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Vet killed pregnant mistress, police say

A married Montgomery County veterinarian has been jailed without bail on charges that he shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend in Lehigh County last week.

A married Montgomery County veterinarian has been jailed without bail on charges that he shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend in Lehigh County last week.

David A. Rapoport, 30, of Upper Gwynedd Township, was arrested Tuesday, accused of fatally shooting veterinary technician Jennifer Snyder and killing the unborn child believed to be his.

State Police found the body of Snyder, 27, Friday in a nature preserve in North Whitehall Township. Authorities said the Lower Macungie woman had been shot twice by a gun placed inside her mouth and once in the lower back, then doused with bleach, wrapped in black plastic with duct tape, and left in the woods along Game Preserve Road.

According to court records, Snyder's roommate told police that Rapoport, who is married, had been dating Snyder. The two had formerly been coworkers at a veterinary hospital in Lower Macungie.

Rapoport had become "very angry" upon learning that Snyder was pregnant, said the roommate, Hilary Schiavone, but they had "made up" after not speaking to each other for several days.

Snyder had been scheduled for an ultrasound exam the day after she allegedly was killed. An autopsy showed she was about two months pregnant with a male fetus.

Schiavone told investigators that she last saw Snyder at about 11 a.m. March 16. Snyder was planning to meet Rapoport and spend the night with him, Schiavone said.

The next day, police were called to investigate Snyder's car, which had been found in a Schnecksville parking lot with blood and two bullet casings inside. The passenger-side window was shattered, but there was no broken glass in the area.

A surveillance video of the lot showed a man resembling Rapoport parking the car shortly before 1:30 p.m. March 16, throwing some items in a Dumpster, and hurrying away on foot. Police found a blood-streaked bottle of bleach, a bleach-soaked towel and medical documents belonging to Snyder inside the Dumpster, court records say.

On Thursday afternoon, more than 24 hours after authorities believe Snyder was killed, Schiavone received a text message from Snyder's phone.

"Dr. Dumbass has to work tonight so I am going to my mom's. Thanks. Hi!" the message said. Schiavone told police she found the text odd and not typical of Snyder.

While troopers were interviewing Schiavone, she received a text message from Rapoport's phone, asking that she have Snyder call him, "as he doesn't think her cell is working," a court affidavit said. Schiavone told police she had never before received a text from Rapoport.

Snyder still was missing Thursday afternoon when police spoke with Rapoport and his wife, Elizabeth, in the driveway of their Montgomery County home.

Rapoport admitted to a relationship with Snyder, according to the court affidavit, saying he hadn't wanted his wife to find out.

Police later searched his vehicle and found a 9mm handgun, a box of ammunition, a box of baby wipes with a blood-like spot on it, an opened box of black garbage bags, a roll of duct tape and a cell phone believed to be Snyder's.

According to the affidavit, Rapoport had bought bleach, duct tape, baby wipes and a towel at a North Wales Target store a few hours before he was to meet Snyder on March 16.

State Police ballistics tests showed that the bullet casings found inside Snyder's car had been fired by the handgun seized from Rapoport's vehicle, the affidavit said.

Rapoport asked to speak to a lawyer and gave no further statements after police found the gun, the affidavit says.

Rapoport is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday on charges of criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child. His lawyer, Gregory Pagano, was not immediately available for comment.