Ex-NJ Cop Shot Husband Dead Demonstrating How To Kill Snake: Report

VERNON, NJ — Trial began this week for a retired North Jersey police officer in the fatal shooting of his husband, also a retired cop, in their Sussex County home.

Former Tenafly officer Joseph Grieco told investigators that his gun went off accidentally when he was demonstrating how to shoot a snake after a night out, according to a New Jersey Advance Media report citing court documents.

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The 38-year-old faces a charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter with extreme indifference to human life.

He and his husband John Kelly had been out to dinner and met up with friends the night of July 25, 2023 before going back to their apartment for drinks, the NJ.com report said.

Investigators said Grieco brought out a handgun at some point, and continued handling it even after he "was told multiple times that the weapon looked loaded," the report said. At some point, the gun went off and a bullet struck Kelly, 44, once in the chest.

Grieco "appeared to be intoxicated" at the scene, the NJ.com report said. He told officers that he knew the gun was loaded and should never be pointed at anyone, according to court records.

Officials said Kelly, a retired New York City Police Department officer, later died at a hospital in Warwick, N.Y. The two had been married for 14 years and were in the process of building a mountaintop home on a property bordering New York State, according to Kelly's obituary.

Prosecutors will most likely rest their case on Thursday, with the defense starting their presentation on Monday, said a spokesperson for the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office.

Grieco began his career as an EMT with the Borough of Tenafly in 2008 before transferring to the police department in 2009, and worked as an officer for 14 years, according to state pension records.

In his obituary, Kelly's family remembered his quick wit, exaggerated imitations, and "love for everything Christmas."