1 dead, 1 Injured in Greenwich Fire

 

Greenwich Time- An intentionally set fire killed a 42-year-old man and critically injured a 69-year-old handicapped woman Tuesday morning in their Old Greenwich home, police said.

Neighbors identified the victims as Dean Verboven and his mother, Barbara Verboven. Barbara Verboven remains in critical condition in the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital, after being initially transported to Greenwich Hospital.

The fire broke out at about 7 a.m. at 46 Havemeyer Lane, police and fire officials said.

Speaking at a news conference at the police station in the afternoon, Police Lt. Kraig Gray said a preliminary investigation determined that the fire was set, but stopped short of using the term arson. He said the fire is being investigated by a joint team of police and firefighters.

Gladys Pardo, who lives next door to Verbovens with her husband, John, said she was sitting at her computer at about 7 a.m. when she saw smoke and flames coming from the window next door.

She screamed to her husband that there was a fire and got out of their house, which is only a few feet away from their neighbors.

When firefighters arrived, Gladys Pardo said she directed them to the ground-floor bedroom of Barbara Verboven, who she said has been wheelchair-bound for about five years. The Pardos and another neighbor, Robert Meehan, directed firefighters to look for a second occupant, at which point they found Dean Verboven and brought him out of the house about five minutes later, Meehan said.

After hearing the firefighters arriving on scene, Meehan said, "I came out and saw the house fully engulfed in smoke."

Meehan said that Dean Verboven was placed in an ambulance, which sat for about five minutes before driving away.

Gray said he did not know if the man had been declared dead on the scene.

Greenwich Fire Chief Peter Siecienski said heavy fire gutted part of the first floor of the house where the two had their bedrooms, and smoke caused heavy damage to the second floor.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob Kick said the state fire marshal's office brought a dog to the scene. The dogs are typically used to search for accelerants, Kick said.

The last fire-related fatality in Greenwich occurred in 2006, according to Kick, who commended firefighters on their work at the Havemeyer Lane scene.

"They did a good job," he said Tuesday night. "They got in there quickly."

A Greenwich police crime scene investigation truck arrived on scene shortly after 9 a.m., and a large section of Havemeyer Lane around MacArthur Drive was closed for several hours while numerous police and firefighters conducted their investigation.

Gray said that the house was "cluttered" and its condition had an effect on the ability of firefighters to get in and pull the residents outside. Both victims were brought out of the rear of the house, neighbors said.

Sixty firefighters from Sound Beach, Cos Cob, North Street and Glenville responded to the 7:10 a.m. call, Siecienski said.

The Pardos said they had been neighbors of the Verbovens for more than 30 years.

"They were a very nice family... This is heartbreaking," said Gladys Pardo.

"It is so hard for me to believe he is dead. He was 8 years old when we moved in," said John Pardo.

Gladys Pardo said that she saw Dean Verboven two days ago, but it has been two years since she saw Barbara Verboven.

Up until recent times, "They were a very outgoing family," Gladys said about the Verbovens.

Mother-Daughter Die in Murder-Suicide

So sad, how can these things happen?


STAMFORD -- A middle-aged woman killed her elderly mother with a double-barreled shotgun and then killed herself inside their foreclosed Long Ridge Road home, Stamford police said.

Officers found their bodies just after 1 p.m. Friday while checking on the mother and daughter who lived at 1214 Long Ridge Road following reports from concerned neighbors, according to Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin. The neighbors told police they hadn't seen the mother and daughter recently and were worried for their well-being.

Police said the shooting occurred sometime in the past 48 hours
Conklin would not identify the mother and daughter because investigators were working to contact their relatives. According to public records, Florence Beran, 85, owned the house and lived with her daughter, Susan, 57. Conklin said the daughter did not leave a suicide note, but the couple became increasingly reclusive in recent months as they dealt with mounting financial pressures.

"Neighbors who communicated with them and helped them out with food and donations saw less and less of them over recent months," Conklin said.
The mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and the daughter served as her caretaker, neighbors said. Police said the mother and daughter owed $50,000 in taxes to the city of Stamford and their house was in foreclosure. The home, which was surrounded by an overgrown lawn and left in disrepair, was sold during an auction last month, police said.

Electricity had been cut off from the house several months before Friday. The mother and daughter collected water with plastic jugs since their utilities had been shut off, Conklin said.

