Friend of woman who died in double-suicide with her husband said she did a '180'

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County deputies believe Joseph Reddock Sr. was murdered by his son on June 19.

On Wednesday, they found the 70-year-old's body and started searching for his son. Early Thursday morning, police spotted Reddock Jr. at a motel in Daytona Beach.

Hours later, Reddock Jr. and his wife, Samantha, were found dead inside their room from self-inflicted gun shots.

Action News Jax was there as the manhunt started for the pair on Wednesday. That's when Reddock's father was found dead in his home; Reddock Jr. was the suspect as deputies said his father died from blunt force trauma.

“Lucky to be alive. Sat there, shared a beer with a guy he could've killed me next,” said motel guest Robert Lee.

Reddock had a lengthy criminal history, including domestic violence injunctions filed by his father in 2015 and 2005. But Reddock Jr. is not the only piece of this puzzle; there's also his wife Samantha Reddock.

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Action News Jax spoke with a friend and former co-worker of Samantha Reddock.

The woman said the Samantha she knew was completely different before meeting Joe Reddock Jr. Now Reddock Jr. and Samantha Reddock are dead and investigators and friends left to figure out what exactly happened and how the two became a couple.

"The lifestyle that she began living was absolutely a 180 from the lifestyle she had lived," said friend and former co-worker Lydia Leroux. "It's awful, it was awful."

Leroux was a friend and former co-worker of Samantha Reddock, who worked at United Way for nearly 20 years. She said her friend started to change when her mom died three years ago, after which she left her husband and 14-year-old son.

Action News Jax asked former FBI agent and Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson about what could have caused the change in Samantha Reddock's behavior.

“The loss of a mother with whom you’re very close could trigger some search for a different reality,” Carson said. “Here she embraces him, marries him and then commits suicide with him.”

It’s a reality that friends say is hard to believe.

"'You're not going to believe this. Sam's on the run with Joe.’ And I could not believe it. Could not, could not, could not. There's nothing about that that equates to anything about the person that she was," Leroux said.

Cox Media Group