Youth wanted to live with dad

By PATRICK E. LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com

A New Castle youth wanted to live with his father months before he was killed.

Tomislav “Tommy” Novosel’s family made the claim in a first-person obituary written on behalf of the 12-year-old.

Lawrence County Coroner Russell Noga said Saturday that Ljuba Novosel, 40, shot her son and mother Anka Denk, 81, each in the head while they slept in their upstairs bedrooms.

She then killed herself with a .38-caliber revolver. Her body was found at the bottom of the first-floor stairway. Noga said she had purchased the gun in 2009.

City police discovered the bodies Friday when they were called to 816 S. Mercer St. to check on the welfare of the family. Noga said he believes the deaths occurred between 11 p.m. and midnight Wednesday.

Pathologist Dr. James Smith, Noga and two city detectives conducted the autopsies Saturday morning at the Beaver Valley Medical Center. Noga ruled the deaths as a double homicide/suicide.

City police Chief Thomas Sansone said this morning that Novosel did not leave a suicide note.

“(My) family is all in Ellwood City, that’s why in October of 2010 I decided to move to Ellwood City,” the obituary said. “I told my dad that I packed my bags. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to finish that paper what you call a Petition.”

Ljuba Novosel had divorced Tomislav Novosel in 2000. The pair married in Zagreb, Croatia, on Sept. 24, 1994, according to Lawrence County court records.

“I had two homes, one in New Castle where I lived with my mom and one in Ellwood City where I lived with my dad,” according to the seventh-grader’s obituary. “Ever since I was little I loved being with my family in Ellwood City and enjoyed playing with my cousins.”

He attended New Castle Junior/Senior High School and belonged to Holy Redeemer Church in Ellwood City.

“He was very proud of being an altar server,” the Rev. Mark L. Thomas said this morning. “He took great joy in coming here.”

Thomas said he has known the youth and his father since 1999. The priest will conduct the Mass of Christian burial Thursday morning.

Ljuba Novosel and her family were somewhat of a mystery to their South Side neighbors.

“Some people recalled them and some don’t,” said the Rev. John Petrarulo of St. Vitus Church. “I really can’t put my finger on it.

“All I know is they were two doors down, and I never saw them.”

A few residents thought the family had lived on South Mercer Street a short time, while others’ memories of them go back at least three years.

Some neighbors were under the impression the Novosels had moved to Ellwood City.
Kira Walthall said she last saw the family during the summer.

“They were a very quiet family,” she said. “They stayed to themselves.”
Ljuba Novosel, who became an American citizen in 1998, was a registered nurse. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State website, she renewed her license in October.

She graduated from Slippery Rock University’s nursing program in 2005, a university spokesman said this morning.

“We never know what a person’s problems are, what difficulties they’re living in,” Petrarulo said of the deaths. “As far as the community is involved, they’re shocked, especially when a young person is involved.”

City police are continuing their investigation. The gun will be sent for testing, Sansone said. He said officers recovered three shells from the five-chamber revolver at the scene. The two remaining bullets were still in the gun’s chamber.