This story begins in the summer of 1986 when two teenagers met each other in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mark Gerardot first noticed Jennair Cox’s beautiful blue eyes & big smile; he said his breath was taken away & he was immediately smitten. Mark was extremely shy at the time, so their relationship didn’t officially begin for another four years when the pair bumped into each other a second time & Mark learned that Jennair was working at a nearby mall. He began going to the mall to visit her regularly, but it was Jennair who made the first move & asked him when he was going to take her out.
Mark was drawn to Jennair’s direct & confident personality which was completely opposite of his own. A few years later, the couple got married on October 23, 1993 when Mark was 25 & Jennair was 23. It was the day they believed they’d found the person they would be with for the rest of their lives.
Their relationship remained strong & steady until they faced a financial hit in 2008 when the financial crisis struck. Mark would later say that this “changed everything for us.” Because of the struggles, money became their main source of stress, resulting in most of their arguments. Mark indicated that arguments with his wife could be “epic” & that she always won because “she was going to have the last word.”
In November of 2011, the couple moved to Greenville, South Carolina where they each found new marketing jobs. Mark felt that their marriage was renewed & they connected over the state’s scenic mountains & beaches, hiking & exploring together. At this point, Mark & Jennair were closer than ever.
All was well over the next six years until Jennair lost her job in 2017 & was having issues finding a new one. Her confidence began to suffer & Jennair was becoming a shadow of the person she used to be. Mark & Jennair had a discussion & decided to make a fresh start somewhere else, deciding Delaware would be their new home.
After making this decision, Mark began his job hunt & noticed that the University of Delaware was hiring a creative director for its marketing department. If he was successful, he would ultimately be the supervisor. Mark applied for the job & sent an email & received an immediate response back. Mark was contacted by 32-year-old Meredeth Chapman who was 15 years his junior & would be his new boss, if hired.
Meredith was born Meredith Sullivan on January 31, 1985 & despite her young age, she was highly successful, working as senior director for marketing at the University. She grew up in Pennsylvania & graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor’s degree in communication & a Master’s degree in education & she was also a cheerleader & later coached cheerleading at Newark High School, Avon Grove High School & for the Middletown Nitros. She started her career as a reporter & producer for WHYY-TV & in-between, she spent two years as a communication manager for then US Representative, Mike Castle who later said that she is a major reason why he was elected. He said she was full of fresh ideas & loved Delaware. In 2010, Meredith started her dream job as senior news editor at UD & worked her way up to senior director for marketing where she oversaw more than 20 employees & led the university’s advertising & social media brand.
Meredith was married to Luke who was a former Newark city councilman, the couple marrying in 2009. They lived in Fairfield Crest with their dog, Indy.
In the midst of working for UD, Meredith ran for state senate in Delaware in 2016. When she lost the election, those that knew her said she accepted it with grace & took the experience as a teaching moment & reflecting that it’s important to take risks & pursue our passions no matter the odds. Those that knew Meredith described her as someone with boundless energy & motivation; she was the type of person who was coming back from a five-mile run as everyone else was just starting to wake up, someone who could accomplish more in one day than most could in a week. When she believed in something, she was all in.
Meredith invited Mark for an interview & during their conversation, Mark was immediately captivated by not only her beauty, but her brilliance, saying, “When I sat across the desk from her, within five minutes, I didn’t say it out loud, but I said ‘I’ve got to work for this person.’” He was dumbfounded by how articulate, energetic & passionate she was about the job & how accomplished she was at such a young age.
Meredith must have been equally as impressed because she offered Mark the job which he quickly accepted. In November of 2017, Mark relocated to Wilmington, Delaware while Jennair stayed back in South Carolina to tie up loose ends & arrange for their home to be rented. Mark spent his first 45 days in Delaware alone while Jennair was in South Carolina & during this time, he was able to really get to know Meredith. Despite their fifteen year age difference, they seemed to have a lot in common & one day, she asked him out for a drink.
