Veterinarian pleads guilty

ALLENTOWN - A Montgomery County veterinarian has admitted killing his pregnant lover and dumping her body in an Eastern Pennsylvania nature preserve.

David Rapoport, 31, of Upper Gwynedd Township, pleaded guilty Thursday in Lehigh County Court to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jennifer Snyder, 27, and their unborn baby.

Snyder was found dead March 18 in a ravine in Trexler Nature Preserve near Allentown. Her body had been doused with bleach, wrapped in an Eagles fleece blanket, and sealed in duct-taped garbage bags. She had been shot once through her back and abdomen, and twice more with a gun stuck into her mouth.

Prosecutors said the married Rapoport was furious over Snyder's pregnancy. Snyder's roommate told police that Rapoport "flipped out" upon learning Snyder was pregnant with his child, but that they reconciled after two days of not speaking.

Authorities said that on March 16, the couple drove in Snyder's car to a pull-off area along little-traveled Game Preserve Road. There, police said, Rapoport shot Snyder inside the car, shattering the passenger-side window and leaving blood, brain tissue, and a skull fragment in the vehicle.

Rapoport was arrested six days later.

Snyder had been scheduled for an ultrasound exam the day after she was killed. She was expecting a boy.

Rapoport had been seeing Snyder, a veterinary technician, for about three years, authorities said. The two had worked together at an animal hospital adjacent to Snyder's apartment in Lower Macungie Township.

Rapoport was sentenced to two life terms in prison. His guilty plea allowed him to avoid the death penalty, which the district attorney had planned to seek.