Wife kills her husband's side chic then takes her own life

A Delaware wife is believed to have ambushed a woman who was allegedly having an affair with her husband, then shot her before turning the gun on herself in a murder-suicide.

Jennair Gerardot, 48, (right) from Wilmington, Delaware, shot and killed her rival 33-year-old Meredith Chapman on Monday night, Radnor Township Police in Pennsylvania allege. 

 The police said Jennair Gerardot, a marketing professional, meticulously planned the murder and lay in wait for her rival.

Jennair Gerardot

Police Superintendent William Colarulo said: "Jennair went to great lengths to disguise herself. She wore a wig, and took a train from Delaware to Radnor [Pennsylvania]. She broke into the victim’s house, and cleaned up the glass so the victim didn’t realize someone was in her home."

Police said Jennair shot Meredith around 7 p.m. when she walked in the door. The jilted wife then turned the gun on herself. The alleged assailant’s body was found near the kitchen, not far from Meredith’s.

Meredith Chapman

Jennair's husband, Mark Gerardot, worked at the University of Delaware, where Merideth used to work. The two were close friends, and allegedly started having an affair. Merideth eventually left her job and took on another position as assistant vice president at Villanova University.

Jennair and Mark Gerardot

Jennair’s husband reportedly alerted authorities that they may find his wife inside the crime scene.

"There were emails and text messages indicating what [Jennair] might do," Colarulo told WACU.

Mark Gerardot and Jennair Gerardot seemed like the perfect couple on social media and often shared photos of each other with heartwarming captions.

Jennair and Mark Gerardot

Meredith Chapman is a former television reporter, and a respected university marketing professional. She also unsuccessfully made a bid for a state Senate seat in Delaware in 2016. Her husband, Luke Chapman, was also involved in politics as a former Newark city councilman.

"Meredith was a bright, energetic, and talented young woman with a firecracker personality that served her community every day. Meredith was such a wonderful person who continued her destiny to accomplish even bigger and better things as a agent of positivity and change," wrote Mark Blake, who knew her, on Facebook.