New Jersey Trooper Suspected of 2 Killings After 74-Day Escalation From Vandalism Complaint
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 22
New Jersey Trooper Suspected of 2 Killings After 74-Day Escalation From Vandalism Complaint
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 22
Summary
Seventy-four days after Lauren Semanchik reported her car had been keyed, prosecutors say Lt. Ricardo Santos shot dead Semanchik and her new boyfriend, Tyler Webb, outside her Pittstown, New Jersey, home on Aug. 1, 2025.
An officer had called Santos at 8 p.m. the night of the vandalism report and told him to avoid all contact with his ex-girlfriend because he "did not take the breakup well," according to a police report.
Santos, 45, was later found dead in an apparent suicide and is the only suspect in the killings.
The case stunned New Jersey law enforcement because Santos had spent two decades in the state police, including in an elite dignitary-protection unit that served three governors.