On Friday afternoon, responding officers found a "gruesome" scene when they used a ladder to enter the small, gray four-bedroom home through a second-story window, Conklin said. The front doors and first-floor windows were locked. Officers found the daughter's body in a second-floor bedroom and her mother at the bottom of stairs on the first floor.

Animal control officers took four small dogs into custody as investigators processed the murder scene, removing the shotgun in a large, brown paper bag. The bodies were taken from the house on stretchers at about 6 p.m. Friday, shortly before police cleared the area.

Investigators believe the daughter used her deceased father's shotgun to kill her mother, and then took her own life an unknown time later. Officers confiscated several hunting rifles and handguns that belonged to the daughter's father, who died several years ago
The mother died within 48 hours of the discovery of her body. A more exact time of death is pending further investigation. Police did not receive any reports of gunfire in the area before Friday afternoon, most likely because of the secluded location and heavy traffic from Long Ridge Road, Conklin said.

One neighbor, a woman who declined to give her name, said she made the call to police that led to the discovery of the murder-suicide. She said Susan took care of her mother for several years and described her as a "wonderful person."

"I'm afraid they didn't think they had anyone to turn to," the neighbor said, adding: "When people feel desperate, there are people out there who care. They didn't have to take their own lives."

Conklin said investigators contacted a lawyer involved in the home's sale Friday afternoon and learned that the mother and daughter were to receive between $200,000 and $250,000 from the transaction, after their owed taxes and other debts were subtracted from the sale proceeds. The buyers tried unsuccessfully to contact the mother and daughter following the sale, Conklin said.

"It's certainly a tremendous tragedy, especially right before Mother's Day," Conklin said.

Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/article/Mother-daughter-die-in-murder-suicide-3552947.php#ixzz1ufF64dof

This Day in History

Jan 3 1946
William Joyce, the "Lord Haw-Haw" who broadcasted Nazi propaganda to Britain during World War II, is hanged for treason in London.

Jan 3 1958
The editor of the scandal magazine Confidential, Howard Rushmore, murders his wife and then suicides in the back of a taxicab in NYC.

Jan 3 1961
Three technicians -- John Byrnes, Richard McKinley, and Richard Legg -- are killed when the SL-1 experimental nuclear reactor explodes in Idaho Falls, Idaho. McKinley's corpse is found stuck to the containment dome ceiling, impaled on a control rod. The crewmen's radioactive bodies are so hot they have to be buried in lead-lined caskets.

Jan 3 1962
Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro.

Jan 3 1967
Jack Ruby dead of natural causes.

Jan 3 1987
Four non-cancerous polyps are removed from President Ronald Reagan's colon.

Jan 3 1990
Manuel Noriega surrenders at the Papal Nunciature. He is brought to Miami and charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.

Tragic End For Twin Teen Brothers In Hayward

HAYWARD, Calif. -- A tragic story unfolded in Hayward Wednesday afternoon where police were investigating whether a 15-year-old boy murdered his twin brother or if the two teens had entered a failed suicide pact.

According to the department, the tragedy began to unfold prior to 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning after a neighbor called 911 to say they saw a teen breaking into a neighborhood home.

Arriving officers confronted the 15-year-old, who had turned on gas jets inside the home. The teen demanded to be shot, but officers instead Tasered him before he was taken into custody.

During the investigation deputies learned the teen suspect’s twin brother was missing.

On Wednesday morning, authorities found a body down in a heavily-wooded ravine which backs up to Hayward high school.

Wednesday afternoon NewsChopper 2 shot footage of crews being lowered into the ravine to recover the body. The body was taken to the coroner to confirm it was the suspect's twin brother

Investigators were looking at two possibilities when it comes to the boy's death. Both were disturbing.

“At this point we're trying to determine if this was a suicide by the brother and attempted suicide by the other brother or if the brother arrested murdered the sibling,” said Alameda County Sheriff's Department Sgt. J.D. Nelson.

The cul de sac where the targeted home was located remained cordoned off with crime scene tape Wednesday while deputies investigated.

The boys were sophomores at Hayward High School. Additional counselors were brought in Wednesday to talk with staff and students.

“A lot of people are taking it hard,” said Hayward High senior. Achael Romey. “I feel bad for the family as well.”

“They didn't have any problems with anybody,” said sophomore Shiva Chetty. “Just nice kids. Friends with everybody. Nobody expected what happened to happen.”

The school superintendent said neither boy had any reported problems with bullying. Counselors were scheduled to return to the campus Thursday.

The surviving brother was arrested for burglarizing the home. He remained at Eden Hospital recovering from self-inflicted stab wounds.

