TAMARAC, Fla. – An arrest warrant obtained by Local 10 News on Tuesday reveals new details from a Broward Sheriff’s Office detective about a triple murder in Tamarac over the weekend.
Deputies accuse Nathan Gingles, 43, of Lauderhill, of first killing his father-in-law and then chasing down and killing his estranged wife and an “innocent and unsuspecting” neighbor Sunday morning in the 5800 block of North Plum Bay Parkway. They said he then kidnapped his young daughter.
According to the warrant, dispatchers received a 911 call just after 6 a.m. from a neighbor of roughly four shots fired, followed by a woman’s voice screaming, “Oh my God!”
Deputies said while on the phone, the neighbor reported hearing two more gunshots. The warrant states they arrived and began setting up a perimeter.
BSO Detective Lacey Henry wrote in the warrant that a patrol sergeant saw a man “clad in all-black clothing, including a black hooded sweatshirt and pants” walking with a “small female child who was without shoes.”
Henry wrote that the sergeant put out information about the man — later suspected to be Gingles — over the radio, but “due to the unknown circumstances of the call, deputies continued to canvass the area.”
The warrant states that deputies went into the backyard of 5897 N. Plum Bay Parkway and found Gingles’ father-in-law, David Ponzer, lying dead, clutching the remaining handle of a broken coffee cup and a lighter. Henry wrote that Gingles, who had made efforts to “conceal his identity,” shot the 64-year-old “in the head while he innocently drank coffee on his back patio.”
Deputies said Gingles’ estranged wife, Mary Gingles, 34, witnessed the shooting and “fled for fear of her life” while Nathan Gingles “chased her down the street.”
Henry wrote that deputies searching for Mary Gingles entered the home of 36-year-old neighbor Andrew Ferrin at 5888 N. Plum Bay Parkway and found both shot dead inside.
Surveillance videos, the detective wrote, showed Mary Gingles running into the home while being chased by Nathan Gingles, who was holding a gun.
“The suspect and the child followed Mary into the residence,” Henry wrote that the surveillance video showed.
Detectives said 4-year-old Seraphine Gingles witnessed all three murders. Her father would later kidnap her, they said, but deputies were able to locate the pair Sunday afternoon at the Walmart Supercenter at 7900 W. McNab Road in North Lauderdale. That came after a nearby license plate reader detected his vehicle, the warrant states.
According to the warrant, when deputies searched Mary Gingles’ home after finding Ponzer dead, they found signs of a tumultuous marriage marred by domestic violence and an impending divorce.
Henry wrote that deputies found “several” gun lock boxes in the second-floor bedroom that appeared unlocked, with padlocks lying nearby with keys inside. Deputies also found a domestic violence injunction lying on the kitchen table.
Nathan Gingles was not supposed to have any contact with his wife or daughter.
In a court document, Mary Gingles wrote how her husband sang a song about how he was going to kill her, saying that he “sang that he was going to shoot me and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Mary Gingles’ uncle later told Local 10 News that the system failed her and Seraphine. The attorney who handled Mary Gingles’ divorce filing said she did not wish to comment.
Other details about the case, including an entire page’s worth, were redacted from the publicly-released arrest warrant.
On Monday, a judge ordered Seraphine Gingles to remain in the custody of the state. Her father is being held without bond and is expected back in court on March 5.
As of Tuesday, Nathan Gingles was being held without bond in the BSO Main Jail on 10 felony charges, including three counts of first-degree murder.
