Family Thinks Parents Killed 3 Kids, Selves

Relatives say Benjamin and Kristi Strack of Utah had mental health, drug issues
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2014 9:22 AM CDT
Family Thinks Parents Killed 3 Kids, Selves
In this Oct. 2 photo, flowers and photos are on display during a vigil for the Strack family at Pioneer Park in Provo, Utah.   (AP Photo/The Daily Herald, Grant Hindsley, File)

Police suspect foul play and poisoning in the deaths of a Utah family of five, but they haven't laid out an official explanation of what they think transpired. Relatives, however, tell People that it's clear parents Benjamin and Kristi Strack poisoned their three children and then committed suicide. The two suffered from mental health problems that were worsened by drug addictions, they say. Isaac Strack, brother of Benjamin, also reveals that the family found an ominous letter written by Benson Strack, 14, to a friend.

"It was pretty clear that it was a goodbye letter," says Isaac Strack. "Benson at least had some idea that he might be found dead someday." The AP reports that the Stracks had long-term legal and financial problems, and that both parents had gone through court-mandated drug treatment in recent years. In fact, empty methadone bottles found near the bodies came from a drug-treatment clinic. The elder Stracks had grown paranoid in the weeks before their deaths, says Isaac Strack. "They had isolated themselves from neighbors and some of the family." (More poisoning stories.)

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