded in that category, although the overall rate of car thefts is still higher than it was in 2019, according to Asher. Other subcategories of property crime include burglary, down 8.6%, and larceny-theft, down 5.5%. The overall property crime rate in 2024 was the lowest recorded since 1961, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. While the FBI's report is focused on 2024, statistics for the current year are available and show a continuing downward trend, according to analysis from the Council on Criminal Justice. The homicide rate continued to decline in the first half of 2025, lowering the rate in the U.S. to a level it hasn't seen in a decade, the CCJ said. Although the group noted that while the overall numbers are going down, many cities are still seeing higher homicide rates than they did in the first half of 2019. "These numbers are promising but not surprising," Ernesto Lopez, senior research specialist at the CCJ, told CBS News. "After significant increases in violent crime starting in 2020, the decline in all major crime types across all sizes of jurisdictions is promising. These trends are closely aligned with our own findings, which show crime falling last year and continuing to fall in the first six months of 2025." The council also noted the limitations of the FBI's data, which doesn't cover the entire U.S. population and only measures crimes that are reported to law enforcement. Advocates for victims of sexual assault, for example, often note that many rapes go unreported. "The police data is critical, but it's also important to remember that most crimes are not reported to police, so the overall volume is much higher than what's represented here," the CCJ told CBS News. Jacob Rosen contributed to this report.
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Suspect wanted in 'targeted' killings of 4 in Tennessee is captured after manhunt
A murder suspect wanted in connection with the "targeted" July deaths of four people in Tennessee after a baby was discovered abandoned in a person's front yard was captured after a multi-day manhunt. Austin Robert Drummond, 28, was taken into custody, police in Jackson, Tennessee, said Tuesday morning. U.S. Marshals captured him after he was sighted in the area Sunday evening, police said. Drummond, who was last seen on July 29, was wanted on four counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and gun charges in connection with the deaths of Matthew Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. Their bodies were found on July 29 in a wooded area near Tiptonville, north of Memphis, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch. Authorities have not said how they died or identified a possible motive. Speaking to reporters Friday, Rausch said the killings were not a random act of violence. 'It appears, with all the information that we have, that this was a targeted incident,' he said. The deceased were relatives of an infant who was found abandoned roughly 40 miles south of the wooded area in Tiptonville. The child was found in the front yard of a home after Drummond left the baby there and flagged people down to help, Rausch said. He called the move "a sign of compassion." Officials said Friday that the child was safe and being cared for. Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the infant's parents, according to Danny Goodman, the district attorney for Lake and Dyer counties. Rose was the grandmother, and Braydon was the maternal uncle, he said. A relative of the victims said that Drummond used to date a sister of Rose's. In a Facebook post, the relative said that Drummond had been close to their family. 'He has literally been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids every time he has been around us up until this point,' the post said. Drummond was previously convicted of aggravated robbery and served roughly a decade in prison. He was charged with attempted murder after his release last year and was out on bond at the time of the quadruple homicide, Goodman said. Three people described as associates of Drummond's have been arrested and accused of assisting him. Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested Tanaka Brown, 29, on Friday, and Giovontie Thomas, 29, on Saturday. Brown and Thomas, both 29, have been charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, the bureau said in a Saturday statement. Brown also faces one count of tampering with evidence. Dearrah Sanders was also charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. She's accused of helping him after the murders, the bureau said in a news release.
