Crime & Safety

Ex-Cop, Wife Shot Dead Inside Parsippany Home

Chester and Rosaria Andraka, both FDU employees, found Monday morning.

A husband and wife were found shot to death in their Parsippany home Monday morning, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said.

Chester Andraka, 46, and his wife, Rosaria Andraka, 43, were each found shot to death in their Medford Road home Monday at about 10 a.m., according to a statement released by Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp.

Chester Andraka, who worked at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. and taught at Fairleigh Dickinson University, was a former Det./Sgt. with the Caldwell and Essex County police departments, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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Andraka was a part-time adjunct instructor at FDU, according to the university.

Rosaria Andraka was also employed at FDU as an advisor and the honors program administrator, according to her LinkedIn profile.

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"The University is shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic death of two employees, which happened off campus earlier today," according to a statement released by FDU. "The University is cooperating with local authorities. As this is a matter under police investigation, we ask members of the media to direct all questions to the Morris County Prosecutor’s office."

Caldwell Police declined to comment on Andraka's time on the borough's police force, but did confirm he retired from the department as a detective/sergeant in November 2009. 

Andraka joined the department in 1991 and retired with an annual pension of $67,015.32, according to a 2011 report from the Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS). 

North Caldwell Police Chief Mark Deuer, who knew Andraka and his wife, said Monday night he was shocked to hear the news of their deaths.

"All I can say is good things about Chet," Deuer said. "I’ve known him for many years. He was nothing but professional—nice, friendly, outgoing."

Andraka joined Novatris in 2012 after working as a contractor for the East Hanover company for two years, a spokesman told NJ.com.

In a Jan. 10 post below a photo of the couple, Chester Andraka wrote on his Facebook page, "my is wife simply gorgeous, more beautiful now than the day I met her."

Parsippany Police officers made the discovery during a welfare check after Chester Andraka did not arrive at work Monday morning, Knapp said.

When officers arrived at the home, the doors were locked but a body on a couch was seen through a window, Knapp said. Police broke open the door and found the bodies in the family room, Knapp said. The couple each sustained a gunshot wound, Knapp said.

The investigation remains ongoing and no further information was immediately available.

Medford Road was shut down Monday afternoon at the corner of Brooklawn Drive, not far from Route 202 as multiple agencies investigated the shooting.

According to Parsippany Officer Earl Kinsey, a spokesman for the department, authorities are "not looking for a suspect and there is no danger to the public."

Patch will continue to update this story.


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