'It Was Not His Time:' Toms River Men Mourn Father Killed In VA

TOMS RIVER, NJ — John Menna Sr. was a man with a big heart and a quick joke. He loved the outdoors and believed in the power of being positive.

Now his sons, John Jr. and Thomas, who live in Toms River, are left with grief and having to pick up the pieces after John Sr., a former Red Bank resident, was found dead in his home in Virginia, the victim of a homicide according to authorities in that state.

"I am overwhelmed with grief and heartbroken over the loss of my father," John Menna Jr. wrote in a public tribute to his father. "He didn’t deserve to have his life stolen from him. We didn’t deserve to lose out on all our future family moments together. I still can’t believe that all of this is real, that I will never be able to hug my father and say 'I love you' again."

John Menna Sr., 72, was found June 4 in his home in Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, about an hour southeast of Roanoke, the Bedford County Sheriff's office said. Dalton W. Holbrook, of Greenwood, Indiana, was arrested Saturday in Tennessee; he is charged with second-degree murder and grand larceny in connection with Menna's death, the sheriff's office said.

While the investigation into Menna's death continues, Menna's two sons are left to pick up the pieces.

"He was a vibrant man with a love for life," wrote Ashley Palmiere, John Jr.'s sister-in-law, who established a GoFundme campaign to help John and Thomas with the expenses of burying their father and moving his belongings back to New Jersey.

John Menna Sr. was born and raised in Red Bank, and had lived there for many years before he moved to Virginia several years ago. He loved the outdoors, Palmiere said, and loved to hunt and fish and go boating near his home in Virginia. He also worked at a hardware store.

It was when he failed to show up for work on June 4 that his body was discovered.

Palmiere said his sons were notified John Sr. had not reported for work. When they tried to contact him with no success, a friend went to Menna's home and found him "clearly injured and not responsive," she said.

The Bedford County sheriff's office said the friend called 911; officers responded and found Menna had died and his white Hyundai Sonata was missing.

Holbrook was identified as the suspect the following day and arrested in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Saturday, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office said. The arrest was the result of collaboration among the sheriff's office and the Bedford County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, with the help of law enforcement officers in Georgia and Tennessee, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals.

Palmieri called Menna's death "any family's worst nightmare."

"John Sr.'s life had been needlessly stolen from him as a result of a violent crime. His home was broken into, items of extreme emotional and monetary value to the family were stolen, and John's life was lost in the process," she wrote.

"John was a contributing member of society not ready to leave us, it was not his time," Palmiere wrote. "He had so much life left to live, and so much more to give this world."

"I am devastated that my daughter will never get to be spoiled by her grandfather or that my brother will not have our father by his side when he gets married," John Jr. wrote. "This is not how our lives were meant to be."

He described his father as "a man who always had a smile on his face and was quick to tell a joke. A heart so big he would give you the shirt off his own back. A deep belly laugh that would fill a room."

Palmiere said she started the GoFundme to cover not only the funeral expenses but also for "sensitive, unusual expenses related to the manner of his death that require payment at this time," along with attorney's fees and bills associated with Menna's home, and the costs to relocate his belongings to New Jersey.

"My father was a great man," John Jr. wrote. "Despite all our family has had to endure my father would say, 'Be positive and positive things will come.' It’s hard in this moment but I will do my best to see the positive. I will try to live my life always with a smile just as my father did. I love you dad, and I will miss you dearly."

Palmiere said the brothers "would never ask for help on their own so I am asking for them." Anyone who would like to contribute to the GoFundme can do so here.

GoFundme is a Patch promotional partner.

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.