By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-09 10:02:06 | Updated at 2026-10-09 14:28:38
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Neighbors noticed a small — but very suburban — sign that something was wrong at New Jersey insurance executive David Grodnick’s $1.7 million home before he killed his wife and daughter and turned the gun — his immaculate landscaping suddenly stopped.
“I thought the house was number one in the [neighborhood for] maintaining their lawn. I think a couple of months or more they were not maintaining it. It was very unusual. It disturbed me,” said neighbor Mian Helaly, who lives a few doors down from the Grodnicks in the tony community of Skillman, about 55 miles from Manhattan.
Grodnick, 61, executed wife Lora Grodnick, 62, and daughter, Sloane Grodnick, 24, at their home sometime before Oct. 2 when cops discovered the trio dead inside the home.
But for years, they appeared to be the picture-perfect family — if the landscaping at the Wild Azalea Lane nearly 6,000-square-foot home was anything to go by.
“This couple used to keep their lawn very neat. They were spending a lot of money planting new trees and whenever I would do my morning walk, I’d say hello,” the 73-year-old neighbor said, noting both David and Lora worked on their landscaping.
“All of a sudden, I noticed that in recent months they were not focusing on the lawn,” said Helaly, who works in the import-export business.
“The grass was growing out. They were not trimming the trees.”
“It stuck me like something was not right, not going their way,” he said.
When Helaly heard about the killings he said it was “very, very shocking.”
“You would never believe a terrible thing like this would happen,” he said.
Grodnick was the senior vice president and underwriting counsel for Philadelphia-based Land Services USA an insurance agency that worked on commercial real estate deals.
The family moved to Skillman, a community inside of Montgomery Township, from Princeton. They were members of two exclusive clubs, Bedens Brook Country Club in Skillman and TPC Jasna Polana, a private club in Princeton.
A 2018 lawsuit Grodnick brought against a real estate agent for allegedly luring the family to a hazardous rental house in Princeton, revealed Sloane had special needs, The Post exclusively revealed. That suit was dismissed after an agreement signed off on by both sides. It was unclear if a settlement was paid out in the case.
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