State Trooper Killed Wife, Himself After Wife Filed For Divorce, Sought Order Of Protection; Family Says “The System Failed”

A state trooper's wife was killed on the morning of March 28 at the County Market in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, where she worked.

Former Pennsylvania state trooper Mark Miscavish, who retired from the state police in 2011, killed his estranged wife Traci Miscavish before turning the shotgun on himself, according to Centre Daily Times.

The murder-suicide occurred just days after Traci filed for divorce and two months after her husband was charged with beating her.

The former state trooper was previously arrested on January 23 after Traci Miscavish, who had left him, returned home for her belongings.

Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said Traci Miscavish believed her husband had been abusing prescription medications. When she tried to take them away, he pinned her on the ground and tried to bind her with duct tape.

He allegedly pulled out a gun and threatened that he'd kill her. A neighbor saw Mark Miscavish dragging his wife into the home and stopped to help her, Parks Miller said. Miscavish was charged with assault, terroristic threats, and harassment. He spent a week in jail before being bailed out, UPI reported.

Traci Miscavish had stated that she lived in fear of her ex-state trooper husband, and told prosecutors that she felt that he was a danger to her. She was granted a protection-from-abuse order after the January assault, and last week she filed for divorce.

Traci allegedly told police, "The next time I see him is going to be at the end of a gun." Parks Miller told the Associate Press, "We were very concerned when he got out and we're just devastated now.

Traci's sister, Gina March, spoke to media outside the supermarket where her sister was killed. "The system failed her for not protecting her. The system failed him for not getting him the help he needed," she tearfully said.