Former police officer convicted in ambush killing of ex-girlfriend at NJ home

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) - A former New York City police officer has been convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend with a machete-style knife during an ambush at her New Jersey home.

A Bergen County jury deliberated for just three hours Tuesday before finding Arthur Lomando guilty of murder and other related charges in the October 2015 death of Suzanne Bardzell. The 47-year-old Long Island resident faces a possible life term when he's sentenced March 28.

Prosecutors say Lomando wanted revenge after Bardzell, a mother of two, got a restraining order against him just weeks before he attacked her in the driveway of her Midland Park home and stabbed her more than 30 times

Defense lawyers didn't dispute Lomando's role in the killing. But they cited his long history of mental illness, claiming he lost control of himself during the killing.