Vermont cop, 58, shoots dead his ex-girlfriend, 51, while on duty then turns the gun on himself after failing to rekindle their relationship
A police officer shot dead his ex-girlfriend then turned the gun on himself on duty when he failed to rekindle their romance after he separated from his wife.
Berlin, Vermont, officer Jeffrey Strock, 58, killed 51-year-old Julie Fandino, a mother-of-three and a grandmother, at her home in Barre on Monday afternoon.
Her landlord called the cops when he noticed a parked police cruiser from the nearby town of Berlin, stopped to investigate and discovered two bodies.
Investigators have learned that Fandino and Strock were in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship for about six years that ended in December 2019 when the cop married another woman and Fandino relocated to Barre with her daughter.
Strock later separated from his wife and had been trying to resume his relationship with Fandino, but the woman was not interested, police say.
Officials in Vermont says part-time Berlin police officer Jeffrey Strock, 58 , shot dead his ex-girlfriend Julie Fandino, 51 , and then himself on Monday
Fandino's landlord in Barre Town, Vermont, discovered the bodies on the porch after spotting Strock's police cruiser parked outside the home on Websterville Road
The preliminary investigation determined that Strock shot and killed Fandino, who lived in the Barre Town home, and then killed himself.
Strock had worked as an officer with the Berlin Police Department for about 20 years. He also had worked part time as a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, police said.
According to a timeline that was released by the Vermont State Police on Tuesday, Strock signed on duty just before 11am on Monday, and between noon and 1pm made four traffic stops along Vermont Route 62.
At 1.40pm, the officer arrived at Fandino's apartment. About 10 minutes later, Strock used his .45 caliber duty weapon to shoot his ex-girlfriend multiple times on the porch outside the back door, before turning the gun on himself.
Strock and Fandino were in an on-and-off relationship for six years. In December 2019, the cop married another woman, but he later separated from her
'It’s fair to say that there were certainly a lot of ups and downs in the relationship between her and Mr. Strock,' Major Dan Trudeau, with the Vermont State Police, said during a press briefing on Tuesday, as The Barre Monpelier Times Argus reported.
Strock also had some 'potential' relationships with other women beside his estranged wife and Fandino, according to police.
'It’s kind of a little bit complicated,' Trudeau said.
Investigators do not know at this point whether Strock arrived at Fandino's home planning to kill her, or whether he did it on impulse in the moment.
Fandino, a mother-of-three and a grandmother, was not interested in getting back together with Strock
Records show that Strock became certified as a part-time police officer with the Berlin Police Department in 2003, and with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department in 2006.
Trudeau said police have looked into Strock’s personnel files in Berlin and at the sheriff’s department and did not find anything indicative of violent behavior, reported Vermont Digger.
He said family and friends of Strock's reported that in his private life he may have been struggling with depression and self-harm, but as a law enforcement officer he was a private person and not well-known by his colleagues.