Ex-Cop Pleads Not Guilty To Bergen Machete Murder, Bail Set At $5M

HACKENSACK, N.J. – The former police officer who allegedly killed his girlfriend with a machete before jumping in front of a train during an apparent suicide attempt pleaded not guilty to murder charges Thursday.

Arthur Lomando, 44, of New York, also pleaded not guilty to violating a restraining order against him by Suzanne Bardzell and had his bail set at $5 million, northjersey.com reported.

Bardzell, 48, was found fatally stabbed inside her vehicle at her New Jersey home in October. Then-Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Bardzell returned home at 3:26 p.m. on Oct. 22 when Lomando allegedly smashed the driver’s side window of her vehicle in Midland Park, and attacked her with a very large, machete-type knife.

Bardzell, a special education teacher in Teaneck and mother of two teenage boys, and Lomando, a former employee of the New York Police Department, met online three years ago and had been dating all that time, Molinelli said.

Bardzell had recently received an order of protection against Lomando after several domestic violence incidents.

Hours after the alleged crime, Lomando jumped in front of a New York City subway train and subsequently had his feet amputated, northjersey.com reported. No 10-percent option was presented as part of the $5 million bail.

Pictured: Arthur Lomando, Suzanne Bardzell.