Their identities were not released because the two boys are juveniles.

Police: Abducted Mich. Girl's Death Was Homicide

NEWPORT, Mich. -- Taylor Manley should have been home when her father returned from his job on the overnight shift at an auto supply plant.

He had spoken to her by phone about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. But when Robert Manley arrived at his home near Evart, in a rural area of Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, the 15-year-old was nowhere to be found and the front door appeared to have been forced open.

Robert Manley called 911, and authorities soon issued an Amber Alert for his missing daughter.

Hours later, Taylor's body and the body of 38-year-old Raymond R. Bush were found about 170 miles away in his minivan, parked in a lonely cemetery in the small, southeastern Michigan community of Newport.

Bush was shot once in the head. Taylor was shot multiple times. At least one .22-caliber slug was to her head. She also was shot in the chest.

"It appears he shot Taylor, then shot himself," said Lt. Mary Kapp, commander of the state police post in Monroe. Bush's death was ruled a suicide, while Taylor's was ruled a homicide, according to the Wayne County medical examiner's office, which performed the autopsies.

Authorities believe Bush abducted the girl, on the morning that she had stayed home from school to testify against him in a sexual assault case.

The sexual assault "wasn't sexual contact with force," said Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis, whose office was handling the case, but was based on Bush's behavior and actions. Michigan's legal age of consent for sex is 16.

"He was preying upon her," Ambrozaitis said. "Predatory conduct."

The relationship between Bush and Taylor started in Monroe County where the girl and her mother once lived, said Taylor's grandfather, Joseph Manley.

Clare County Sheriff John Wilson described Bush as a friend of Taylor's family.

Bush befriended Taylor and her mother about a year ago, when they were living in the Newport area, Ambrozaitis said. His relationship with the girl turned sexual after Taylor and her mother moved north, she added. Bush, of Newport, had a tattoo of the girl's name on the back of his neck.

Taylor had recently transferred into Evart Public Schools, Superintendent Howard Hyde said. She had moved in with her father in recent weeks to get away, her grandfather said.

"We've never seen him, never met him and never talked to him," Joseph Manley said of Bush.

Taylor was living with her mother in Clare County, when in July they reported the sexual contact to authorities. Bush was arrested and arraigned on the charges in September, and was free after posting $50,000 bond, Wilson said.

Third-degree criminal sexual conduct is a felony involving sexual penetration that may be charged when it involves a child at least 13 years of age and under 16. It's punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Bush, charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, was to appear Wednesday morning in district court for a preliminary examination that would determine if he was to stand trial. Taylor was to scheduled to testify. When Bush failed to show, an arrest warrant was issued.

An ex-girlfriend of Bush told investigators that he called her late Wednesday morning and said he fatally shot Taylor and planned to kill himself, according to state police Detective Sgt. George D. Pratt.

Bush later stopped at the ex-girlfriend's home in Newport, where she saw a young woman's body in the van, Pratt said. The woman called police after getting the first call and again after seeing Bush.

Troopers found the van and bodies about 5:25 p.m. Wednesday in St. Charles Cemetery, about 35 miles southeast of Detroit.

"I'm devastated," Ambrozaitis said. "She was just a vibrant young woman. She had a lot of spunk and a lot of promise. It's senseless."

Police: Mother Hit Power Pole to Kill Self, Children

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - A young mother makes a startling and disturbing admission as police arrive on the scene of a car accident in Montgomery Monday.

Officers say they responded to a car wreck in the 1300 block of Woodley Road only to learn from the traffic victim that she'd intentionally slammed her automobile into a power pole in an effort to kill herself and two of her children.

Tia Thompson, 23, and two of her four children, ages three and four, were transported to Jackson Hospital for what turned out to be minor injuries. Thompson hadn't strapped either child into a safety seat and she didn't have a seat belt on either.

The children were treated and released to a grandparent per Department of Human Resources.

When asked, Thompson said she'd received notification that her welfare benefits were being cut off and explained that she could no longer support herself or her children. Thompson said slamming the car into a power pole was was her only option.

She is now charged with two counts of Attempted Murder and was transported to the Montgomery County Detention Facility on what the Montgomery Police called an "excessive bond" of $200,000.

Gunman (Idiot) Was Enraged Over Breakfast, Kills 5 People Then Self

MSNBC.com- JACKSON, Ky. — For months, Stanley Neace had shown increasing hostility to his neighbors in rural eastern Kentucky, to the point his landlord started eviction proceedings.

