Police Suspect Murder-Suicide in West Haven Case

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The house at 341 Blohm Street in West Haven is quiet. A small piece of crime tape and a boarded-up door are the only remnants of the brutal attack that happened there over the weekend. On Saturday, Selami Ozdemir, 42, allegedly killed his wife and himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

Neighbors, who didn't want to be identified, say it was a violent end to an abusive relationship. They said there were occasions when they saw Ozdemir beat his wife, Shengly Rasim, 25.

Ozdemir had been arrested not once, but twice on domestic violence charges. On Saturday, he was arrested for violating a protective order which was issued in September to stop him from abusing Rasim, said police. He did make his $25,000 bond, and that's when police believe he returned home, violating the rules once again.

"I think warning signals were there. Who knew about those warning signals? When they knew about them? What they did in response? These are all the questions we need answers to," said Rep. Mike Lawlor, D-East Haven.

Representative Lawlor heads up the state Judiciary Committee and says there is a family violence task force meeting right now to see if laws need to be changed.

"It's kind of like when a plane crashes. Everybody goes in after the fact and tries to figure out what went wrong and tries to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's our obligation. Maybe it's someone's fault, maybe someone dropped the ball. Maybe the system doesn't have the resources, maybe there's just confusion," said Lawlor.

Lawlor says investigators will need to sort out the specifics before many of the questions are answered in this case.

Debra Greenwood is the CEO of the Center for Women and Families in Bridgeport. She says the sad reality is that domestic violence cases are increasing at an alarming rate, and everyone needs to work together to stop the violence.

"It's a community issue so we need municipalities, we need state level legislators, we need community partners to all work together," said Greenwood.

She also says while the system works to eliminate its gaps, individuals can help those who may be abused. Sometimes it just takes asking a person if he or she needs help.

"Calling 911 is something we strongly encourage. And I know people who may be listening to this broadcast, might say should I do it all the time? The answer is it's always better to be safe than to have a situation like what just happened in West Haven," said Greenwood.

Victims of domestic violence can also reach out and call the state's information line at 211. There a victim can be connected to a local domestic violence shelter.