[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
This is so horrific. A “maniac” man fatally shot his ex-wife and her new boyfriend in their Long Island home… all while his daughter waited in the car outside. Jeez!!
According to detectives out on Long Island via WNBC, Daniel Coppola, 50, arrived at his ex-wife Kelly Coppola‘s residence on Brasswood Road at around 11:30 p.m. after calling his 15-year-old daughter and telling her not to be in the house. CBS News reported that Daniel put the teen, whom he shared with Kelly, in his car before heading inside the home — where he shot and killed Kelly and her boyfriend Kenneth Pohlman, 53, while they were asleep.
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Suffolk County Police Detective Lieutenant Kevin Beyrer said via WNBC:
“He reached out to her, told her to get out of the house. He then went into the house and committed these murders.”
Jeez!!
Kenneth’s father, Kenneth Pohlman Sr., heartbreakingly told ABC7NY outside the couple’s home:
“He leaves her in the car, goes behind the bush … and evidently he broke down the door, went up [and] did what he did.”
He then came back moments later to reveal what happened, Kenneth Sr. added:
“[He] came back and told his daughter, ‘I killed your mother and Kenny.’ That’s what he told her.”
How awful! Daniel then fled the scene with his daughter, who quickly texted her friends to share what was happening, Breyer confirmed:
“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.’”
We can’t imagine how scared she must’ve been!
CBS News reported that the teen daughter called 911 at around 11:45 p.m. because her father was threatening to kill himself with a gun at his home. He was taken into custody. Meanwhile, when her friends failed to get in touch with her mother, they also dialed 911 at around 11:54 p.m., telling the police that the couple’s daughter had left her mother’s home with her dad without her mom knowing. That’s when police arrived to find the bodies. Kenneth’s brother, Tom Pohlman, alleged to WNBC:
“Two bullets into the door to get into the house and then multiple bullets upstairs.”
He also claimed:
“He was a jealous ex-husband. My brother made [Daniel’s] ex-wife happy and he was not happy about that… When they first started dating a year ago, there were numerous, there were numerous threats.”
On the now-deceased couple, he added:
“She brought the best out of him, he brought the best out of her. They were very happy.”
Daniel was ultimately arrested at his St. James home about a mile away from the crime scene and underwent a mental health evaluation after making suicidal statements, per police via the New York Post. He has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
It’s unclear what motivated this attack, but the couple had finalized their divorce about a year or two ago, per cops. Detective Beyrer said:
“Apparently the divorce is final [and] apparently it was a contentious divorce.”
That said, there was no orders of protection issued against the man. Cops were called for a non-criminal domestic dispute between the pair while they were married, though. Despite no police records, Kenneth’s family described Daniel as an abusive “maniac” with his brother telling CBS News:
“From what she would say, he abused her.”
According to him, Kenneth and Kelly met after Kenneth (who was a father of three) lost his wife to cancer several years ago. He was remembered as a romantic who used to hang love letters on his bedroom wall. A friend of his also called him a “great family man” and an “awesome workout buddy,” heartbreakingly telling News 12 Long Island:
“He didn’t show up at the gym this morning. I shot him a text and I got no response from him. Now I know why.”
Oof.
Tom also reflected to CBS News:
“Her ex-husband shot down his door and ran upstairs and shot him and her point-blank. … How do you wrap your head around it?”
So sad! Our hearts go out to this family, especially all the children who just lost a parent and this poor daughter who was caught in the middle of it all. May they rest in peace.
You can see more about the killings and hear from the families (below):
So terrible.
R.I.P.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
For resources on mental health, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
[Image via Movieclips/YouTube]
