NJ officer charged with murder: Thousands raised for families

Thousands of dollars have been raised for the surviving family members of two Morris County women, who prosecutors said were shot to death by a jealous Hudson County corrections officer.

Anna Shpilberg, of Randolph, and Luiza Shinkarevskaya, of Riverdale, both 40, were found separately on the night of Feb. 16 shortly after returning from a trip together, a criminal complaint and affidavit in the case said.

Shinkarevskaya was buried on Sunday, according to an update on the GoFundMe campaign set up by Charles Smith. The page had raised just over $6,000 as of Wednesday.

Separately, a GoFundMe campaign coordinated by Roman Khodik as a college fund for Shpilberg’s son, Daniel Knigin, had collected more than $49,000 as of Wednesday.

John Menendez, of West New York, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and weapons offenses in the shooting deaths of Shpilberg and Shinkarevskaya.

The 24-year-old Menendez had been dating Shpilberg, according to police. Her body was found in the passenger seat of her parked car near Newark Penn Station.

As of Wednesday, Menendez was being held in Essex County Jail, pending a detention hearing in Superior Court.