Suspect in wife killing kills self after interview

The woman had obtained a personal protection order against her husband six days earlier in response to his threats against her, police in this Detroit suburb said.

Shortly after midnight, Dearborn police answered a shooting call at AAA-Michigan headquarters and found Donna Sinishtaj of Detroit in her car, wounded by a gunshot. She had just completed her shift as an emergency service operator.

Sinishtaj had been shot through the driver's side window, police said in a news release. She was rushed to Okayed Hospital, where she died at 2:55 a.m.

"Due to a past history of domestic violence, the victim's ex-husband, Alex Sinishtaj, became the prime suspect," Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Deziel said.

At about 10 a.m., Sinishtaj called television station WXYZ-TV in Southfield and asked for an interview at an apartment in Detroit, Deziel said. The station called police, who went to the home.

At the scene, the 50-year-old demanded to speak with a WXYZ reporter, and officers allowed him to do so, Deziel said. The station said he also agreed to surrender once he talked with the reporter.

"What happened, I did shoot my wife," he told the station as he stood in the hallway of his apartment building. "Me and her we are together ... 17 years. I did trust her, I did care for her."

Deziel said Sinishtaj "further attempted to justify his actions, then abruptly ended the interview, closed the apartment door and fatally shot himself."

04-01-98