Authorities Say Wife Of Accused Murderer Possibly Buried Year Ago

PORT RICHEY, FL -- In a surprise announcement Tuesday, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said the wife of a man charged in a triple murder in Tarpon Springs may have also killed his wife a year ago.

Following his arrest in Lakewood, Ohio, on Thursday, Jan. 3, Shelby Svenson, also known as Shelby Nealy, told Tarpon Springs Police detectives that they would find the body of his wife, Jamie Ivancic, 20, buried n the back yard of a home the couple was renting at 10930 Norwood Avenue in Port Richey.

After Jamie Ivancic killed, Svenson then conspired to trick his in-laws, Richard Ivancic, 71, and his wife, Laura Ann, 59, into thinking his wife was still alive, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities believe his in-laws discovered the ruse some time before Christmas. Svenson has admitted to detectives that he killed his in-laws, their 25-year-old son, Nicholas James Ivancic, and the family's three small dogs in their home on Juanita Way in the Meadows mobile home community in Tarpon Springs.

Events came to light on New Year's Day when out-of-town relatives contacted the Tarpon Springs Police Department and asked police to check on the Ivancics because no one had heard from them during the holidays.

When Tarpon Springs Police arrived, they found all three family members and the dogs in an "advanced state of decomposition." The medical examiner estimates they were killed between Dec. 19 and 20.

Shortly after, Svenson became a prime suspect. When they learned that Svenson and the Ivancics previously lived in Lakewood, Ohio, Tarpon Springs Police notified Lakewood Police to be on the lookout for Svenson.

According to the Lakewood Patch, on Thursday morning, Lakewood Police located a 2013 purple Kia Sorrento registered to Laura Ann Ivancic at a home in Lakewood. They staked out the home and took Svenson into custody when he walked out of the house around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Svenson and Jamie Ivancic's 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son were found unharmed inside the house. They were taken into protective custody by Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services.

Tarpon Springs detectives flew to Ohio Friday to interview Svenson who admitted to being involved in the murders of his in-laws and brother-in-law. He also provided clues on where to find the body of his wife.

Pasco County Sheriff's Col. Jeffrey Harrington said Tarpon Springs detectives then contacted the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 2:24 a.m. Friday, Jan. 4 with the tip that the body of Jamie Ivancic may be buried in the back yard of a rental home in the Pasco sheriff's jurisdiction.

The Pasco sheriff secured the scene on Norwood Avenue and called in crime scene investigators, forensic anthropologists and cadaver dogs. They spent the weekend systematically excavating the back yard of the rented home until they located a body on Sunday at about 5:30 p.m.

The medical examiner said Jamie Ivancic died of "violent blunt-force trauma" at the site where her body was found. The exact time of death has not been established but Harrington said she may have died up to a year ago.

That's when Svenson and his children moved out of the rental property, although it's unclear where they were living for the past year.

Authorities say the murder of his wife may have been precipitated by Jamie Ivancic's announcement to her parents a year ago that she planned to take the children and leave Svenson.

In the period after Jamie Ivancic's death, Harrington said Svenson tricked his in-laws into thinking she was still alive by telling them she couldn't come to the phone when they called. Harrington said he also may have sent them text messages and used other deceptions to make them think she was still alive.

Although Svenson hasn't given a motive for the murders, authorities speculate that Jamie Ivancic's parents may have confronted Svenson about their daughter's extended absence.

Svenson has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Tarpon Springs deaths. Murder charges are still pending in the death of Jamie Ivancic. He will be extradited to back to Florida.

Laura Ivancic is the sister of the former police chief of North Royalton, Ohio, James Zindroski, who said the Ivancics moved to Tarpon Springs about five years ago after Richard Ivancic retired from the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. The couple adopted Jamie and Nicholas Ivancic.

Zindroski said Svenson was vague about his past, didn't have a valid driver's license and used "three or four aliases." He also had a history of violence and psychological issues, and had been committed to a mental institution "once or twice," according to Zindroski.

See related stories: Tarpon Springs Triple Homicide: Son-In-Law Admits Role, Cops Say

Body Could Be Wife Of Accused In Tarpon Springs Triple Homicide

Image via Tarpon Springs Police

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says Jamie Ivancic may have been killed up to a year ago.