Yet again, neighbors are shocked! (Canada)

Man kills wife and one teenage daughter, then himself May 5, 2009

Original: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/ex-city-family-found-dead-in-murder-suicide-44579072.html

Ex-city family found dead in murder-suicide

Staff Writer

8/05/2009 1:00 AM

EDMONTON -- A 49-year-old former Winnipeg man shot his wife and daughter and then himself in their home, an autopsy confirmed Thursday.

RCMP discovered the bodies of Kerry Saltel, his wife 47-year-old Gail and their 17-year-old daughter Erika inside the home in Grande Cache around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. They are not seeking any suspects beyond the three deceased.

Enlarge Image

A teddy bear sits on the front lawn, Thursday, May 7, 2009, of the home where three members of the Saltel family were found dead Tuesday, May 5. (CNS CHRIS SCHWARZ)

The town's mayor called on its residents Thursday to pull together for the surviving daughter of the family.

Mayor Louise Krewusik knew the Saltel family through the couple's older daughter, who was in middle school when Krewusik was its principal.

"They were the good, kind, responsible citizens that every community is proud to have in their midst," Krewusik said. "We will come together and we will do whatever needs to be done in order to support those who remain behind."

Many in the town are confused and saddened by the discovery, Krewusik said.

"We will comfort one another and support one another and do whatever we can to make some sense of this tragedy."

The Saltels lived in Grande Cache for about 10 years, and ran Autumn Stone Music & Books in town. Kerry was terminally ill with colon cancer, and Gail had taken over most of the work of running the business.

"I'm quite sure that people are walking past that little shop and feeling that something is missing," the mayor said.

Neighbours described the Saltels as quiet and friendly.

Gina Goldie said the strain from Kerry's illness had visibly worn his wife down. Goldie said she last talked to Gail on Monday, when the women were cleaning their adjoining yards.

"She wasn't very happy," Goldie said.

Allyssa Lyon said she had been best friends with Erika for the past seven years, since the Saltels moved to Grande Cache.

"We just kind of suited each other," she said. "She was like my sister."

Lyon said Erika was always trying to make people happy.

Lyon said the two girls had plans to work for a year after their Grade 12 graduation this spring, then spend a year travelling to Spain and England.

Kerry and Gail Saltel both grew up in Winnipeg, and moved to Grande Cache for work after their children were born, said a friend from Landmark, Man.

Kerry was a train engineer for CN in Winnipeg and worked for another railway in Alberta.

-- Canwest News Service

Apparent Miramar Ranch North Murder-Suicide Investigated (CA)

Suspected murder-suicide May 6, 2009

Original: http://www.10news.com/news/19383100/detail.html

SAN DIEGO -- A couple found dead in their Miramar Ranch North home, possibly the victims of a murder-suicide, were identified Wednesday.

Richard Young Choe, 67, and his wife, Grace, 62, were found by friends who went to their home in the 11200 block of Golden Birch Way about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, because the two had not shown up at a church event, San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney said.

Along with a neighbor, the friends looked in the windows and saw the woman's body, Rooney said. Firefighters forced their way in and found the two bodies, he said.

Both the man and the woman had traumatic injuries," Rooney said.

A handgun was found near the man's body, Rooney said. The deaths were being investigated as a possible murder-suicide.

Woman Critical After Apparent Murder Suicide Attempt (CA)

Man attempts to kill woman, then kills himself May 6, 2009

UPDATE: http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_12315892?nclick_check=1

A 57-year-old woman involved in a bitter divorce was in "good condition" today as she recovered from a bullet wound inflicted in a West Hollywood parking structure by her husband, who then killed himself, authorities said.

"She's in good condition, and may be released sometime today or tomorrow," Sgt. John Corina of the sheriff's homicide bureau said this morning.

The woman's name was not immediately released. Her husband was Eric Steven Lesin, 59, of North Hollywood, a coroner's investigator said.

