NJ Man Fatally Stabs Wife, Shoots Himself: Police

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ — Authorities are investigating an incident in which a South Jersey man apparently murdered his wife before taking his own life, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Franklin Township police initially responded to a report of a man who took his own life inside a car outside a home in Franklinville Thursday morning, according to authorities. Responding officers found 46-year-old John Kolonich, deceased in the car from an apparent gunshot wound, authorities said.

While securing the scene, officers received information that Kolonich’s wife, 42-year-old Melissa Kolonich, was found deceased inside the home they shared on nearby Florawood Court, authorities said. Responding officers reported that she had been stabbed, according to authorities.

Each crime scene was secured by the Franklin Township Police Department, which launched a joint investigation alongside the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.

Investigators believe John Kolonich murdered Melissa Kolonich at their home early Thursday morning, authorities said. Some time after that, John Kolonich left the home in his car.

As he was travelling south on Franklinville-Williamstown Road, his car left the road and crashed into the backyard of a home on Sandra Way, authorities said.

After the crash, authorities believe John Kolonich took his own life while still inside the car, using a rifle he had in his possession.

The Gloucester County Medical Examiner determined that Melissa Kolonich died from multiple stab wounds, and the manner of death was homicide. John Kolonich died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

Anyone with additional information relevant to this investigation is encouraged to contact Det. Christopher Popper of the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, at 856-3384-5593, or Det. Alex Fragoso of the Franklin Township Police Department, at 856-694-1415. Information can also be e-mailed to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office at tips@co.gloucester.nj.us.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK). You are not alone. Confidential help is available for free, 24 hours every day.