When officials raced to a Lindenhurst house fire early Sunday morning, the scene quickly went from a blaze to a murder investigation.
First, they found a gas can which indicated the home may have been intentionally torched.
Then, they saw troubling evidence in one of the bedrooms.
"No one was home, but in a bedroom it appeared some violence took place," said Detective Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky of the Suffolk County homicide squad.
Authorities would not detail if there was blood shed or if there were items broken, but immediately, they began looking for the couple's vehicle.
Eventually they found the Chevy Tahoe along a quiet stretch of sand on Sore Thumb Beach in Babylon.
Inside the SUV, they found the couple.
Her body was wrapped in a blanket in the back of the car.
He was also in the car slumped over, but still alive.
Muhammet Karadag was treated at a hospital for an apparent drug overdose. He was charged with murder on Monday.
Police say Karadag fatally stabbed his ex-wife, Gulcin Karadag.
