[NYPD] POLICE SAY NYPD Officer Frances Vasile used her NYPD fiancee's service weapon to take her own life - 1996

Frances Vasile

Not forgotten.

24 November 1969 - 11 January 1976

...A Bronx police officer killed herself last night with her cop fiance's gun in a City Island house the couple was fixing up to move into, police said... The gun belonged to Robert O'Keeffe, a 10-year veteran who worked with Vasile in the 48th Precinct and was engaged to her... Cops have not been able to interview the distraught O'Keeffe to determine how Vasile got his gun...

BRONX OFFICER DIES IN APPARENT SUICIDE
New York Times
Published: January 12, 1996
[Excerpts] An off-duty police officer died last night in the Bronx of a gunshot wound to the head, which the police said appeared to be suicide. The shooting occurred at 6:40 P.M. inside a private residence on City Island, said Officer John Hickey, a police spokesman... It was not clear last night whether she was alone at the time of the shooting... [Redacted], neighbors on Ditmars Street, said the woman and a man were renovating the house, but did not live there. "It's a real shock... We had so much fun together. We were together with them just last night"...

BRONX COP KILLS HERSELF
New York Daily News
January 12th 1996, 1:95AM
[Excerpts] A Bronx police officer killed herself last night with her cop fiance's gun in a City Island house the couple was fixing up to move into, police said. Frances Vasile, 26, a beat cop, was found dead at 6:45 p.m., her hand clutching the off-duty revolver as it lay on her chest. The gun belonged to Robert O'Keeffe, a 10-year veteran who worked with Vasile in the 48th Precinct and was engaged to her, police said... According to property records, the couple bought the house on Ditmars St. a little more than two months ago. "There is no indication why she did this," said Deputy Inspector James Campbell. But high-level police sources, who asked not to be identified, said Vasile was consumed with jealousy, though they could not say what prompted it. Campbell said both officers worked the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift yesterday and drove home together... Police sources said there was no argument. Vasile simply sat down on the couch in the living room. "And then she says she is going to kill herself," a police source said... Cops have not been able to interview the distraught O'Keeffe to determine how Vasile got his gun. O'Keeffe was taken to Jacobi Hospital for trauma counseling.
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety lethal fatality fatalities alleged suicide nypd new york state politics unsolved unresolved]