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UPDATE: Pro Poker Player Dies In 28-Floor Plunge From High-Rise Above The Hudson UPDATE: Pro Poker Player Dies In 28-Floor Plunge From High-Rise Above The Hudson
Update: Pro Poker Player Dies In 28-Floor Plunge From High-Rise Above The Hudson His fellow poker professionals were becoming increasingly concerned about Matthew Marafioti’s mental health when it all ended tragically last week. Marafioti, a 33-year-old Toronto native who reportedly won multiple millions in his poker-playing career, had a very public battle with his demons. Recent social media posts were filled with an insistence that “social justice” gangsters were after him as he fought in court to gain joint custody of his young son. Shortly after 11 a.m. last Friday, Marafioti dove head-first to his death from a friend’s 28th-floor balcony at the Winston Towers, a …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
14-Year-Old NJ Boy Said Nothing Before Deadly Leap From Hudson Yards Vessel, Report Says 14-Year-Old NJ Boy Said Nothing Before Deadly Leap From Hudson Yards Vessel, Report Says
14-Year-Old NJ Boy Said Nothing Before Deadly Leap From Hudson Yards Vessel, Report Says A 14-year-old New Jersey boy leapt to his death from The Vessel at Hudson Yards in New York City Thursday. The teen was with his parents, sister and grandmother, and said nothing before the jumped around 12:50 p.m., the New York Post reports. Police did not disclose the boy's identity, however, NJ1015 says he was from Livingston. This is the fourth suicide at the building in the last 18 months, and could prompt The Vessel to close, the outlet said. “We are heartbroken by this tragedy and our thoughts are with the family of the young person who lost his life,” Hudson Yards spokeswoman Kimb…

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by Cecilia Levine
News
PAPD, NYPD Rescue Would-Be Jumper From GWB PAPD, NYPD Rescue Would-Be Jumper From GWB
Papd, Nypd Rescue Would-Be Jumper From GWB A suicidal New York man was rescued from the George Washington Bridge and brought to a hospital for a psychological evaluation Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Port Authority police “received a report from 911 of a suicidal man, 51, on the bridge,” PAPD spokeswoman Lenis Valens said. “Both the PAPD and NYPD canvassed the span and found him on the southern pedestrian walkway near the New York tower,” she said. Port Authority police took him into custody before an EMS unit took him to the hospital. ****** The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis ce…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Secaucus PD Properly Handled Suicidal Gunman Who Fired At Them, Grand Jury Finds Secaucus PD Properly Handled Suicidal Gunman Who Fired At Them, Grand Jury Finds
Secaucus PD Properly Handled Suicidal Gunman Who Fired At Them, Grand Jury Finds As expected, a grand jury found that Secaucus police bore no responsibility in the death of a gunman who exchanged shots with them before turning the weapon on himself, authorities announced Tuesday. Officers responding to a shots-fired call in the 300 block of Sea Isle Key in the Harmon Cove development on Dec. 1, 2019 found town resident Anthony Rosso, 68, armed with a handgun, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said. Rosso opened fire at the officers, who shot back, grazing his arm, Bruck said. He then shot himself in the head, the attorney general said. Rosso was prono…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
DOUBLE SUICIDE: Men From NJ, PA Found Dead At Gianni Versace's Former Mansion In Miami DOUBLE SUICIDE: Men From NJ, PA Found Dead At Gianni Versace's Former Mansion In Miami
Double Suicide: Men From NJ, PA Found Dead At Gianni Versace's Former Mansion In Miami Men from Pennsylvania and New Jersey died in an apparent double suicide at fashion icon Gianni Versace's former mansion in Miami -- nearly 24 years to the day the Italian designer was killed on the building's front steps, authorities announced. Housekeeping found the bodies of Adam Rashap, 31, of Randolph, New Jersey, and Alexander Gross, 30, of York, Pennsylvania, inside of The Villa Casa Casuarina luxury hotel around 1:20 p.m., law enforcement in Miami said. Miami Beach spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said the deaths are being investigated as suicides. Serial killer Andrew Cunanan …

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by Nicole Acosta & Cecilia Levine
News
Bethlehem Police Officer Matthew Ragusa Who Died By Suicide Gave Others Hope Bethlehem Police Officer Matthew Ragusa Who Died By Suicide Gave Others Hope
Bethlehem Police Officer Matthew Ragusa Who Died By Suicide Gave Others Hope The Lehigh Valley community is mourning the loss of a Bethlehem police officer who died by suicide on July 4. Matthew Ragusa was "a beckon of light to countless citizens who needed hope in their darkest hour," wrote Robert Corsi. Corsi organized a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses and other needs for his wife Stephanie, and three sons, Xavier, 13, Braxton, 10, and Lex, 6. The campaign had raised more than $33,000 as of Thursday evening. Matthew RagusaGoFundMe photo Prior to joining the Bethlehem Police Department in 2015, Ragusa served as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Cor…

