A Staten Island man bludgeoned his wife to death with a baseball bat early today after he found out she was cheating on him, police sources said.
The dad of two, Gregory Surinaga, 45, then tried to hang himself when EMTs responded to the house of horrors, the sources said.
Surinaga — who neighbors said worked as a mechanic for the city Fire Department — was taken into custody, sources added.
His wife, Jodi Surinaga, 42, was found dead in their Beechwood Place home in Castleton Corners after one of the couple’s two teenage children called 911 around 2:25 a.m. after a dispute between the parents, sources said.
“She had an affair, and he moved out, and then they reconciled after a couple of months,” said Chris Dowling, 52, who lives across the street.
“There had been some problems between them — [but] nothing over and beyond. They would split up for a couple of months, and then they’d reconcile. “
They would argue in their house but not anything outside,” he added.
Jodi Surinaga worked as a school-bus attendant and her husband is an FDNY mechanic who also held a second job delivering pizza from Joe and Pat’s, neighbors said. They had been married 20 years.
The family lived in the home for about 18 years and seemed like a “good couple,” Dowling said.
“It’s terrible, I mean absolutely, horrible,” Dowling said after cops led his neighbor away in handcuffs.
“You don’t expect it here, and I never expected it from them.”
The murdered woman’s parents, who live a few blocks away, arrived at the house after the carnage. The victim’s grief-stricken mom was taken away in an ambulance, according to neighbors.
“The mother was hysterical,” Dowling said.
It was not immediately clear how much the teenage children witnessed, but the son seemed dazed when he returned for his belongings, neighbors said.
“The grandfather brought the son back to go in and get some stuff,” said neighbor Sean O’Donovan, 38. “He was, you could tell, in shock, because he was getting disoriented, going toward the detectives’ truck instead of his grandfather’s.”
The husband had returned to the home to take care of odd chores after the couple split up in the spring, and they seemed happy when out in public, despite their marital strife, neighbors said.
“He moved out, but he kept coming around,” said O’Donovan, who knew the family for over 10 years.