Bizarre Alleged Murder/Suicide Baffles Neighborhood

Friends and relatives are shocked about the recent alleged murder/suicide of Michael Tabacchi and Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi. After autopsies, Bergen County Prosecutor, John L. Molinelli, said yesterday on Twitter that Tabacchi, 27, had strangled and stabbed his wife, Denise Iran Pars Tabacchi, 41, then stabbed himself in the chest. Authorities said that the tragedy occurred on Friday night around 11 p.m. Their 15-month-old son, August, was found safe in their home at in their home at 595 High Street in Closter, New Jersey.  

Authorities had no knowledge of marital or financial issues facing the couple. Molinelli said that question is part of the investigation, and that there were no signs of forced entry at the house. Autopsies were conducted Saturday. Authorities said that a kitchen knife was found near Michael’s body, but there was no note to suggest a reason for the deaths.

Michael’s parents, James and Silvana Tabacchi, found the bodies after receiving a text from Michael around 11 p.m. Friday night. A neighbor, Kurt Vreeland, said that Michael’s father ran to his house seeking help. Vreeland, who is Closter’s assistant fire chief, said his wife, former Closter Volunteer Ambulance Capt. Lisa Vreeland, rushed over to try and resuscitate the victims, but it was too late. Both were taken to Englewood Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Michael and Denise were married in a civil ceremony at Ridgefield Park Town Hall in May 2013, followed by a church wedding at St. Joseph’s in Demarest last May. I personally knew Denise, so this is especially shocking to me! I worked with Denise several years ago and ran into her from time to time at a local bar where she was a bartender. She was a very sweet, nice person who always made people feel special.

The details of this tragedy are mysterious, indeed. One can formulate and speculate that suicide by stabbing yourself in the chest is rare. Furthermore, it is hard to fathom that a parent would leave a 15-month-old baby in the house like that. All of this seems implausible unless heavy drugs were used, which will not come to light unless the toxicology report is published. And even if that is the case, it could take weeks to get the results.

It is psychologically difficult to stab yourself with the strength needed to do so and follow-through necessary to drive the blade through the hard chest plate, let alone that a person’s instinct is to flinch or hold back to spare him or her from the pain associated with the act. After all, the objective of suicide is to “stop” the pain, emotional or physical, that the person is currently feeling, not to prolong it or make it dramatically worse, as would be the case with stabbing one’s self. That is not to say that it is impossible, though. In 2013, Georgy Kochnev fatally stabbed himself in the heart five times in front of dozens of witnesses, who said that he could still walk and talk for a few minutes after the fifth injury.