A Long Island couple were found dead in their home in a suspected murder-suicide, police said Monday.
Paul Trefimovich, 68, fatally shot his domestic partner, 63-year-old Valerie Kopetic, in their Port Jefferson home, then turned the gun on himself, Suffolk County police said in an alert.
Cops responded to the residence, about 50 miles east of Central Park, after Kopetic did not show up for work on Monday morning, police said. Officers arrived around 11 a.m. to find Trefimovich and Kopetic dead from gunshot wounds.
Authorities have not publicly speculated on what led to the murder-suicide. Neighbors were shocked to hear what happened nearby.
“It’s a good neighborhood over there, actually, it’s very good,” a Port Jefferson resident told News 12 Long Island. “I’m very surprised to hear that.”
Kopetic was the executive director of Long Island Adolescent and Family Services, which provides a variety of social services, including residential aid, to children on Long Island. She had been with the agency for 25 years, according to News 12.
Prior to Monday morning, the most recent murder-suicide on Long Island occurred back in June 2025, according to published reports. In that incident, retired Southampton Town police officer Edward Crohan, 62, fatally shot his 63-year-old wife, Stephanie, then killed himself in their Jamesport home, about 25 miles east of Port Jefferson.