Lesin waited for his wife in an underground parking structure in the 9000 block of Phyllis Avenue Wednesday morning, said sheriff's Lt. David Coleman. At some point during their encounter, Lesin shot the woman in the neck, then turned the gun on himself, he said.

Paramedics were sent to the location about 9 a.m. Wednesday. Lesin was declared dead at the scene while his wife was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in critical condition.

Coleman said the pair were going through a bitter divorce, and Corina added: "He felt that she was to blame for his troubles."

Corina said Lesin and his wife had no children together.

Original: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-murder-suicide,0,4524463.story

KTLA News Staff reporter

May 6, 2009

WEST HOLLYWOOD - A woman has been hospitalized in critical condition in an apparent murder suicide attempt, authorities said.

The shooting was reported shortly after 9 a.m. near the intersection of Doheny Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard, said Sgt. Diane Hecht of the Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

The unidentified woman is said to be roughly 50-years-old and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in critical condition, county fire Inspector Steve Zermeno said.

The man, who was in his late 50s, died at the scene.

Investigators believe he shot the woman, said to be his wife, before turning the gun on himself.

Contractor kills girlfriend, son, self (CA)

Man kills girlfriend and child, then himself May 6, 2009

Original: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g-P25XnbZjFKbq82RcILZq8MLjaAD980S7A81

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — An electrical contractor who was having financial problems shot to death his live-in girlfriend and 3 1/2-year-old son before killing himself, police said Wednesday.

Officers called to an apartment Tuesday afternoon found the bodies of Craig Rubin, 44, and Mary Striley, 42, on beds in separate bedrooms while the body of their son, Jake, was in a high chair in the kitchen, Sgt. Dan Adams said.

Each had been shot once in the head.

Police were called by the apartment manager, who had not seen the family in several days. The manager said the couple had not moved their cars or answered their phone for days, police said.

Adams said Rubin left a suicide note in which he took responsibility for killing his family.

The motive for the killings was under investigation, but Rubin had financial problems and both his girlfriend and son had health problems, Adams said. He had no details about those problems.

A work van labeled Rubin Electric was parked outside the apartment.

Rubin and Striley had lived together for four or five years, Adams said.

Orange is in central Orange County about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Teen escapes as Fla. dad kills family, self (FL)

Husband kills wife and two kids, shoots at the other kid, then kills himself May 3, 2009

Wife, two boys shot dead; she had tried to leave home after a fight

LAKELAND, Fla. - His father and stepmother had fought before, and 13-year-old Nathan Bellar had no reason to believe their latest exchange would turn violent.

After an argument on Sunday, though, the teen watched his father gun down the woman as she tried to take her sons to their grandparents'. Nathan ran back through the house and heard his father shoot his younger brothers, but the gunfire wasn't over.

His father chased him through the cluttered garage and took aim, but tripped on a bicycle before he could get off another fatal shot. As Nathan ran screaming to the safety of a neighbor's house, the father killed himself in the front lawn.

The teen was staying with his grandparents Monday, a day after investigators said Troy Ryan Bellar, 34, shot and killed his wife, Wendy Bellar, 31, and their 5-month-old and 8-year-old sons. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the surviving teen was quiet and cried some after the shootings but also helped detectives piece together the deadly sequence of events.

"His entire family is gone," Judd said.

"What he witnessed, what he was engaged in, most people in this world will never witness," the sheriff later added.

Wife was trying to drive away
Wendy Bellar was carrying 5-month-old Zack James Bellar out the front door in a car seat when Nathan Bellar saw his father follow them with a 7.62 mm rifle, Judd said. She intended to take the infant and her 8-year-old son, Ryan Patrick Bellar, to her in-laws for the night but was shot down on the screen porch.

Nathan told deputies the earlier argument gave no indication that the evening would turn violent. Investigators said they had not found any suicide note, and a motive remained unclear for the killings in Lakeland, between Tampa and Orlando.

"They argued a little bit, but nothing significant," Judd said.

