Man Suspected of Killing His Wife Commits Suicide

A man suspected of killing his wife and scheduled to testify before a grand jury investigating the case committed suicide before deputies could intercede, a Redondo Beach police lieutenant said Monday.

Jeffrey Smink, 53, had been under 24-hour surveillance by officers, who had information that he was going to kill himself, said Lt. John Skipper.

Detectives were trying to take Smink into custody Sunday night for his own protection when they stopped him about 6:30 p.m. at 900 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Skipper said.

As they approached his car, Smink shot himself in the head. He died a short time later at the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, said Scott Carrier of the county coroner’s office.

Police said Smink was the prime suspect in the 1995 death of his wife, Madelyne, whose body was found in a car trunk in Hawthorne. He had been served with two subpoenas to appear before the grand jury.

His wife’s body, which showed evidence of assault, was found at 135th Street and Doty Avenue in Hawthorne on Dec. 19, 1995. Her family had reported her missing four days earlier.

Her husband told investigators he had last seen her when she went to do some Christmas shopping in Redondo Beach.