Authorities say a corrections officer told police that he fatally shot his girlfriend and her friend because the girlfriend had been ignoring his calls while on vacation with the other woman.

John Menendez faces two counts of murder stemming from the deaths of his girlfriend, Anna Shpilberg, of Randolph, and Luiza Shinkarevskaya, of Riverdale.

The women, who were both 40, had each been shot in the head and were found Tuesday night in different areas of Newark. The killings occurred shortly after Menendez had picked the women up at the airport.

The 23-year-old Menendez remains jailed. It's not known if he has retained an attorney.