It wasn't the first argument for the couple who'd been married for 10 years. According to an arrest affidavit, Troy Bellar accused his wife of hitting, punching and scratching him in March. Wendy Bellar was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, and the case was pending.

Sunday night's gunfire sent panicked neighbors to their phones to dial 911. One of them told an emergency dispatcher she saw the teen "running around in the garage with his hands up, and like screaming," according to a recording of the call.

After Nathan safely reached the home of another neighbor, that woman relayed information from him to a 911 dispatcher.

"A boy's here at my house that lives there and says that his dad shot his mom and there's a baby there," the neighbor, who was not identified, told a 911 operator.

"I know this is going to be very hard for you to ask him," the operator said. "Is his mom still alive?"

After an exchange between the neighbor and the boy, the woman told the operator: "She got shot in the head."

Wife, sons were found on porch
Deputies arrived at a horrific scene: Wendy Bellar and her two young sons dead from gunshot wounds in their screened-in porch and their father lifeless in the front yard. A preliminary investigation indicates that more than 10 rounds were fired in all.

"It left veteran detectives and crime scene technicians that do this for a living stunned last night," Judd said.

AP Wendy Bellar

Detectives praised the surviving teen for being helpful.

"He cried some, as you can imagine," Judd said. "As he should have done. And he was very quiet. And we were very delicate with him."

Investigators say Troy Bellar ran a home remodeling and handyman business, which next-door neighbor Doug Lane said seemed to do a steady business despite the economic downturn.

"He said the remodeling had dropped off, but he was doing repair work for commercial apartments and that sort of thing," Lane said. "He said that he was staying busy."

Judd couldn't say if the family was experiencing any financial difficulties.

Records show the husband had been arrested twice in the county, on suspicion of armed robbery and aggravated battery in 1994 and for driving under the influence in 1999. He was convicted of petit/retail theft in the first case and of driving under the influence in the second.

But if the couple argued before, Lane said he never heard them. He said he saw them sitting outside together Sunday evening, giving no indication that anything was wrong.

"Troy and Wendy were good, good neighbors," Lane said. "Fortunate to know them. Just an awful shock."

Original: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30555915/

Dade City woman's family feared her husband before murder-suicide (FL)

Husband kills wife then himself May 2, 2009

By Camille C. Spencer, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Tuesday, May 5, 2009

DADE CITY — The Scotts' marriage had been strained for some time, according to friends and family members. But in the month leading up to Terry Wayne Scott's decision to kill his wife and then himself, authorities say, things unraveled quickly.

In early April, Veronica Scott discovered her husband of 10 years was cheating on her.

A few weeks later, Zephyrhills police showed up at the couple's 2-acre pasture on Mount Vernon Road to investigate whether Terry Wayne Scott was stealing items from his job at Advance Auto Parts and selling the goods on eBay.

His wife cooperated with investigators, and Terry Wayne Scott, 59, was charged April 17 with grand theft — his first arrest.

Five days later, Veronica Scott, 48, filed for divorce.

Veronica Scott's relatives say years of emotional abuse and the discovery of her husband's infidelity led her to file for divorce. They say she feared her husband, who often isolated himself and avoided his wife's family gatherings.

But they say they never expected him to kill her.

"She'd been unhappy for a long, long time," said Cindy Barthle, 46, Veronica's sister. "Part of what made him crack is that he's a control freak, and she never stood up to him."

Pasco County Sheriff's deputies came to the couple's home Saturday night after co-workers were concerned that Veronica Scott missed her shift at Pasco Regional Medical Center, where she was an administrative supervisor.

They found husband and wife in the garage, both dead of gunshot wounds.

• • •

On April 17, Zephyrhills police met Veronica Scott at the couple's home. The manager at the auto parts store where Terry Wayne Scott worked had reported a "huge inventory loss" at the store.

Inside the garage of the Scotts' home, the report said, police found a blue cooler filled with new auto parts from the store, including a fuel pump, a propane tank and packs of batteries.

