Man Kills Ex-Girlfriend, Then Himself, Officials Say

A man distraught over a breakup killed his ex-girlfriend and later fatally shot himself Monday when approached by police, authorities said.

Don Nichols Jr., 33, of Moreno Valley had abducted Angel Zingarelli, 24, of Murrieta on Friday, officials said.

Both Nichols’ and Zingarelli’s families made television pleas over the weekend asking for her safe return.

But Zingarelli’s body was found Monday in the front passenger seat of her car. An autopsy will determine when she died and whether she was shot or stabbed to death, Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Lohman said.

Nichols, who was driving Zingarelli’s car with the headlights off, was followed to an apartment complex by a Riverside police cruiser. While the officer checked the license plates of the car and discovered that it was involved in Zingarelli’s abduction, Nichols was roaming the third floor of the building with a blanket wrapped around himself, authorities said.

When a police sergeant spotted Nichols and ordered him to freeze, “Nichols threw his blanket off him, pulled a handgun and fired at his head. He did not say anything to the sergeant,” Lohman said. “He fell off the third floor tier to the ground.”

Zingarelli’s relatives and Moreno Valley police said Nichols was upset because she had broken off their two-year relationship several months ago.