Husband Who Killed Himself And Wife Battled Depression For Years, Reports Say

Scott Sabia had battled depression for years before he murdered his wife, Michele, and then killed himself Wednesday night, according to reports.

Scott Sabia, 45, shot Michele on the front lawn of their Carlstadt home Wednesday night at after 6 p.m. He then went back inside and shot himself as police and a Bergen County SWAT team surrounded the house, authorities said.

The SWAT team made several attempts to contact Sabia throughout the incident, said Gurbir S. Grewal, Bergen County’s acting prosecutor.

Related: Bergen Husband And Wife Dead In Murder-Suicide: Prosecutor

Michele Sabia, 44, taught first-grade in the Rutherford public school system. Superintendent Jack Hurley said the district mourns “the tragic loss of our colleague, teacher and friend."

“Please keep Ms. Sabia’s children, family, and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” Hurley said in an announcement on the district’s website.

The couple’s three children — ages 14, 11, and 9 — escaped the incident unharmed.

“He had depression,” Geri Sabia said of her cousin, NJ.com reported. “He was working through it and I guess something just snapped.”

Carlstadt police said they were never called to the Union Street home on a domestic violence report until the shooting Wednesday, The Record reported.

Michele Sabia told a neighbor that her husband was violent and that she saw bruises on her body, according to the report.

Grewal said the standoff ended after 10 p.m. when a SWAT team went inside the house and found Scott Sabia’s body; police tried for about an hour to contact him.

According to Scott Sabia’s Facebook page, he and Michele were separated, but neighbors said in published reports that the two had recently gotten back together.

Counselors will be available at Washington School in Rutherford on Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. for faculty, staff, parents, and students.