As they sat & had a drink, Mark found that Meredith was very easy to talk to & he spoke about losing his parents & his brother as well as his marriage to Jennair. Not long after, Mark & Meredith met for dinner & Mark opened up to Meredith about the issues within his marriage. He later said that his issues with Jennair really came into focus when he was spending time with Meredith. He was taken by the fact that Meredith frequently paid him compliments, telling him how good he was at his job & what a wonderful man he was. He felt he hadn’t heard such positive words from his wife & was happy with the attention. “That just made an impression on me. Here’s this woman who I think is amazing saying that she thinks I’m a wonderful man.”
Four weeks after Mark & Meredith met, they shared their first kiss. As excited as he was, Mark also felt immediately awful for betraying his wife. He claims to have told Meredith that whatever was about to happen couldn’t because he cared for his wife. At the same time, he was unable to deny the feelings he was having for Meredith who had also opened up, saying that of the nine years she had been married, the last three had been only a show. Despite what Mark said about caring for his wife, he wanted to find out what it was that was drawing him to Meredith; he said he felt confused by these new & unexpected feelings that had also become addictive. He said that meeting Meredith made him realize that life could be different. Before Jennair was able to make her move from South Carolina to Delaware, Mark & Meredith had already expressed their love for one another. Around this time, Mark had also been offered a job in Colorado & had flown to Denver for an interview. During the interview, he felt something click that made him realize that he didn’t want that job & he wanted to see through what had started between him & Meredith. From the airport in Denver, he texted Meredith, “I’m all in.” Mark was 49-years-old at that time & had been married for 24 years.
47-year-old Jennair moved in December of 2017 & it didn’t take long for her to sense that something didn’t feel right with Mark, feeling a distance from him. Soon she confronted him about her suspicions that he was involved with another woman which Mark denied. At this point, Jennair specifically asked if he was having an affair with Meredith, noticing he’d mentioned her name multiple times when speaking about his job. Mark continued to deny these accusations but Jennair remained steadfast.
Suspicions raised, Jennair began to keep a close eye on Mark & it didn’t take long for Mark to notice that his wife had information about him & Meredith that she would have no way of knowing. Around Valentine’s Day of 2018, Jennair eventually admitted to hiring a company that allowed her to gain access to his phone, allowing her to read his texts, see his photos & view records of calls he’d exchanged with Meredith. Realizing he was caught, he finally admitted that he had fallen in love with Meredith.
Jennair was devastated by his admission but confident that they could work things out, so she immediately asked Mark to attend marriage counseling. On the day of their second session, Mark put his jacket on & felt something within the lining, initially believing it was an anti-theft device that hadn’t been removed. On closer inspection, he cut open the lining & found a recording device. Mark was furious & confronted Jennair who simply explained that she just wanted to know the extent of his relationship with Meredith & wanted to overhear any potential future plans they were making. She also said that she’d spoken to the University as well as Meredith’s husband about their affair.
At this point, what was left of his relationship with Jennair quickly crumbled & he eventually told her that he would be filing for divorce in May when he met Delaware’s residency requirements & could move out of their shared home.
In the meantime, Meredith’s professional career was quickly accelerating & she was offered a new position as assistant vice president for marketing & creative services at VIllanova University in her home state of Pennsylvania. During this time, she was in the process of divorcing her husband in order to pursue a new relationship with Mark & was relocating to Radnor Township, Pennsylvania. Mark left his job at UD in early April of 2018 & began looking for a new place to live.
As Mark & Meredith’s relationship continued to grow, Jennair began to meet with a divorce coach named Sheila Brennan where she spoke about the anger & resentment she held from being “tossed away” and “traded in” for a younger woman. Sheila indicated that her client also had fear over being left financially drained since Jennair hadn’t found a new job since relocating to Delaware, one year after losing her last job. The stress began to take a toll on Jennair’s mental health & she began to act erratically & at one time, Mark claimed she even threatened to jump out of a window. Mark encouraged Jennair to see a psychiatrist & seek support from family & friends. As she took this advice, she seemed to become more accepting of the impending divorce & it was Mark’s impression that she was acting completely normal.
