Investigators are doing ballistics tests to see if the doctor accused of gunning down another doctor and then killing himself in Voorhees, New Jersey on Wednesday, is linked to the murder of his girlfriend.
Dr. Giocondo Navek ambushed Dr. Payman Houshmandpour in front of his home on Wednesday as Houshmandpour was heading to work in his car, according to the Camden County Prosecutor. Witnesses say Navek shot Houshmandpour multiple times and fled. A neighbor called 911 with the license plate number on the Nissan Navek was driving. When police caught up to him less than a mile away and approached him, they say Navek shot himself to death.
Now they’re trying to determine if Navek is connected to the shooting death of his girlfriend, Shawna D. Givens. Her body was found in her Fayetteville, North Carolina home on Wednesday afternoon. Police discovered the body when they went there on a “wellness” check. The hospital she worked at called police when Givens didn’t show up for work. Investigators are waiting on autopsy results to determine when she died.
Givens, 35, and Navek, 39, both worked at the Womack Army Medical Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina. They had come up to South Philadelphia for the Easter holiday and Navek introduced her as his girlfriend, according to family. The couple returned to Fayetteville Sunday night, according to Navek’s family.
Investigators say Navek was back in Philadelphia by Tuesday night. He left his Mercedes with family. He told them he was having trouble with the car and borrowed the Nissan from a relative.
After Wednesday’s murder-suicide, investigators searched Navek’s. Inside, investigators say they found physical evidence that may connect Navek to Givens' murder. Investigators in both states are doing ballistics tests to determine if the weapon that killed Houshmandpour was also used to kill Givens.
Revenge may have been the motive behind the murder-suicide, according to the mother of Navek's former girlfriend.
Navek and Houshmandpour worked together at Virtua hospital in Voorhees. Forogh Mozaffari said her daughter -- also the mother of Navek's child -- recently broke up with Navek. Mozaffari told The Associated Press Navek blamed Houshmandpour for what she says was his dismissal from the program at Virtua about a year-and-a-half ago. The hospital hasn't commented on the reason for Navek's departure.
Navek's former girlfriend, described as his fiance by investigators, told police that in February he fired two shots into a basement wall of a Williamstown, New Jersey home and threatened her. Police say she did not file a police report until late March after Navek left the area for his job in Fayetteville. The prosecutor says the girlfriend did not request a restraining order and did not file charges.
After his work at Virtua, Navek worked first at an Army hospital in Georgia, according to Philly.com, and then in Fayetteville. NBC10 confirmed that in 1997 and 1999 he worked as a paramedic in Philadelphia.
Houshmandpour, 32, was married with a young child.
