LA Dad Kills Wife, 5 Kids, Self

Father detailed mortgage, credit card woes in notes

(NEWSER) - The Maryland man who murdered his family before shooting and killing himself complained of his financial troubles in notes left at the scene, the Washington Post reports. Christopher Wood’s family was at least $460,000 in debt from two mortgages and credit card charges. The family owned a Florida home that had been foreclosed, police said. More»

Dad claimed suicide pact; blamed Kaiser

(NEWSER) - The Los Angeles man suspected of killing his wife and five children before committing suicide lost his job due to misconduct, not layoffs, the Times reports. Ervin Antonio Lupoe and wife Ana were terminated from a Kaiser Permanente medical center, and sources say allegations of fraud were involved. A letter Lupoe sent to KABC-TV indicated the investigation had to do with employment misrepresentation and a child-care issue. More»

Family was in Baltimore visiting college daughter

(NEWSER) - A troubled Long Island attorney killed his wife, two children and himself in a Baltimore hotel, police said yesterday. "The why and the motive in this is just a big blank right now," said a police official of attorney William Parente, 59, who had an estate and tax planning practice in Manhattan. The parents "loved each other, and they loved those girls," said a Garden City neighbor. More»

(NEWSER) - Police discovered five bodies in a Maryland house today after a man apparently butchered his family and killed himself, the Frederick News Post reports. Few details are known, but police in Middletown, Md., say Christopher Alan Wood, 34, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the AP reports. His wife, two boys, and girl died after "traumatic cuts." Family members found the bodies this morning and led police to the scene. More»

Another family wiped out in murder-suicide

(NEWSER) - California police believe they've found another case of a family wiped out in a murder-suicide—the second such tragedy in eight days, reports the AP . The discovery of the body of a man who apparently leaped to his death from a highway overpass near San Diego led investigators to a home where the corpses of his lover and her two young children were found. Just last week a man, his wife, and their two daughters were found drowned in the pool and bathtub of their San Diego home in what investigators believe was a murder-suicide likely carried out by the father. More»