To friends and family, Adam Lazzarini went into medicine to help others.

To local police, he may be the killer of the mother of his daughter and a friend.

His father, Robert Lazzarini, told The State newspaper, “He always had a love of helping people. He would give the shirt off his back. He was that type of kid.”

But Cayce authorities say the 46 year-old orthopedic surgeon shot and killed a friend at his home last October and lied about it.

Less than 7 months later, Lazzarini’s wife, Vanessa Biery, was found dead inside their home. Police call her death suspicious and say the two deaths are related.

The elder Lazzarini said his son worked in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 and treated first responders and workers injured after the terrorist attacks, according to WIS-TV.

Lazzarini grew up in California, and earned a bachelor’s degree in physiology from the University of California-Davis and a medical degree from New York Medical College where he taught other medical students.

Lazzarini met Biery, known as V to friends, the day after Thanksgiving 2004 in New York. Biery was a former stage actress who worked in the financial industry. They moved to California, then back to New York where they were married in 2008.

With their daughter Brooke, they moved to South Carolina in 2016. Lazzarini joined Southeastern Orthopedic and Sports Medicine, which is affiliated with Lexington Medical Center. At the time, hospital officials called Lazzarini “an expert in hip arthroscopy” who specializes in “using the most advanced surgical techniques to perform complex (joint surgeries.)”

On Oct. 9, Lazzarini traveled to Georgia on business with William Player Holland, a CrossLink Orthopaedics/ Stryker sales representative. That evening, Holland was shot and killed in a bedroom at Lazzarini’s house. Cayce police initially said the death appeared accidental.

Seven months later, on May 1, paramedics were called to Lazzarini’s home, found his wife unresponsive and were unable to revive her. The Lexington County coroner’s office has not said how she died.

Why Holland and Lazzarini traveled together Oct. 9 is unclear.

Tem Miles, the Holland family lawyer, told WACH the two were professional acquaintances.

“Any salesperson who has a client that they’re trying to foster a relationship with is going to have, to some extent, a personal relationship with them,” Miles said to WACH. “Of there being a close relationship with them, I’m not aware of that. The family’s not aware of that. There’s no evidence to support that.”

Robert Lazzarini says his son and Holland were friends. On Oct. 9, Holland was at Lazzarini’s home for dinner.

He said, “Everybody was happy. After the tragic accident, Adam was just devastated.”