Police say US real estate developer shot and killed wife, 2 teen children and self

North Carolina police say a real estate developer known as an active member of his church shot and killed his wife and two teen children and then committed suicide in their home.

Authorities did not hint at a motive into the slayings by William Maxwell in an upscale neighborhood of the city Monday night.

Police said Tuesday that 47-year-old Maxwell killed his wife, Kathryn, and their children, 17-year-old Connor and 15-year-old Cameron, before turning a gun on himself.

Friends and neighbors say the Maxwells were a friendly family who kept a meticulous yard and were active in their church and their children's religious high school.

William Maxwell was a builder and land developer who built residential subdivisions in Cumberland and Harnett counties, said John McKinney of Fayetteville, who described himself as Maxwell's business partner and friend for more than a decade.

"He was a devout Christian and I really loved his family," McKinney said. William Maxwell also owned a couple of local car washes, while his wife Kathryn was a stay-at-home mother who taught Sunday school at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

Son Cameron Maxwell attended 9th grade at Village Christian Academy in Fayetteville and his sister Conner was a senior.

In a neighborhood with well-manicured lawns where many houses sit on hill tops, a steady stream of cars drove by the house on Tuesday, slowing for drivers to gape at the crime scene.

Evelyn Diaz, a Maxwell neighbor for about a year, said she remembered the father and son working on the meticulously-kept lawn.