Daniel Coppola, St James, Long Island man, shoots dead his ex wife, Kelly Coppola and her new boyfriend, Kenneth Pohlman at their Suffolk County, NY home after contentious divorce. Suspect now faces second degree murder.
An ex husband fatally shot his former wife and her new lover inside their million-dollar Long Island home Wednesday night following a bitter divorce battle, officials said.
Daniel Coppola, 50, of St James, allegedly gunned down the couple — Kelly Coppola, 50, and Kenneth Pohlman, 53 — at their St. James residence around 11:45 p.m. while he warned his 15 year old daughter to sit in his car outside 21 Brasswood Road, according to police.
‘The daughter was in the house and he reached out to her and told her to get out of the house,’ Detective Lt. Kevin Breyer told reporters.
Ex husband started threatening ex wife when she started dating new boyfriend, before shooting them dead
Ex husband now faces 2 murder charges
Daniel Coppola then fled the crime scene while the teen — whom he shared with his ex-wife — grew worried about her mom.
‘As he’s driving her, she is communicating with friends via text saying, ‘I don’t know what my father did. I don’t know how my mother is,” Breyer added.
Her friends called her mom but were unable to get in touch with her — leading them to call 911.
A regard of the crime scene led to responding officers finding the front door of the residence forced open, where they then came upon the macabre scene of two lifeless bodies.
Daniel Coppola was later arrested at his St. James home about a mile away from the murder scene and was under mental evaluation after making suicidal statements, police said.
Coppola now faces two counts of second degree murder, patch reported.
No order of protection
The bloodshed came after the former couple finalized their divorce a year or two ago, according to Breyer.
‘Apparently the divorce is final [and] apparently it was a contentious divorce,’ he added, without elaborating.
Police said there was no order of protection issued against the bitter ex, but they were called for a non-criminal dispute between the pair while they were married.
Kelly Coppola and Pohlman shared the six-bedroom, four-bath, $1.1 million home, officials said.
A friend of Pohlman’s, Geoff Boyle, remembered him as a ‘great family man’ and ‘awesome workout buddy.’
‘He didn’t show up at the gym this morning,’ he told News 12 Long Island.
‘I shot him a text and I got no response from him. Now I know why.’
‘Kenny was a dear friend of my ex husband and he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet,’ one friend said following the announcement.
It is understood Pohlman has three children of his own who are now orphaned after their mother died from cancer.