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by Nicole Acosta
News
Students Petition To Save Graduation Seat For Bergen Classmate Who Died By Suicide Students Petition To Save Graduation Seat For Bergen Classmate Who Died By Suicide
Students Petition To Save Graduation Seat For Bergen Classmate Who Died By Suicide A Bergen County teen who took his own life won't be honored at his high school's upcoming graduation ceremony, prompting protest from students and community members. Instead, there will be a moment of silence, district officials said. A memorial service honoring 16-year-old Jordan Falco during the 2021 graduation ceremony next Tuesday would "set a bad precedent," a Change.org petition quotes Northern Valley Demarest High School Principal Dr. Timothy Gouraige as saying.  Gouraige, in his defense, told Daily Voice that it was "a district decision, not a building decision," and denied saying…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
TRIBUTE: Community Mourns Sudden Loss Of Downingtown Football Star TRIBUTE: Community Mourns Sudden Loss Of Downingtown Football Star
Tribute: Community Mourns Sudden Loss Of Downingtown Football Star Loved ones, classmates, teammates and others in the Downingtown community will gather Wednesday night to grieve the loss, too soon, of one of their own. Many have been collecting memories of Downingtown West High School football star Costantino Villari since hearing the devastating news that the 17-year-old junior died by suicide when he jumped from the Route 322 bridge on Monday. “Cos” was a “sweet soul” who had the ability to “to change the room's energy all on his own,” wrote Kiana Taniguchi. "He knew the right words and just the right jokes when you needed them most…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Prosecutor: Camden Man 'Staged' Girlfriend's Death To Look Like A Suicide Prosecutor: Camden Man 'Staged' Girlfriend's Death To Look Like A Suicide
Prosecutor: Camden Man 'Staged' Girlfriend's Death To Look Like A Suicide A 28-year-old South Jersey man is accused of staging his girlfriend's death to make it look like a suicide, authorities said. Edwin Zavaleta of Camden has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, Acting Camden County Prosecutor Jill S. Mayer and Camden County Police Chief Gabriel Rodriguez said on Wednesday. Police responded to a home on the 1000 block of S. 6th St. at 8:45 a.m. on Monday on a report of a woman found unresponsive, they said.  Police officers found Tonia Yamileth Zavaleta, 25, of Camden, in an upstairs bedroom with a visible injury to her neck…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
UPDATE: Gunman Among 2 Dead In Lehigh Valley Shooting Spree UPDATE: Gunman Among 2 Dead In Lehigh Valley Shooting Spree
Update: Gunman Among 2 Dead In Lehigh Valley Shooting Spree A gunman committed suicide after going on a shooting spree that killed a truck driver in Lehigh Valley Wednesday morning, authorities said. The gunman -- the driver of a white Toyota Corolla -- first opened fire at a vehicle driven by a woman on Route 22 near Cedar Crest Boulevard sometime around 4:50 a.m. in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin said. The Toyota driver pulled into the Wawa parking lot and shot at a Jeep driver parked in the back, who suffered non life-threatening injuries, before shooting a tractor trailer driver pumping gas, killing…

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by Cecilia Levine
Lifestyle
Support Surges For Family Of Former Morristown Officer, Dad Of 3 Who Died Of Suicide Support Surges For Family Of Former Morristown Officer, Dad Of 3 Who Died Of Suicide
Support Surges For Family Of Former Morristown Officer, Dad Of 3 Who Died Of Suicide Support is surging for the family of a North Jersey marine, actor, police officer and father of three who died of suicide. Longtime Morris County resident Brett Smith, 53, died April 8 after a “brief but torturous” battle with mental illness, his obituary says. Described as a “Morristown guy through and through,” Smith graduated from the district and went on to pursue his dream of “becoming a star,” according to his memorial. In addition to accumulating more than 30 television and film credits, Smith enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in Desert Storm as part of the 2nd L…

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by Valerie Musson
News
‘Daddy Killed Mommy’: Carlstadt Gunman In Murder-Suicide Told Daughter It Was Only A Dream ‘Daddy Killed Mommy’: Carlstadt Gunman In Murder-Suicide Told Daughter It Was Only A Dream
‘Daddy Killed Mommy’: Carlstadt Gunman In Murder-Suicide Told Daughter It Was Only A Dream UPDATE: The 5-year-old daughter of a convicted sex offender who died by suicide after an hours-long SWAT standoff at his Carlstadt home on Saturday was there when he shot and killed his ex-wife the night before, authorities said. The little girl apparently told her grandparents, who lived upstairs, that James Cox had killed Massiel Deoleo, 34, of Mahwah, in the downstairs apartment of the family's 6th Street home sometime Friday night. “Daddy killed Mommy,” she told them, but said Cox had assured her that it was only a nightmare, responders said. Police got the girl and the grandparents o…

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by Jerry DeMarco