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Background: Footage obtained by WTVJ of Mary Gingles finding a GPS device on her vehicle in 2024 (WTVJ). Inset: Mary Catherine Gingles (Broward County Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida woman who was killed in a triple homicide allegedly committed by her estranged husband tried to report that he was tracking her — a violation of a court order that could have landed him in jail.
Local NBC affiliate WTVJ reported on Friday that newly obtained court documents showed that months before 34-year-old Mary Catherine Gingles was allegedly shot to death by her estranged husband, 43-year-old Nathan Gingles, she found a GPS tracker affixed to her vehicle. In an Oct. 29, 2024, phone call to her attorney, the video of which was obtained by WTVJ, Mary Catherine Gingles can be heard saying to her attorney, “It’s in the back of the car!”
Prior to the discovery, Mary Catherine Gingles had gotten a “no harmful contact” order from a judge, who said that the tracker violated that order. She reported her find to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office that day, telling deputies that she feared for her life.
Just months later, she was dead.
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WTVJ reported that Mary Catherine Gingles had been going through the couple’s financial records and found a suspicious $702 purchase made by Nathan Gingles in March 2024 at a company called HAPN. She later found that the company sells GPS trackers.
Just one month before that purchase, Mary Catherine Gingles had taken out a restraining order against her husband.
But despite that apparent violation, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office seemingly took no action in response, WTVJ reported. Mary Catherine Gingles contacted law enforcement again on Dec. 29, 2024, after finding duct tape, zip ties, plastic wrap, rubber gloves, and other items in the home’s garage. On Jan. 2, she brought the tracker and the photos and videos she took when she found the tracker to the sheriff’s office.
WTVJ reported that one deputy stated to the lead detective in an email that he had tried to call Mary Catherine Gingles in November 2024 following the discovery of the tracker, but the call was “disconnected.” In a sworn statement by Mary Catherine Gingles, she said that no one ever tried to contact her or return her calls.
The station also reported on a search warrant affidavit for the contents of the tracker dated Jan. 16, but it was never signed by a judge and there was no evidence that it was ever issued.
The incident involving the tracker was just one part of the troubled history of domestic violence between Mary Catherine Gingles and Nathan Gingles. As previously reported by Law&Crime, Mary Catherine Gingles once wrote that her husband “sang that he was going to shoot me and there was nothing I could do about it.” She further stated, “Because of Nathan’s psychotic behavior, his multiple threats, his drug use, his multiple/many silenced firearms, and my impending divorce action, I am afraid Nathan will kill me and my daughter.”
On Feb. 16, Nathan Gingles allegedly shot his wife after she fled to a neighbor’s house. Before she ran, he allegedly shot his father-in-law, David Pozner, 64, as the couple’s 4-year-old daughter watched. Mary Catherine Gingles was captured on security cameras in the neighborhood running away from her home to the home of her neighbor Andrew Ferrin, 36. The same cameras allegedly captured Nathan Gingles walking in the same direction, carrying firearms, followed by little girl.
Police say Nathan Gingles then allegedly shot his wife and Ferrin before taking the little girl and bringing her to a Walmart, where he was arrested.
Nathan Gingles was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and has pleaded not guilty.
Days after the triple homicide, eight Broward County Sheriff’s deputies who were connected to the Gingles’ domestic violence case and the murder investigation were suspended with pay and one chief was demoted to deputy. The lead detective was also suspended, WTVJ reported.
“It’s clear we probably could have done more with that element,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said during a press conference in February. “There was enough there where we could have potentially pursued a probable cause affidavit so we could arrest him and take him off the street.”