NEW JERSEY – They never thought it would come to this.

George Palma and his wife, Kelly, knew his sister, Vanessa, was in an abusive relationship. But they both told reporters they never thought it would come to murder. "I have no more words," George Palma told Fox10.

"She was my best friend, my sister," Kelly Palma told the station. "She meant everything to me — to us. [She was] so friendly and happy." Vanessa Palma, 37, was a New Jersey native who was five months pregnant with her fourth child when she was murdered this past week, according to police and family members.



Palma, who moved from New Jersey to Arizona several years ago, was killed by her husband, Matthew Padzunas, according to police and her family. Authorities in Maricopa, Ariz. say it was a murder-suicide. George Palma, a Hudson County corrections officer, said the Bayonne native struggled to leave the relationship, according to nj.com. "She was scared to leave him, but she tried her best to get out of that relationship," he said.

Maricopa police said they responded to the home three times for calls connected to domestic violence complaints and did follow-up visits.

Kelly Palma told Fox10 that the husband started "acting different, burning her clothes and doing awkward things around the house, [like] punching holes in the walls [and] throwing glass."

Despite her troubles, George and Kelly told Fox10 that they'll always remember Vanessa as "an amazing mother" and "everything she did in life surrounded her children." A GoFundMe page was created by Kelly to help pay for funeral and travel expenses.

