NEW JERSEY — The recent high-profile domestic violence killing of Gabby Petito of Long Island — who had publicly chronicled her “van life” with boyfriend (and suspect) Brian Laundrie — spurred difficult conversations about the number of intimate partner murders around the country.

A look at news stories across America from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day each year — including a case in Union County, N.J. last New Year’s Eve — shows numbers that are higher than typical law enforcement statistics, often peaking during that holiday.

“We see a rise before Christmas, the few days leading up to Christmas, and then it slows down — we know part of domestic violence has a ‘honeymoon period’ — and after that we see a spike of same thing starting two to three days before New Year’s,” said Mira Vanjari, the director of programs for the Center for Hope & Safety, a domestic violence group based in Bergen County.… READ MORE…