BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Newly obtained documents detail a troubling marriage involving allegations of stalking, numerous 911 calls and restraining orders leading up to a triple murder.
The tragedy shocked a Tamarac neighborhood on Feb. 16.
Investigators say Nathan Gingles, 43, of Lauderhill, killed his estranged wife Mary Gingles, her father and a neighbor as his 4-year-old daughter Seraphine watched.
Court records document a troubled marriage, detailing allegations of abuse and Mary Gingles’ fear of her husband. She believed he would kill her and their daughter one day.
Mary Gingles, 34, filed restraining orders. During the second one, filed last December, it was revealed Nathan Gingles still possessed his weapons.
Following that second restraining order, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony noted that weapons were never collected. Nearly two months later, three people were killed, and a child was kidnapped.
Tony has launched an internal affairs investigation.
His agency released new documents Wednesday showing more than a dozen calls for service from the couple’s home, some for custody issues and another for child abuse.
Mary Gingles’ first restraining order was filed last February. Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies seized Nathan Gingles’ weapons, documenting guns, ammunition and silencers.
Once the order was lifted, the items were returned in September.
In December, nearly two months before the murders and prior to obtaining her second restraining order, Mary Gingles called 911.
She told deputies she was going through a difficult divorce and that her husband sometimes entered the house when she was not there, which he was not supposed to do during the divorce proceedings.
Tony stated there was enough evidence to pursue a probable cause affidavit to arrest him then, but that didn’t happen.
Since the murders, eight deputies have been suspended and a captain was demoted.
An investigation into why weapons were not collected after the second restraining order is ongoing.
Nathan Gingles remained held without bond in the BSO Main Jail, facing three counts of first-degree murder and several other charges.