Terry Wayne Scott also stored items in Veronica Scott's 2008 Toyota Tacoma truck, the report said, and used her name as the sender of the items, which he sold on eBay.

A few months earlier, his son told police, he asked Terry Wayne Scott where all the auto parts came from.

"Five-finger discount," was the reply.

• • •

Veronica Scott was born in San Francisco and grew up in Dade City. She was the oldest of five children. Her family runs Roberts Vault Company in Dade City.

Terry Wayne Scott was her fourth husband.

Veronica Scott had two sons. One, a teenager, was adopted by Terry Wayne Scott, and lived with the couple.

Terry Wayne Scott had been married once before, and had an adult son and a teen daughter.

Veronica Scott's mother, Donna Roberts, said her daughter loved horses and owned four.

She said her daughter loved her job at the Dade City hospital, where she was awarded a Nurse of the Year honor in 2003. She was chosen from a pool of 90 nurses.

Donna Roberts said her daughter had grown to fear her husband.

"It's unbelievable, but knowing him, we were expecting him to do something bad," she said. "She said he wouldn't hurt her, but we thought he was violent."

Amanda Martin, assistant chief nursing officer at the hospital, had worked with Veronica Scott since 1996.

"She was a great friend and confidante that you could talk to," she said. "I can't say in words how much she'll be a loss to our facility."

Martin said she knew of her co-worker's troubles with Terry Wayne Scott.

"He put her through a lot for a long time," she said. "She would tell stories of how she wanted out. He was very verbally abusive."

Ronnie Bearden, 51, Veronica Scott's ex-husband and father of her oldest son, said his ex-wife enjoyed outdoor activities like camping and fishing.

"She liked to go to the firing range with me," said the retired sheriff's deputy, who lives in Georgia. "She could shoot a gun as good as I could."

The two split amicably in the early '80s, and Veronica Scott moved to Florida. Their son stayed with Bearden in Georgia.

Once, Bearden said, their son was hospitalized in an ICU after a bad car accident. Veronica and Terry Wayne Scott stopped by the hospital, Bearden said.

"He didn't want her to stay (at the hospital) at all," Bearden said. "She said she was scared of him. Every time they got into an argument, he said she wasn't leaving him."

Veronica Scott's brother, Steve Roberts, 41, said his sister's husband didn't want her around her family, and avoided family gatherings.

He said Terry Wayne Scott should have dealt with his problems instead of taking his life and his wife's.

"Instead of facing what he had coming to him," Steve said, "he took the cowardly way out."

• • •

Last month, Veronica Scott discovered her husband was cheating after she found love letters to other women, Steve Roberts said.

She talked to her attorney and officials at the Pasco County Sheriff's Office about filing a restraining order, said her sister, Cindy Barthle, but records show one was never filed.

On Monday, Barthle thought about an upcoming trip out-of-state that Veronica Scott planned to take with her mom and sister.

Now, says Barthle, "it just feels like a nightmare."

Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this story. Camille C. Spencer can be reached at (813) 909-4609 or cspencer@sptimes.com.

[Last modified: May 04, 2009 09:24 PM]

Original: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article998074.ece

A Family is Dead and Shreveport Investigators Point to Murder-Suicide (LA)

Husband kills wife and child, then himself May 5, 2009

Reported by: Amber Miller

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 @06:42pm CST

Shreveport police responded to the 8900 block of Brandon Drive in Shreveport after receiving a welfare call. Police say a relative of the victim called concerned that their family member did not show up to work. When police arrived at the victim's home three bodies were found inside.

Investigators believe 36-year-old Billy Hardy shot and killed his wife, 33-year-old Jolyne Hardy and their 3-year-old son before turning the gun on himself.

Billy Hardy's bestfriend says he doesn't believe Hardy pulled the trigger, stating he loved his family too much.

Other neighbors tell KTAL they wished the gunman, whomever it was, would have sought help before making such a tragic decision.

