New York man decapitates wife, 42, ‘puts her head in her lap’ and slits their five-year-old daughter’s throat before hanging himself in grisly double murder-suicide – Tragic end for humanitarian aid worker, Jennifer Schlecht, amid divorce battle
Family of three – husband, wife, and their five-year-old daughter found dead in gruesome double homicide-murder in Harlem, New York on Wednesday night
Police found wife, 42- year-old humanitarian aid worker Jennifer Schlecht, decapitated with her head placed in her lap’ and couples’ five-year-old daughter Abaynesh Schlecht Tedla with her throat slit and head almost severed
Police said 46-year-old Yonathan Tedla beheaded his wife, killed their daughter and hanged himself in a grisly double murder-suicide inside their home in Harlem before hanging himself in grisly double murder-suicide amid divorce battle
Schlecht and Tedla were going through divorce and were due in court for a hearing just hours before the slayings – the husband threatened her saying “he was not going to lose,” according to her dad
Police made the grisly discovery Wednesday night, making a welfare check on the family, after Schlecht’s brother called them when he failed to reach his sister by phone
Tedla reportedly killed Schlecht on the day she was set to serve him with a protection order
Schlecht who served as senior adviser for emergency preparedness and response with the organization, Family Planning 2020, had spent 15 years fighting to protect women and girls in poor, war-torn countries
![Yonathan Tedla [right] f his wife, Jennifer Schlecht [left] 3](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Yonathan-Tedla-right-f-his-wife-Jennifer-Schlecht-left-3.jpg?resize=620%2C672&ssl=1)
Yonathan Tedla [right] and his wife, Jennifer Schlecht [left],were going through a contentious divorce. Tedla gruesome actions reportedly was discovered just hours after a scheduled divorce hearing on Wednesday, during a welfare check on the family by police
Responding officers reported a grisly double-murder suicide in which they say a man decapitated his wife, slit the throat of their five-year-old daughter and then hung himself.
The tragedy was discovered Wednesday night, just hours after a scheduled divorce hearing.
According to the NYPD, at around 9.18pm officers responded to a 911 call requesting a welfare check inside an apartment at 151 West 121st Street in the Harlem section of Manhattan.
Upon entering the unit, officers found the decapitated body of Jennifer Schlecht, 42, in a bathroom and their five-year-old daughter daughter, Abaynesh Schlecht Tedla, also dead inside another room with a knife cut to the neck. A knife was recovered at the scene.
Schlecht’s husband, 46-year-old Yonathan Tedla, was found hanged in the bedroom.
Although couple were going through a breakup, appeared to have no history of domestic violence. However, The NY Daily News reports that in 2016, Schlecht got a temporary restraining order against her husband because he was threatening her.
Stunned and grieving neighbors described the couple and their young daughter as ‘the perfect family’.
![Yonathan Tedla [right] f his wife, Jennifer Schlecht [left], and their daughter, Abaynesh Tedla 1](https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Yonathan-Tedla-right-f-his-wife-Jennifer-Schlecht-left-and-their-daughter-Abaynesh-Tedla-1-.jpg?resize=620%2C630&ssl=1)
Yonathan Tedla [right] first beheaded his wife, Jennifer Schlecht [left] . He then slaughtered their five-year-old daughter, Abaynesh [in her mother’s arms], before hanging himself, police said
Yonathan Tedla and his wife, Jennifer Schlecht lived in this building in Harlem, NYC with their five-year-old daughter. Officers described a tragic double murder-suicide on Wednesday in which Tedla killed his wife and daughter, before committing suicide
NYPD detectives were seen arriving on the scene of the Tedla family double murder-suicide in New York’s Harlem on Thursday
Her daughter suffered a cut so deep to her neck that she was partially beheaded.
Tedla himself was found hanging from a rope tied to a bedroom door.
Jennifer’s father Kenneth Schlecht revealed that his son-in-law had threatened his daughter: “He said he was not going to lose, that he always wins,”
Schlecht reportedly called her father in tears on Sunday over the husband’s threats, the dad said.
“She didn’t know if he would carry on with the threats,” Kenneth Schlecht said.
There was heavy NYPD presence in and around the building where the family lived in harlem on Thursday
“The last time we talked to our daughter was on Sunday. She was in tears,” Schlecht reportedly told NYDailyNews. “She said her husband had indicated that if she served him with divorce papers he would ruin her or take them all out. Which was apparently what he did.”
Schlecht said his daughter met Tedla while she was attending graduate school at Columbia University, where he was a freelancer working in IT services. They couple welcomed their daughter in 2014.
Tedla and Schlecht were reportedly going through divorce proceedings and were due in court for a hearing just hours before the gruesome slayings. Tedla reportedly killed his wife the day she was to serve him with a restraining order
Schlecht’s brother contacted the authorities that evening, asking to check on his sister after failing to reach her by phone.
Neighbors described the alleged killer, Yonathan Tedla, to ABC 7 NY as a friendly and kind man who adored his wife and daughter.
Schlecht, a career humanitarian who fought to protect women and girls in poor, war-torn countries, had a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a Master’s degree in population and family health
According to her LinkedIn page, Schlecht served as a senior adviser for emergency preparedness and response with the humanitarian partnership Family Planning 2020.
Beth Schlachter, executive director of FP2020, in a statement said Jennifer Schlecht devoted her entire career to ensuring that women and girls in crisis situations have access to the best medical care possible including family planning and other reproductive health care,’ it read.
Jennifer Schlecht a career humanitarian who spent her life fighting to protect women and girls in poor, war-torn countries, ironically perished in her own home along with her daughter, a victim of domestic violence
International humanitarian aid worker Jennifer Schlecht [kneeling row in a white shirt had worked on issues affecting women around the world for 15 years
Courtesy ABC 7 NY
She was a leader in the field of family planning and humanitarian response, and chose to work from New York so she could have more time with her darling daughter,’ Schlachter said.
‘She delighted in telling us about her daughter’s first day of kindergarten and the clothes she picked out all by herself. In addition to being an adoring mother, her contribution to the lives of women and girls who are living in crisis situations has been extraordinary.
‘That she should die under such brutal circumstances is beyond understanding. But we will all remember her for her life – and the thousands of lives she enriched – rather than the horrible way she died. We are utterly devastated.’
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