Then he snapped over how his wife cooked his eggs, and killed her and four others with a shotgun before shooting himself.

Neighbors in the roadside mobile home park said Neace stormed across several lawns in his pajamas on Saturday and fired dozens of shots from a 12-gauge pump shotgun. When the rampage ended, Neace and his wife lay dead, along with the gunman's stepdaughter and three neighbors.

Trooper Jody Sims of the Kentucky State Police said Neace, 47, killed the five people in two mobile homes, then went to his home and turned the gun on himself. Investigators were still working Sunday to piece together exactly what happened during the rampage, Breathitt County Sheriff Ray Clemons said.

The state medical examiner's office in Frankfort was expected to perform autopsies on all six who died.

Neighbor Steve Smith saw the shootings from the window of his mobile home. When he walked outside, Smith said Neace took a shot at him but missed.

"He chased his wife around that Jeep shooting at her," Smith said, pointing to a SUV parked outside his mobile home. "I heard her screaming and running."

Sims said that when state police arrived about an hour after the gunfire began, they heard a single gunshot and found Neace's body on the porch in the unincorporated community of Mount Carmel in Breathitt County, which is home to about 16,000 people.

Sherri Anne Robinson, a relative of two of the victims, said witnesses to the shootings told her that Neace became enraged when his wife did not cook his breakfast to his liking.

"She tried to run to tell my family and he shot them too because they found out about it," she said.

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..The victims were identified as the gunman's wife, Sandra Neace, 54; her daughter Sandra R. Strong, 28; and neighbors Dennis Turner, 31; Teresa Fugate, 30; and Tammy Kilborn, 40.

The names of the victims were provided by Kentucky State Police, while Robinson described their relationships. Fugate is Robinson's sister, Turner is her cousin and Kilborn was a witness who happened to step onto the porch of another mobile home when she heard the commotion.

Robinson said Fugate was shot in front of her 7-year-old daughter.

"Her daughter said, 'Please, please don't shoot me,' and he said, 'All right, you can leave,' and she ran out," said Robinson, who spoke to her niece after the shootings. "She went and told her neighbors, and the neighbors called the law."

Robinson said Neace had never appeared threatening to her, but that he was known to have a violent history. Sims could not confirm that Neace had a criminal record.

County prosecutor Brendon Miller said his dealings with Neace came on nonviolent issues involving child support and he was in Miller's office a month ago regarding a traffic ticket.

Sims said when police arrived at the mobile home park about 90 miles southeast of Lexington, they heard a single gunshot, then found Neace's body on his porch. They found victims in two other mobile homes.

"Over eggs?" Robinson said. "I thought that was crazy. Really. I mean just because his eggs weren't hot?"

Landlord Ray Rastegar said Neace received monthly disability checks from the Social Security Administration, though he didn't know what his disability was. Rastegar said he had begun the process of evicting Neace, who had lived in the trailer park for about seven years, because he had become more hostile toward neighbors in recent months.

"He was unpredictable," Rastegar said. "Little things would set him off."

Neighbor Robert Collins, 50, said it wasn't the first time he's heard gunshots in the area. Neace often walked down to a nearby river to take practice shots, he said.

Smith said Neace ended up mumbling to himself on the porch of his trailer, pointed the shotgun at his head and pulled the trigger.

"He's been trouble ever since he's been here," Smith said. "He's always been trouble."

Talbott reported from Nashville, Tenn. AP writer Janet Blake in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.

Police: Colorado Mother of Dead Twins Committed Suicide

AOL News- (Oct. 7) -- The Colorado Springs woman found dead along with her 13-year-old twins in their home this week had committed suicide, police said today.

"Rene Ogden died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death is ruled a suicide," Colorado Springs police Sgt. Steve Noblitt said in a statement to AOL News. Autopsy results indicate that Chase Ogden and Olivia Ogden each died from a gunshot wound to the head in what are being ruled homicides, he added.

Authorities stopped short of saying they now consider the investigation a case of murder-suicide. "No further information [will be] released at this time," Noblitt said.

On Monday, 43-year-old Tommy Ogden returned home from work to discover his 38-year-old wife dead inside their home. Authorities arrived on the scene and discovered the bodies of the twins in a separate area of the home, police said.

From the onset of the investigation, authorities considered the deaths suspicious.

Colorado's KRDO News Channel 13, citing school officials and a family friend, reported that both of the Ogden twins had learning disabilities.

