BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer
JAY BODAS Investigators from the Edison Police Department enter an Agatha Drive home on Friday. The house was the scene of a murder-suicide the morning before. Family and friends are still reeling from the apparent murder-suicide of a husband and wife who were found dead in their Agatha Drive, Edison, home last week.
Neighbors said they were shocked by what happened the morning after the Oct. 19 incident.
“This neighborhood cannot believe it happened,” said Ashtok Patel, who lived next door to Jaime and Elenita Malimban for 19 years. “It is so shocking. I have not spoken to any member of the family since the incident, and we have no clue as to why it happened. My whole family could not sleep last night.”
Patel said he never saw any problems during the time the families were next-door neighbors.
“The whole family is so nice,” he said. “Just last week they had a party for their daughter, for her new grandchild.”
Elenita Malimban, 55, died sometime between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Oct. 18. She had been stabbed repeatedly with a pocket knife with a three-inch blade, Assistant County Prosecutor Julie Davidson said.
An autopsy done Friday by Assistant Middlesex County Medical Examiner Andrew Falzon determined that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation.
“I think Jaime’s cousin, who lived in the house, found their bodies,” said Patel.
Police received a 911 call at 6:40 a.m. on Oct. 18 and responded to the house on 47 Agatha Drive, Davidson said.
“There they found Jaime Malimban, 56. He had hung himself in the garage. Elenita Malimban’s body was found in bed in the master bedroom. She had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The morning after the incident, yellow police tape surrounded the property of the neatly-kept home. A lone police officer in an black-and-white cruiser kept watch over the property.
Investigators could be seen intermittently entering and leaving the building.
The knife appeared to be a “Swiss Army knife” type of instrument, Davidson said.
“There was a small Swiss Army knife found which has various implements on it,” she said. “It had a small knife, a three-inch blade, that is believed might have been the weapon that caused the stab wounds.”
She said that a relative discovered the bodies but could not release the identity of that person.
“I cannot pinpoint the time frame of the events, and I cannot comment on a possible motive,” Davidson said.
Patel said he thought that Jaime Malimban’s cousin, who lived in the house, found the bodies.
Elenita Malimban worked as a nurse at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, and Jamie was self-employed in the insurance business. They had an adult daughter and son.
No additional suspects are currently being sought, authorities said.
Before his job as an insurance broker, Jaime Malimban worked at the Post Office on Kilmer Road, Patel said.
Another neighbor who lives across the street, who asked not to be identified, said that the Malimbans were “real nice people.”
“They were a very friendly family,” the neighbor said. “They always said hello to us. During the winter, he would volunteer to shovel and clean our driveway. There was no indication of any trouble.”