A neighbor of the New Jersey executive who allegedly killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life said the deterioration of the family’s once-pristine lawn may have signaled that something was wrong.
David Grodnick, 61, his wife, Lora, 62, and their daughter, Sloane, 24, were found with fatal gunshot wounds inside their home in Montgomery Township, New Jersey.
The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office identified the family on Tuesday and ruled the deaths of Lora and Sloane homicides. David’s death was classified as a suicide.
The New York Post later spoke with 73-year-old neighbor Mian Helaly, who said he became concerned when the family stopped maintaining its landscaping.
“I thought the house was number one in the [neighborhood for] maintaining their lawn,” Helaly told the outlet.
“I think a couple of months or more they were not maintaining it. It was very unusual. It disturbed me.”
Helaly said the Grodnicks had invested heavily in new trees and yard upkeep, with David and Lora often working together to care for the property.
“All of a sudden, I noticed that in recent months they were not focusing on the lawn. The grass was ground out. They were not trimming the trees,” he said.
David Grodnick, pictured here, and his wife, Lora, reportedly stopped maintaining their once meticulously kept lawn before the killings, a neighbor told The New York Post
Lora and Sloane are pictured with rock star Rod Stewart
To Helaly, the neglected yard suggested that “something was not right” and that events were “not going their way.”
He called the deaths “very, very shocking,” saying: “You would never believe a terrible thing like this would happen.”
Authorities were called to the home last Thursday after receiving a request to check on the family.
Police began investigating after they were unable to reach the residents. Officers entered the property on Friday.
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According to the prosecutor’s office, the two women were found in separate bedrooms, while Grodnick was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The office said: “The deceased male was positively identified as David Grodnick, age 61, husband to Lora and father to Sloane.
“His cause of death was a gunshot wound of the head, and the manner of death was ruled a suicide.
“The investigation, which remains ongoing, has yielded that the homicide deaths of both Lora and Sloane Grodnick were an isolated incident and there are no threats to the public from this tragic occurrence.
“No further information will be available for release at this time.”
The Grodnick family’s home in New Jersey is pictured
Officers found the two women in separate bedrooms, Grodnick was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Police started investigating after failing to make contact with the family, and on Friday they made entry into the property
According to Montgomery News, Grodnick worked as a senior vice president for Land Services USA, an insurance agency.
He attended the University of Miami and had a degree in business administration from the school, the outlet reported as well as a BA in English from McDaniel College.
Sloane had graduated from The Hun School, a private boarding school in Princeton, before graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
The family had moved from Princeton to Montgomery Township and were members of the exclusive Bedens Brook Country Club in Skillman, the outlet said.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.