In the weeks before Mark planned to move out, Jennair brought him a list of requests & Mark felt that they had gotten through the worst & that Jennair was coping better with the situation. On Jennair’s list, she requested that they go on hikes, have dinner & generally spend some time together before he moved out. Mark decided to appease Jennair to keep the peace, but in the meantime, she was desperately clinging to the hope that he would take her back. Mark said, “It was odd, but I’m trying to land this thing so she’s in a good place. If this is what she needed, I was going to do that.” As they spent time together, Mark believed he was helping Jennair to gain closure of their relationship.
Jennair began posting on the NextDoor app, asking for recommendations for ‘an EXCELLENT marriage counselor for a couple on brink of divorce.’ She went on to write, “We will need someone who is very educated & experienced dealing with couples issues including infidelity, depression, traumatic experiences, child/parent dynamics, being accountable for actions, etc.”
On the night of Monday, April 23, 2018, Mark & Jennair made plans to meet for dinner as part of her request to spend more time together. Mark waited at the restaurant for Jennair to arrive & in a series of text messages, she explained that she was running late & had made a wrong turn. She sent another message saying that he should just go home since she wasn’t going to make it. Only minutes later, as Mark was preparing to leave, Jennair sent another text with a picture of an emptied trash bag with a condom in the middle, followed by another in which Jennair said, “You ruined my life.”
At that point, it dawned on Mark, in horror, that Jennair was sifting through the trash can outside the house that Meredith had lived in for only a week. Jennair sent another two texts saying, “I hope you never find happiness” and “Bye, Mark.”
Mark began frantically trying to call & text Meredith, fearing what his wife was capable of though all forms of communication went unanswered. He rushed out of the restaurant & headed to Meredith’s house, fearing he was going to find the two in a confrontation, but never imagined the horrors he would find. When he arrived, Meredith laid facedown & lifeless on her kitchen floor, a pool of blood forming around her head. Nearby, he found his wife in a similar state, also laying on the floor.
Less than two hours before she was murdered, Meredith posted a beaming picture of herself at Villanova University that read, “Couldn’t be more excited to be Villanova University’s new Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Creative Services! Just a week on the job & I’m already feeling the love.”
When Mark arrived, one of Meredith’s neighbors, Tim Mulvey, was already there after hearing a commotion. Mark told Tim to call 911 & when Police Chief Christopher Flanagan arrived, he said that Mark was standing on the driveway & seemed to be hyperventilating. At that point, he was placed in the back of the ambulance for evaluation before he was released to the police station as a suspect. After questioning Mark, police had found the Taurus Tracker .357 gun used in both deaths under Jennair’s body with two of its seven rounds missing. It was determined she had broken into Meredith’s home, cleaned up the glass to disguise the break-in as to not alert Meredith as she arrived & laid in wait & when she walked through the door about 7 pm, Jennair shot Meredith in the head & then turned the gun on herself, shooting herself in the head; each died from a single gunshot wound. A discarded bag was found at the scene that contained a wig & clothing that didn’t belong to Meredith. A 911 call was placed just after 7 pm. Police spoke with a neighbor who said they noticed Jennair drive up between 5-6 pm & walk toward the door with a bag over her shoulder. A few seconds later, she heard sharp noises from inside the house.
One day after the murder-suicide, police received a tip from a person who had seen a woman wearing a wig, trench coat, hat & sunglasses, scoping the house out, using binoculars. They found a set of car keys at the scene of the crime which they determined belonged to a Cadillac Jennair had rented.
As Mark was reeling from the grief over what had happened, he began digging through his wife’s affairs & found that she was leading a double life. After Valentine’s Day, when Mark admitted to having the affair, Jennair opened a secret bank account & credit cards. He combed through her bank statements, phone records & computer. He found she’d purchased audio surveillance equipment, a lock-picking kit, computer hacking software & DNA testing kits for his clothing as well as a high-end GPS tracking system that she’d attach to both his & Meredith’s cars; she named the device attached to Mark’s car “MarkLiarJerk” & the one attached to Meredith’s “M WHORE.”. He found more than four-hundred images of private conversations he & Meredith had had over text & Snapchat. He found that Jennair had gained access to his phone during the middle of the night, assuming she must have used his thumb on the thumb reader as he slept on the couch.
