An ex-political candidate was shot dead by her lover’s wife in a suburban Philadelphia home before the attacker turned the gun on herself, police say.
Jennair Gerardot, 48, broke into the house of Meredith Chapman, 33, and ambushed her as she returned home on Monday evening.
Investigators say Mrs Gerardot may have worn a disguise. She sent her husband texts revealing her revenge plan.
Both women were dead when police arrived in response to 911 calls.
Detectives said the gunwoman’s body was found by the kitchen, not far from Mrs Chapman’s. Two bullets had been fired.
Mr Gerardot sometimes posted photos of his wife on his Instagram account
“There’s blood everywhere,” said a 911 dispatcher in a police scanner communication, according to the Delaware News Journal.
Officers encountered Mark Gerardot, the husband, outside the property.
Having read the disturbing texts from Mrs Gerardot, he told police: “My wife might be inside.”
He had planned to meet his lover for dinner that evening, but became concerned when she did not arrive, say investigators.
Radnor Township Police Supt William Colarulo said Mrs Gerardot was “lying in wait” for her victim.
Meredith was married to Luke Chapman, but they were not living together at the time of her death
“You had a man who was married who was having an affair with this other woman,” Supt Colarulo said.
“The wife knew about it, and this was a calculated, planned attack.”
Mrs Chapman, who was also married, ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the state Senate in Delaware in 2016.
Police Lt Christopher Flanagan told a news conference that detectives suspect Mrs Gerardot broke through Mrs Chapman’s front door and cleaned up the glass shards so her victim would not suspect an intruder.