Sean Armstead was a New York police officer who is accused of murdering his wife’s new lover Edward Wilkins after tracking them down to a hotel.
Wallkill police identified the two deceased men at the scene as Armstead, a 36-year-old male and Port Jervis resident who “was employed as a police officer with the New York City Police Department,” and Edward Wilkins, 20, of Wurtsboro. A Glock 19 handgun and several spent shell casings were found at the scene, police wrote in a news release.
The New York Post described the deaths as a “horrific love triangle gone awry” and reported, through law enforcement sources, that police believe Armstead tracked down his wife and Wilkins at a hotel and murdered Wilkins.
Armstead was off duty at the time, the Post reported.
Here’s what you need to know:
Armstead Killed Himself at the Scene
FacebookSean Armstead and his wife
According to the Post, police believe that Armstead shot Edward Wilkins, 20, to death near a La Quinta Inn in Wallkill, New York.
He had followed his wife, Alexandra Vanderheyden, 35, and Wilkins to the hotel, according to The Post.
She believes he used her cell phone to track her, The Post reported.
In the press release, the Town of Wallkill Police Department said that the incident was a “murder suicide” that occurred on May 8, 2022, at 10:34 p.m.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting at 567 Route 211 East. Upon arrival they found two deceased males in the parking lot.
ABC7 also reported that police think Armstead “suspected the victim was having an affair with his wife or girlfriend.” The television station reported that Armstead “was assigned to PSA 8 in the Bronx.”
Vanderheyden’s LinkedIn page says she is the owner and operator of Gotham Canine Club in New York. She previously worked for various stores in customer experience and creative development.
Armstead Is Accused of Crashing Into the Pair’s Car Outside a Buffalo Wild Wings
LinkedInAlexandra Vanderheyden
Daily Mail reported that Armstead confronted his wife and Wilkins at the La Quinta, but they took off in a car.
He chased after them in his Dodge Charger and “slammed into them right outside the bar” for Buffalo Wild Wings, according to Daily Mail.
A guest who witnessed that moment told Daily Mail that both men emerged from vehicles with Armstead chasing down Wilkins and shooting him to death.
“I heard eight shots. The cop shot him multiple times until he was dead,” the guest told Daily Mail. “Then the cop, in shooting himself, landed on top of the body. They were both on top of one another in the same spot in a pool of blood.”
The guest told Daily Mail, “The woman was screaming and running in and out of Buffalo Wild Wings. She was crying hysterically, it looked like she was going to pass out.”
CBS interviewed a witness named Tommy who said, “The first time was like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
The network cited police sources in saying that Armstead was following his wife and Wilkins in his personal vehicle and that investigators believed that Wilkins was “romantically involved with Armstead’s wife.”
Wilkins ran to the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings. “I mean, the smell of the gunpowder was so heavy,” a witness named Jen told CBS.
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