Five weeks before the murder-suicide, Jennair had purchased a gun on March 20, 2018 & credit card statements showed that she had gone to a shooting range to practice firing it on three separate occasions. Mark couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of his wife utilizing a gun since he describes them as being “anti-gun.” He said that he & Jennair had arranged to have a conversation specifically about Meredith & during the time they discussed this, Jennair had been at a firing range. The audio device he’d previously found in his jacket was not the only one his wife had planted. He found files that contained hundreds of hours of audio that his wife not only recorded but transcribed into twelve notebooks, recording conversations he even had with her. In one conversation, Jennair could be heard telling Mark, “She’s living my f***ing life.” He discovered that she’d cycled multiple devices in & out of the lining of his jackets, removing it to download recordings & sewing it back into the lining which went on for weeks.
It also came to light that on the night that Jennair murdered Meredith & killed herself, she’d emailed a fifteen page letter to family members explaining herself. She’d started the letter weeks before, dating each entry. She wrote that she did it for payback, “That’s as simple as it gets.” In the letter, she said that if Mark happened to walk into Meredith’s house that night, she would kill him too. Mark was on the Doctor Oz show in October of 2019 & allowed a psychiatrist to read the letter who indicated that it appeared Jennair had borderline personality disorder which is a mental health disorder characterized by unstable moods, behaviors & relationships. She explained that in order to diagnose this disorder, you have to meet five of nine criteria & in the letter, all nine criteria were met which would indicate severe borderline personality disorder.
Jennair rented a car in Wilmington, Delaware on April 13 & drove to Meredith’s house 30 miles away & parked on a side street. Mark was completely unaware that she’d rented the car & parked it right outside their apartment. Afterwards, police found binoculars, ammunition, rubber gloves & earplugs inside the rental car. There was a gas receipt that indicated she’d been in the area of Meredith’s house since at least 2:40 pm on the day of the murder.
Looking back on what happened, Mark reflects that he wishes he would have handled the situation differently. He sees that he broke Jennair’s heart & in her mind, she had no other choice but to do what she did. He says despite his actions, he still loves her & wishes he could take it back. Mark has since written a book about the incident called Irreparable which discusses depression, PTSD & mental health. He maintains that any royalties from the book will be donated to a charitable organization that supports suicide prevention.
Dr. Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist who has studied homicide within marriages read Jennair’s letter & believes that she may have been pushed to kill Meredith & herself because losing the life of her life was something she could not tolerate. Hearing the recordings of Mark & Meredith interacting likely triggered rage & this was all likely done to make him suffer.
Meredith’s sudden & tragic death stunned those that knew her both professionally & personally. All that spoke out about her life described the 33-year-old in much the same way. She was said to be a person who tried things, invented solutions if they didn’t exist & made things happen. She did things that people didn’t expect of her, likely things she didn’t have time to do, but she did them because she was a decent, vivacious, creative soul whose death left a gaping hole in the lives of those who knew her. Those that did know Meredith said that she should not be defined by her tragic death, but instead be remembered as a person who fiercely loved her family, someone who was a compassionate friend & among the most talented & innovative professionals in the field.
References:
- Medium: The love triangle that ended in tragedy
- Abc News: Man involved in 2018 love triangle murder-suicide case says ‘I wish I could take it back’
- Abc News: Woman who killed husband’s mistress had binoculars, ammo, rubber gloves, earplugs
- University of Delaware: In Memoriam: Meredith Sullivan (Chapman)
- Delaware Online: Meredith Chapman remembered as ‘vibrant,’ promising
- Delaware Online: ‘20/20’ interview with husband in Meredith Chapman murder-suicide case reveals new details
- Find a Grave: Meredith Lynn Sullivan Chapman
- Daily Mail: Husband in murder-suicide love-triangle tells Dr Oz that his wife, 48, who shot dead his younger mistress, 33, planned to kill him too if he had walked in on the slaying
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Illicit affair prompted ‘calculated planned’ murder-suicide that left 2 women dead, police say
