A 23-year-old woman, 24 weeks pregnant, was shot by her ex-boyfriend on Saturday evening in the street, inside the Cosmopolis residential complex in Ilfov County. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but could not be saved. Police set up multiple checkpoints in an attempt to catch the attacker, who ultimately took his own life near a store within the complex, according to Antena 3 CNN. The attacker, aged 49, committed suicide while being sought by dozens of police officers.
Located in the Ștefăneștii de Jos commune, near the border with Tunari, the Cosmopolis residential complex covers 106 hectares. Access is from the Ring Road, according to the Ștefănești Town Hall website. The complex was inaugurated in 2009 with a first phase of around 450 apartments, including various multi-story buildings and duplex-style villas. Entry to the complex is secured.
The victim, Teodora Marcu, was a former contestant in Season 6 of the TV show Temptation Island (“Insula Iubirii”) on Antena 1, according to Observator.
The aggressor then committed suicide with the gun he used to fatally shoot his ex-partner, in the presence of her daughter, according to News.ro and Agerpres, which cite judicial sources. The man committed suicide near a store in the residential complex, according to Antena3.
After the young woman began a relationship with another man, her ex-boyfriend started harassing her and causing disturbances at the apartment building where she lived with a friend.
“From the moment of their breakup, he began sending her numerous text messages in which he insulted her and warned her that her place was only by his side, that her future husband was not right for her, that if she didn’t return to him, she would see what would happen, that he couldn’t live without her and that either he would die, or she would.
On many occasions, she caught him lurking around the building where she lived, following both her and her roommate. He repeatedly rang the intercom without justification, asking to be let into the apartment, which created a strong sense of fear in both her and her friend,” said Teodora’s lawyer in the request for a restraining order filed in April 2021 against the man, who was 45 at the time.
The young woman was terrified of his violence, knowing he had a criminal record and that he had a quick temper, according to the testimony of the lawyer who represented her at the Bacău Court. Teodora suffered from panic attacks and “was literally trembling with fear” whenever the man came and caused a scene at her apartment door, the lawyer told the court in 2021.
In the case file where the judge issued the restraining order, there’s an account of a violent incident that took place one night in February 2021.
“He barged into her apartment and stole her computer, which she used for online video chat work, telling her he was taking it to leave her without money. All the people in the apartment witnessed the scene. On the stolen computer were all her active accounts, including the bank account where both she and her roommate received payments from their online video chat work. A few days after the theft, she noticed that $2,800 was missing from her account, which was most likely stolen by the same person who took the computer—namely, the defendant,” the lawyer stated in the restraining order request.
On March 1, 2021, when Teodora and her new partner were preparing to submit their marriage paperwork, they were followed and harassed in traffic by the 45-year-old man.
“Only by a miracle did they avoid a car accident,” the lawyer said. At that moment, Teodora’s fiancé called 112. He was advised to stop at the Helegiu Police Station, where officers told him they would wait there to defuse the situation caused by the traffic harassment.
They were followed by Teodora’s ex-boyfriend all the way to the police station, where he stopped his car in the middle of the road, parallel to the vehicle the couple was in, and began shouting insults and threatening them with violence. When the police officers came outside, the aggressive man sped off and disappeared, according to case file details. The officers did not pursue him.
Teodora’s husband filed a complaint at the Helegiu Police Station. At the same time, the young woman also filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Bacău District Court, reporting the incident at the apartment, the theft of her computer and money, as well as the continuous harassment and threats.
Two weeks after filing the complaints, the man caused another scene. This time, in a village in Dolj County, where the former partner of Teodora’s husband lived. The couple went there to pick up a dog they owned, and the 45-year-old man was waiting for them. He assaulted Teodora’s husband. The couple called 112 again and filed a complaint at the police station in the town of Cetate, where the incident occurred.
Teodora requested a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend.
“Throughout the entire period she was in a relationship with the defendant, he psychologically, verbally, and sometimes physically abused her. After she decided to end the relationship, the defendant completely lost control and began harassing her through SMS and Facebook Messenger messages, threatening that either he would kill himself or he would kill her, and approaching people close to her and her husband to get details about their lives. (…)”.
Knowing that the defendant has violent outbursts when he gets angry, knowing that he has not yet managed to overcome the moment of separation by obsessing over the thought of returning to him, the defendant’s conduct causes her a strong state of terror, she is afraid to stay at home, she is afraid to go out alone on the street (she always goes accompanied) because at any moment he can resort to acts of violence much more serious than those that have already occurred; consequently, I request the court to admit the request and issue a protection order”, states the request submitted to the Bacău Court under the conditions she mentioned in this form.
According to the messages, filed with the file, Teodora constantly received threats on the phone: “either you or me, one of us dies”, “don’t get rid of me”, “we’ll meet”, “I live for you”, “I’ll make you an international star”.
In addition to the ban on approaching her and her husband, the young woman asked the judges to force her ex-boyfriend to hand over the weapons he knew he had.
On April 7, 2021, the Bacău Court issued the protection order, prohibiting Robert from approaching Teodora at a distance of less than 100 meters. The protection order was issued for 4 months. The judge rejected the request to force the man to hand over the weapons to the police on the grounds that “it was not proven that he possessed weapons or that he would have used such means”.
After the protection order expired, the young woman did not request a new protection order from the court, Police representatives told HotNews on Sunday.