The couple both worked for the Willis Knighton system. KTAL was told they had been married for five years.

Original: http://arklatexhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=62771

911 call from neighbor leads Lenoir police to apparent murder-suicide (NC)

Husband kills wife, then himself May 3, 2009

Note found on apartment door; husband, wife found dead

By Sarah Newell Williamson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: May 5, 2009

LENOIR - Police are investigating a murder-suicide of a husband and wife after a neighbor found a note on an apartment door that said to call 911.

Robin and Larry Jarvis were married in 1986, said Capt. Sid Pope with the Lenoir Police Department.

The couple was found dead in Larry Jarvis' apartment at the Meadowood Garden Apartment complex on Meadowood Drive at 9:10 a.m. Sunday. Both were dead from gunshot wounds, though police are waiting for autopsy results to confirm how they died, Pope said.

Pope said the couple separated in February, and the murder-suicide happened in Larry's apartment. Robin lived on Catawba River Road in Old Fort.

"They were together earlier in the day and it was all consensual," Pope said.

Police are investigating what happened that led to the murder-suicide. Pope said Larry left a note.

"It looks like he claimed responsibility for what happened through a note," Pope said.

And although Larry and Robin were found inside Larry's apartment, Pope said it doesn't appear as though both died there.

"It looks like the shooting happened in his truck, which was outside," Pope said.

He added that police are still investigating whether the shooting happened in his truck while it was parked in the parking lot, or if it happened elsewhere.

Pope said neighbors reported hearing no gunshots. They were called to the apartment complex only after a neighbor saw the note on the door, telling someone to call 911.

Pope said Larry, 53, had only lived at the apartment for about a month. Pope said that prior to that, Larry and Robin, 50, lived in a house together. He said he was unaware of domestic complaints.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Lenoir Police Department, at 757-2100, or the Caldwell County Crime Stoppers, at 758-8300.

Original: http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2009/may/05/911-call-neighbor-leads-lenoir-police-apparent-mur/

Deputies investigate attempted murder-suicide (FL)

Husband shoots wife (without killing her), then kills himself May 5, 2009

UPDATE: As of May 6, 2009 the wife has died from the gun shot wound. Apparently the husband left a suicide note and in it he was concerned for his wife's poor health.

BY HEATHER SCOFIELD
Staff Writer

Flagler County Sheriff's Office is investigating an attempted murder-suicide at a home in Plantation Bay this morning.

Initial reports from the scene indicate that Richard Nickel, 75, shot his wife, Gail, 72 and then turned the gun on himself inside the couple’s home on Kingsley Lane in the development.

Gail Nickel was transported to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, where a hospital spokeswoman said she was in critical but stable condition. Richard Nickel was found dead.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is processing the scene and the investigation of the incident continues.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Original: http://www.news-journalonline.com/newsjournalonline/breakingnews/deaths050509.htm

Slain mother had blogged that husband under stress (MD)

Husband kills wife, three kids, then himself April 18, 2009

Original: http://www.examiner.com/a-1969609~Slain_mother_had_blogged_that_husband_under_stress.html

Apr 19, 2009 6:56 PM (17 days ago) By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, AP

MIDDLETOWN, Md. (Map, News) - A man who killed his wife, their three young children and himself in their northwest Maryland home had a hard time adjusting to his new manager's job for a railroad and it was causing him stress, according a blog entry his wife posted last month.

The children's grandfather discovered the murder-suicide Saturday when he went to check on the family at their Middletown home, authorities said. Francis Billotti Wood, 33, and her children suffered "traumatic cuts" and each had at least one wound from a .25-caliber handgun, Frederick County Sheriff Charles Jenkins said. Her husband, 34-year-old Christopher Alan Wood, was found at the foot of his bed, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Francis Wood grew up in the Middletown area and the family moved back last year. Her husband had been transferred from Jacksonville, Fla., for work as an account manager in the sales and marketing group at CSX Corp. in Baltimore, a company spokesman said. In a blog under her name and photo that she appears to have started in 2006, she said she thrived on the excitement that change brings, but he didn't handle it as well as she did.