A motive in the case remains unclear. However, earlier this week Rene Ogden's friend Brad Ake told a Colorado Springs newspaper that Rene seemed lonely and depressed.

"She was very sad most of the time," Ake told The Gazette. "Whenever I talked to her ... it always seemed like she was depressed."

4 Women Dead, 3 Wounded After Miami-Area Shooting

HIALEAH, Fla. — A gunman shot and killed four women at a South Florida restaurant and wounded three others before killing himself, police said Monday.

The shooting Sunday night began in a parking lot outside the Yoyito Restaurant in Hialeah, where the man was seen arguing with a woman, Hialeah police Detective Eddie Rodriguez said.

"It was some sort of domestic dispute," he said.

The man shot the woman, then walked into the restaurant north of Miami and started randomly firing at the people inside, Rodriguez said. Afterward, he got into a vehicle and drove away.

Police identified the shooter as 38-year-old Gerardo Regalado.

One employee called her brother after the shooting, saying she had been shot and was bleeding.

"Please call 911," Felix Fuentes said his sister, Ivette Coronado, told him. He said the 32-year-old woman was recovering Monday after undergoing surgery for gunshot wounds to her chest and one of her arms.

Police found the gunman a short time later in the vehicle parked a few blocks from the restaurant. He was found dead of an apparent suicide, Rodriguez said.

The woman in the parking lot and two people in the restaurant were taken to a hospital, Rodriguez said. The other four victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

All the victims were women, and it's not clear if any were customers or employees at the restaurant, Rodriguez said. The shooting began at 10:15 p.m., shortly after the restaurant had closed. It also was not clear if the gunman had ties to the restaurant.

Regular customers gathered in shock outside the restaurant early Monday.

"They are good people," said Valentin Perez, 52, who visits the restaurant for his Cuban coffee every morning.

Octavio Guzman, another customer, said the restaurant workers are always generous with those who can't afford a meal.

"You tell anyone here, 'I'm hungry and I don't have money,' and they give it to you," Guzman said.

Police: Kids Home During Murder-Suicide

VERNON, Conn. -- Two children were found inside a Vernon home that was the scene of a murder-suicide Monday morning, police said.

Vernon police said they received a 911 call just before midnight from a woman reporting a domestic dispute at a Gerald Drive home. They said the caller said there were two children inside the home.

Arriving officers said they heard two gunshots followed by single gunshot.

Police said Alice Morrin, 43, and James Morrin, 45, were found dead inside the home.

Police said that as they arrived, 15-year-old Erica Morrin, Alice and James Morrin's eldest daughter, bolted from the back of the home as two gunshots rang out. They said the Rockville High School student was unharmed.

As officers forced their way inside, they said, they found 43-year-old Alice Morrin's body.

"A female victim was found in the upstairs bedroom, suffering two gunshot wounds," Vernon Police Sgt. William Meier III said.

A third and final shot then rang out, Meier said. He said that's when officers found James Morrin's body in a separate bedroom.

"He suffered a single gunshot wound," Meier said. "He was also dead. We also found a long gun in close proximity to his body."

Detectives said they believe James Morrin murdered his wife, then took his own life.

Police said the couple's younger daughter, 9-year-old Shannon Morrin, who attends the Skinner School, was found in a third bedroom unharmed.

Both girls are in the care of members of their mother's family, police said.

According to the judicial Web site, the couple was in the process of a divorce.

Alice Morrin worked at Fox 61 News as an executive assistant to the general manager, police said, and James Morrin was a highway planner for the Department of Transportation.

In a statement, officials from Fox 61 said, "We are devastated and shocked by the loss of our friend and colleague, Alice Morrin. She was smart and funny, with a kind and caring heart. Alice touched the lives of everyone at Fox 61 and was very excited about her new opportunity at the Hartford Courant. Known for being witty, intelligent and hard-working, Alice always had a kind word for everyone.

She leaves behind two beautiful daughters whom she adored and talked about often. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and Alice's entire family. Words cannot begin to describe what Alice meant to the Tribune family. She truly will be missed.

As detectives and investigators -- some in Hazmat suits -- combed the home and yard for clues, neighbors stared in disbelief.

"This time of the morning, she'd be riding her bike right now," said Joe Hauser, who lived across the street from the Morrins for almost a decade. "I just don't know what to make of it."

Hauser said he'd become friendly with the Morrins over the years, but that Alice and James were extremely private about personal matters. He said they hadn't shared the news with the neighborhood that they were getting divorced.

