Banker's deaths

[Magda Hassan]

Closter murder-suicide latest JPMorgan Chase & Co. worker death

Authorities are investigating a murder-suicide that occurred in a High Street home in Closter Friday evening. (Justin Zaremba | NJ Advance Media)

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By Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on February 09, 2015 at 3:51 PM, updated February 10, 2015 at 9:23 AM


CLOSTER -- A JPMorgan Chase & Co. employee and his wife were found dead in their home in an apparent murder-suicide.
It happened in Closter Friday evening, where the bodies of Michael and Iran Pars Tabacchi were discovered. Authorities say Iran was stabbed and strangled, while Michael died of a self-inflicted stab wound.
But it also happened in Jefferson Township in July, when police say Julian Knott shot his wife Alita before taking his own life with the same weapon.
"Money tends to create the most problems in marriages, so the lack of money when you've had it before--that seems to hurt the most."

There's no evidence to suggest the two cases are related, but Julian Knott and Michael Tabacchi shared an employer: JPMorgan Chase & Co. Knott and Tabacchi are the latest in a string of suicides by company employees over the past year.
When Li Junjie, a 33-year-old JPMorgan worker, jumped off the roof of the company's Hong Kong office in February 2014, the New York Post noted that it was the third death of a JPMorgan employee in weeks. Junjie was preceded by Gabriel Magee, a vice president with JPMorgan's corporate and investment technology arm in London, who jumped off an office tower, and Ryan Henry Crane, a New Jersey native and executive director with the company, who was found dead in his Stamford, Conn., home.
Alden Cass, a psychologist and author of "Bullish Thinking: The Advisor's Guide to Surviving and Thriving on Wall Street," said the deaths are not necessarily a trend. Suicides can happen in any high-stress profession and JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a large company, with 260,000 employees in 60 countries.
But, he acknowledged, the financial services industry is stressful, especially after the recession of 2008. Workers are still getting used to lower bonuses, less mobility and less job security.
Cass' patients often say they struggle with how to cope with those changes and the resulting effects on their lifestyles.
Michael Tabacchi (left) and his wife, Iran Pars Tabacchi (right), who went by Denise, died in an apparent murder-suicide Friday evening, authorities said.Facebook
"Money tends to create the most problems in marriages, so the lack of money when you've had it before--that seems to hurt the most," he said.
Stress can exacerbate existing mental conditions like depression or alcoholism, Petros Levounis, chair of psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said. Companies should encourage workers to find a balance between work and health, he said.
"The more we study these systems, the more we appreciate that leading a more balanced life that not only focuses on success and competition, but also in taking care of one's self, preventing burnout and having other outlets like exercise may end up in a more successful outcome," he said.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli made the results of an autopsy on the Tabacchis public on Sunday. The couple leaves behind a 15-month-old son. Authorities have not released a possible motive for the killings.
Michael Tabacchi had worked at JPMorgan & Chase since 2009 according to his LinkedIn page. The 27-year-old identified himself as a global custody product manager.
The company declined to comment for this report and did not clarify what Tabacchi's day-to-day responsibilities included.
In the past, the company has offered counseling through its employee assistance program to manage stress and depression.
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