"Chris is trying to adjust but he is having a hard time with the new job which makes him more of a major player at work," a March 16 entry read.

She also said she knew he worried that his traveling for the job would keep him away from the children too much.

"But I think we should focus on Quality over Quantity," she wrote.

On Sunday, members of Holy Family Catholic Community Church, which Francis Wood's parents helped found, remembered her as someone deeply involved in the parish, teaching catechism and volunteering in the nursery.

The Rev. Kevin Farmer said Wood was "the kind of parishioner I would wish for."

Authorities found the couple's two sons, ages 5 and 4, dead in their beds, and the bodies of their 2-year-old daughter and Francis Wood were in the master bedroom, Frederick County sheriff's office spokeswoman Jennifer Bailey said. On the master bedroom floor was Christopher Wood's body, she said.

Sheriff Jenkins said Wood left behind five notes before fatally shooting himself, including an apology to family members and hints that he suffered from psychiatric problems. The sheriff also said there was evidence that Wood faced financial problems.

Francis Wood wrote in the blog that her husband needed to get out of his comfort zone, but it was causing him stress.

Her last posting, dated April 1, said: "I am thinking that Chris and I will never agree on a new house to buy." She also talks about being blessed to be able to stay at home with her children and that she could give back to the community.

Joe Parker, 64, whose daughter and Francis Wood went to school together and were members of the Girl Scouts, said he wonders if there was more he could have done to prevent the deaths.

"We need to be more involved in other people's lives and we're not," Parker said.

Neighbors placed stuffed animals, balloons and flowers along the porch railing on the Woods' yellow two-story home.

Randel Edwards, 50, placed a handwritten sign that said: "Billotti and Wood families. We love you and hold you in our prayers. Your loved ones are greatly missed. May heaven dry your tears."

Edwards said he hoped some good would come out of the tragedy and lead those who are "experiencing difficulties" to realize "that there are people that want to help."

Next-door neighbor Pat Hendricks said the family moved into the rented house in January and that there were no signs of trouble.

"There were no red flags. They were a very loving family," she said.

---

Associated Press Writer Gillian Gaynair in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

St. Charles County deaths ruled murder-suicide (MO)

Husband kills wife, then himself March 13, 2009

Original: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stcharles/story/617C34B921108547862575AE0063B5CE?OpenDocument

ST. CHARLES COUNTY - The deaths of a married couple found shot in March inside their home was a murder-suicide, authorities said today.

According to the St. Charles County medical examiner's office, Michael Costello, 53, shot his wife, Joyce Costello, 36, before shooting himself March 13 inside their home near St. Peters.

Both had gunshot wounds to their heads, authorities said. Neighbors found the bodies inside the Costello home on Carpenter Drive. They found Michael Costello slumped by the front door and Joyce, lying on the couch, covered up to her neck with a blanket.

St. Charles County Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Case said crime scene evidence supported her conclusion, but she would not elaborate.

Investigators have described their deaths as a case of domestic violence and that no third party was involved.

Michael Costello lost his job with a roof truss company within the past two years, neighbors have said.

Joyce Costello had been in a custody fight with her ex-husband over a teenage child. She was also the subject of several restraining orders by Michael Costello's ex-wife.

