Shocking New Jersey murder mystery ends in suicide as chilling evidence emerges

🚨 NJ man accused of killing woman dies by suicide as police arrive to arrest him

💔 Victim left chilling letter fearing for her life before disappearance

📹 Surveillance video shows timeline of alleged murder

LYNDHURST — A New Jersey man accused of killing his “wife” in Union County refused to let police arrest him and instead died by suicide.

Brendan Trivisonno, of Lyndhurst, married Janaina Freire Goncalves in 2024, police said in an affidavit filed last week.

But the marriage wasn’t legal in New Jersey, as Trivisonno had married another woman just three weeks earlier, the same affidavit said.

Goncalves, a mother of one older son, was reported as missing on March 13, 2025.

The 48-year-old Elizabeth resident was last seen alive a few days earlier.

When interviewed by police, Trivisonno’s legal wife said she was aware of an extramarital affair between her husband and the victim.

Trivisonno fled as police arrived, shot himself

Over a year later, Trivisonno was about to be charged with first-degree murder when officers from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and Lyndhurst Police pulled up at his Lyndhurst home on Thursday at 5:33 a.m.

Instead, the 38-year-old ran inside and barricaded the door.

Bergen County Regional SWAT Team responded, but as law enforcement tried to negotiate with him, Trivisonno shot himself in the head while inside and died.

Letter admitting fear of Trivisonno found in safety deposit box

Evidence collected by police was laid out in the affidavit and criminal complaint prepared for Trivisonno before his deadly standoff.

Investigators said a safety deposit box held by Goncalves contained $11,000 cash, her birth certificate, U.S. citizenship and immigration documents and a hand-written letter, stating she was in fear of Trivisonno and that if the letter was found, something happened to her.

Outdoor security video shows victim's alleged last moments in public

Surveillance video from March 10, 2025 around 7:38 p.m. shows Goncalves letting Trivisonno into her apartment building along New Point Road. They walk up the stairs and inside.

Trivisonno arrived in a white Ford van, marked with "Triv Construction.”

A neighbor who also lives in the building told police that sometime in the hours to follow, she heard arguing coming from the victim’s apartment, so loud it was “like there were 100 people” inside.

Just before 11 p.m. Trivisonno is seen on the outside surveillance camera, leaving the apartment building, carrying a large duffle bag and white garbage bag.

He drove off, but then came back in his van around 2:11 a.m. — and emerges from the building about four hours later with garbage bags, which he put into a passing garbage truck, before going back inside.

Just before 7 a.m., Trivisonno comes outside to get a large black storage container with a yellow top from his van, which he carries inside easily, by himself, as seen on the video.

At 9:16 a.m., Trivisonno comes out briefly to move the victim’s car.

He drives off around 9:45 a.m., only to return and ultimately park again down the street.

Read More: Former NJ man charged in 1990 Sussex County cold case murder

Trivisonno's worker asked to come help move heavy tote

At 10:38 a.m., an employee of Trivisonno’s meets him outside and they enter the building.

Shortly after, they emerge carrying the black storage container with a yellow lid, now zip-tied completely around.

The worker told police that Trivisonno asked him to come help him move something because it was too heavy to move by himself.

Police searched Goncalves’ home after she was reported missing and found her wallet, license and passport all in order.

Investigators found blood splatter and droplets in the victim’s bedroom.

Tested against inner cheek swabs from Trivisonno and the victim’s son during the investigation, the collected blood showed to be a mixture of the victim’s and Trivisonno’s DNA.

The victim’s cell phone and bank activity both ended around the time that she disappeared.

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