Ex-Prison Guard In NJ Killed 2 Women, Blamed It On Steroids: Prosecutors

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A former corrections officer who picked his girlfriend and her friend up at Newark Airport, drove the women to a nearby parking lot and shot them to death was sentenced to 50 years in prison last week, authorities said.

John Menendez, 27, of West New York – a former corrections officer in Hudson County – pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter on March 4.

Menendez was sentenced to 25 years for each count on July 22, to be served consecutively in New Jersey state prison. Under the New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Menendez picked up his girlfriend, Anna Shpilberg, 40, of Randolph, and her friend, Luiza Shinkarevskaya, 40, of Newark, in his car on Feb. 21, 2021. The women had just returned from a trip to Mexico, prosecutors said.

Menendez drove the women to an off-airport parking lot, shot Shpilberg in the head, and shot Shinkarevskaya four times. They both died of their injuries, authorities said.

Prosecutors questioned Menendez’s alleged motive in a statement announcing the sentencing:

“Menendez turned himself into police and admitted to shooting both women. Menendez claimed he was taking large amounts of anabolic steroids, and that made him unable to plan or intend to kill. However, numerous text messages between Menendez and his girlfriend in the days leading up to the homicides reflected that he was angry and jealous about their trip to Mexico without him.”

“This was a senseless act of domestic violence that resulted in the tragic death of two women,” assistant prosecutor Austin Edwards said.

“We hope this sentence provides closure to Anna and Luiza’s families and sends a clear message that illegal steroid use is not an excuse for violence,” Edwards added.

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