Though neighbors say Douglas Nemeth, the man who killed himself after slashing the throats of his girlfriend and their two kids yesterday, had fallen on hard times, they never expected the 41-year-old to go on such a violent spree. One neighbor told the Daily News, "He was always the quiet one, but never seemed like he'd do something like that. They were in love. I just don't know what the hell went wrong." Mother Victoria Orlik, her three-year-old daughter and almost two-year-old son are still in critical condition at Staten Island University Hospital.
Orlik ran outside with her son after Nemeth snapped, but reportedly attempted to run back inside—with her throat slashed and bleeding—to get her daughter. Orlik's neighbor called the police when she saw Orlik holding her neck, and the police prevented Orlik from reentering the house. After police heard no response from Nemeth, they broke down the door to find him dead in the kitchen, and his daughter brutally slashed in the bedroom. A family friend said, "The two kids are going to be fine and the mother is going to be fine."
Nemeth was an out-of-work chiropractor who seemed frustrated that Orlik, a special education teacher at PS 72, was the family breadwinner. They had been dating for about four years, and one neighbor said, "I never saw him and Victoria arguing, they seemed like such a happy family."
