Investigators are probing whether there was a struggle before an Albanian actor and his wife plunged to their deaths from their apartment in New York over the weekend, a police source said.
Florind Belliu, 35, an actor and aspiring filmmaker originally from Albania, and his wife Ornela Shehi, 28, were found in the rear courtyard of 2199 Cruger Avenue in the Bronx at around 9.15am on Saturday, cops and police sources said.
“There were signs in the apartment that indicated it wasn’t all Kumbaya, like they didn’t just decide to leave their kids behind and jump,” the source told the new york post.
The source wouldn’t provide any more details on the alleged “signs”.
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A suicide note was not left behind, according to the source.
Authorities are waiting for autopsy results to determine whether Mr Shehi suffered any injuries not indicative of a fall, the source said.
By late Tuesday morning, the city’s Medical Examiner’s (ME) Office had not made a determination on either Mr Shehi or Ms Belliu’s death.
“Both are pending while the ME awaits additional investigative information,” a spokeswoman said, adding that the signs could include “further testing of remains or investigatory material from the scene”.
Mr Shehi was caught on video plunging from the building’s sixth floor first and hitting the alleyway, with Ms Belliu landing seconds later, sources told the post a day after the couple’s deaths.
The couple moved into the building with their two young children about four months ago, and authorities never received reports of domestic violence related to the couple, according to police sources.
Neighbors told the post on Saturday that the pair were a “quiet couple” who “kept to themselves,” and were often seen taking walks – but also that Mr Belliu had been seen visibly angry Friday.
“I’ve seen them always buying things for the house, like every day together, with two kids together, we didn’t recognize there was something wrong,” said Shadie Perkaj, the wife of the building’s super.
She said Saturday was Mr Belliu’s birthday.
Mr Belliu’s pal Elona Caslli mourned her lost friend on Facebook.
“A multiple tragedy for which there is no word of consolation. God give strength to your children and parents,” Ms Caslli wrote in Albanian.
Ms Belliu was a graduate of the University of Arts in Tirana, Albania, and performed on TV and in the theater before moving to the US, EuroNews Albania reported.
As of two years ago, he was working on two books and a movie script he hoped to pitch to Netflix, the report said.
Police sources said he may have been recently working as a livery driver to help make ends meet.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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