A man who once patrolled the halls and cells of the Hudson County Jail in South Kearny will spend 50 years behind bars after he was sentenced July 22 for the murder of his girlfriend and her friend, Essex Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said.
The succeeding at proving on Feb. 16, 2021, John Menendez, 27, of West New York, picked up his girlfriend, 40-year-old Anna Shpilberg of Randolph and her friend, 40-year-old Luiza Shinkarevskaya of Newark, at Newark Airport after they returned from a trip to Mexico.
Menendez drove the victims to an off-airport parking lot where he shot his girlfriend in the head. Menendez then shot Shinkarevskaya four times. They died of their injuries.
Menendez turned himself into police and admitted to shooting both women, claiming he was taking large amounts of anabolic steroids and that made him unable to plan or intend to kill. However, numerous text messages between Menendez and his girlfriend in the days leading up to the homicides reflected he was angry and jealous about their trip to Mexico without him.
“This was a senseless act of domestic violence that resulted in the tragic death of two women. We hope this sentence provides closure to Anna and Luiza’s families and sends a clear message that illegal steroid use is not an excuse for violence,” Assistant Prosecutor Austin Edwards said.
Menendez pled guilty to two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter on March 4.
On Tuesday, July 22, he was sentenced to 25 years for each count, to be served consecutively, in New Jersey State Prison.
Under the state’s No Early Release Act, Menendez must serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Judge Ronald D. Wigler presided over both the trial and the sentencing.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.