A North Carolina husband killed his wife and confessed to the murder in a chilling Facebook post before turning the gun on himself in a bizarre murder-suicide.
George Lesniak fatally shot his wife, Cathleen Lesniak, 59, inside their North Carolina home just after 6 p.m. on Jan. 18, according to the Fuquay-Varina Police Department.
Lesniak, 63, a former vice president at New York-based Autel Automotive Intelligence USA, was discovered in the home by police after sustaining a “self-inflicted fatal injury.”
The shooting unfolded in the couple’s 5-bedroom, 4-bath home in Fuquay-Varina, NC, 18 miles southwest of Raleigh.
After the shooting, George Lesniak claimed in a Facebook post that he killed his wife because of an alleged affair, according to the NC Beat.
“My wife admitted to cheating on me so I killed, I’m about to kill myself,” Lesniak wrote to the now-private ADAS Support group, the outlet reported.
Lesniak was an administrator for the group aimed at technicians who performed ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) calibrations on vehicles.
In the now-deleted post, Lesniak told members to figure out the future of the Facebook group themselves.
The couple had been married for over 34 years.
Lesniak’s message was posted at 6 p.m., three minutes before police were called to the home on the 800 block of Highwater Place.
Police said there was no threat to the public, but were conducting a thorough investigation because of the “complex nature” of the incident.
“This incident is deeply tragic, and we urge the community to keep the family in their thoughts during this challenging time,” officials added.
Officials have yet to confirm the deaths were a result of a murder-suicide.
Cathleen Lesniak had worked at Advanced Auto Parts as a Technical Production Manager, her now-private Facebook page read, according to the News & Observer.
Her husband, an Illinois native, graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute and had most recently served as the vice president of training at Autel Automotive Intelligence.
He had worked remotely with the Long Island company for five and a half years before leaving in September 2024, according to his LinkedIn page.
Autel Automotive reacted to the suspected murder-suicide in a short Facebook post.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic events that occured at the Lesniak residence on January 18. We at Autel express our heartfelt condolences to the Lesniak family and friends,” the company said Sunday.