Joyce Costello was a 1990 graduate of St. Charles West High School and had worked at a nearby AutoZone.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1393986.htm

Family murder-suicides about control, social worker says	PRINT FRIENDLY	EMAIL STORY
The World Today - Thursday, 16 June , 2005  12:47:39 Reporter: David Weber ELEANOR HALL: A Perth social worker has been delving into the emotional area of family murder suicides to try to find out why they happen. In a new book being launched today, Carolyn Harris Johnson, investigates seven cases in which where a man murders his children and commits suicide after a relationship breakdown. Ms Johnson says the ultimate act of revenge is often unexpected because the warning signs have been missed.  David Weber reports from Perth that the Chief Judge of the Western Australian Family Court will launch the book this afternoon. DAVID WEBER: Carolyn Harris Johnson says she found that in all the cases, domestic violence was under-reported. She says any threats to harm a partner or the children need to be taken very seriously. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: It certainly was under-reported and minimised where it was reported, even to the point where I was interviewing women, and they'd say initially there was no domestic violence, and then they'd go on to give me accounts of quite horrific examples of stalking, violence and threats. DAVID WEBER: There were threats before murders were carried out then? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Certainly. There were threats to harm the woman, threats to kill her. Threats to kill the children and also suicidal threats by the perpetrator.  DAVID WEBER: Ms Johnson says the threats to kill or harm came way before the separation occurred. She found that the men believed that the family was theirs to control. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: He wasn't going to let her leave and I think the offences have a lot more to do with proprietary attitude of the males towards their families and the need to control them, than it has to do with anything else.  At the same time, when women start to talk to men about their dissatisfaction with a relationship and perhaps try to get the man to go to counselling to address the issues, it's often very hard for women to get men to do that. DAVID WEBER: The whole thing is about a loss of control really, and this is like the final act of control in a way? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Absolutely. But I think that what we must remember is the incidence of this kind of familicide is actually very low, and even though the cases are shocking, and involve multiple loss of life, thankfully they don't occur too often. DAVID WEBER: The research suggests that the woman who's been left behind never gets over the trauma. One of the ways that survivors cope is to help others who find themselves in a similar kind of situation.  Carolyn Harris Johnson says there's also a long-term impact on the extended family. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: For us as adults, it's very hard to understand what would motivate a parent to kill a child. But for a child it's even harder and I've heard of cases where in the extended family, there's been marital separations and the women in that family have just been quite unable to allow their kids to go and have access to their father, even though that child's father might have been quite loving and never made any threats of any kind.  DAVID WEBER: Do men do this more than women? CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: Men commit familicide following separation much, much more frequently than women. There's very few cases of that recorded anywhere.  DAVID WEBER: It would seem that Ms Johnson's research dispels two myths about familicide.  One is that familicide is caused by a legal dispute about custody. Ms Johnson found that not all the cases had been to the Family Court, and there was only one where custody was in dispute. And she found a lack of contact wasn't a causing factor because the men were using their access to the children to kill them.  She believes she's also countered another widely held view. CAROLYN HARRIS JOHNSON: One of the other myths is that familicide is caused by love, that the extreme love the father feels for the children means that he can't bear to be separated from them, and that somehow he kills them out of that kind of emotional response. But that really doesn't make a lot of sense to me, and the research doesn't really bear that out either. ELEANOR HALL: Social worker Carolyn Harris Johnson speaking to David Weber in Perth about her new book, Come With Daddy.

Los Angeles man, Ervin Lupoe kills wife Ana Lupoe, 5 children, self at home, both had lost jobs (CA)

Husband kills wife and five kids, then himself Jan. 26, 2009

Original: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-ervin-lupoe-090127-ht,0,1546651.story

Tribune wire reports

10:11 PM CST, January 27, 2009

Ervin Lupoe of Los Angeles, fatally shot his wife, Ana Lupoe, five young children and himself, claiming in a note he faxed to a TV station Tuesday that the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and together planned the killings as an escape for the whole family.

"Why leave our children in someone else's hands," Ervin Lupoe wrote in his letter to KABC-TV. The station posted the letter on its Web site later with some parts redacted.

The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a call from a man who stated, "I just returned home and my whole family's been shot."

Officers rushed to the home in Wilmington, a small community between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about 8:30 a.m. and found the bodies.

All were shot in the head, some multiple times, Coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said. The killings may have occurred between Monday evening and early Tuesday, based on neighbors' accounts of firecracker sounds, he said. MORE