He said they were also still living together in the home.

Several neighbors said that years ago, the couple had separated. Hauser said that although they had reconciled, something about James Morrin seemed a little off.

"Things were always a little uneasy when he was there," he said. "I can't put my finger on it. I can't tell you any specifics, but there was always some tension when he was around."

But Hauser said one thing that did make him uneasy was that Alice Morrin had once given a neighbor her husband's shotgun for safe-keeping.

"I think she was concerned for her safety, because, from what I heard, he could be violent, and we've seen the worst of it now," Hauser said.

Sandra Botelho, who was friends with Alice Morrin, said she was in shock. She said she and some other neighbors had spoken with the couple earlier on Sunday.

"Her two daughters, she did absolutely everything for them, so it's gonna be hard for them," Botelho said. "I hope that the kids are well taken care of and the mental state of mind they're going to be in."

She said she agreed that James Morrin seemed to have an effect on his usually bubbly wife.

When he was around, Botelho said, Alice Morrin would become quiet.

Police: Kids Home During Murder-Suicide
Neighbors React To Deaths

Deaths of children, mother may be murder-suicide

(CNN) -- A father returned to his central Michigan home late Monday to find his wife and two sons dead, police say, and the horrific scene shows the signs of a murder-suicide.

The mother, in her 30s, was found dead, along with her two preteen sons, and police say that she may have killed her sons before killing herself.

But police are still investigating and awaiting an autopsy report, which they say will hold more clues to what happened inside the family home in Eaton County near Lansing.

It is unclear why the mother would have killed her children, police have said.

Police are not releasing the names of the victims until their next of kin are notified. They also refused to disclose any other details such as the father's and mother's occupations.

Investigators questioned the father, who called police about 5:20 p.m. He stumbled upon the scene, police say, when he walked into his apartment at Plum Tree Apartments in the Waverly area of Delta Township just west of Lansing. Police say he is shaken over the loss of his family and is meeting with a victim's advocate.

"Several hours after the incident, he was still being questioned and being cared for because he was very distraught also," said Eaton County Sheriff Mike Raines. "Understandably so; he's having a very difficult time."

In his 18 years on the force, Lt. Jeff Warder of the Eaton County Sheriff's Office said he has never had a mother-child murder-suicide case.

"It's obviously a tragic situation, and we want closure for everybody as soon as possible," Warder said.

Investigators expect to have more substantial details on the case by the end of the week, Warder said.

Paper Carrier Spots Two Bodies

ECONOMY, Pa. -- Police in Beaver County are investigating the deaths of a couple found dead in their front yard, while their children were inside the home.

Channel 4 Action News' Amber Nicotra reported investigators believe the deaths in Economy Borough are the result of a murder-suicide.

A newspaper carrier found the bodies of Sean and Natalie Wain in the front yard of their Second Avenue home on Sunday morning and ran to a neighbor's home for help.

When officers arrived, they said they found a gun under the body of 34-year-old Sean Wain.

Police said they believe he shot and killed his 33-year-old wife before turning the gun on himself.
Neighbor Dale Durick said he never expected anything like this from the family.

"Very quiet. You never knew they were here. I mean, they would wave to you, you would see them walking their dog as a family. They'd cut the grass; When the kids played outside, all the kids played outside," Durick said.

The couple had four children, three of whom were home at the time of the shooting but were not hurt.The family's oldest child was at a friend's house at the time of the shooting.

The children are staying with relatives, Nicotra reported.

Police said the investigation is continuing.

$20M In Clients' Cash Missing In Murder-Suicide Case

NEW YORK (CNN) -- More than $20 million from dozens of clients is unaccounted for in the aftermath of what police say was a murder-suicide by the attorney who invested the money, according to a source with direct knowledge of deceased lawyer William Parente's financial dealings.

Some investors fear their entire life savings have been wiped out, said the source, who based the $20 million amount on knowledge of Parente's finances.

Some other investors are missing what could amount to another $7 million, CNN has learned, so the total of missing money tied to Parente could be upwards of $27 million.

Baltimore County, Maryland, police say Parente, 59, killed his family before committing suicide. The bodies of Parente, his wife and their two daughters were found in a hotel room in Towson, Maryland, on Monday.

The source, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive financial information involved, said one investor had been involved with Parente for more than 15 years, receiving regular monthly payments from Parente until April 16, four days before the bodies were found.

The source said Parente solicited personal loans from clients at high interest, promising to use the money for bridge financing of real estate projects such as shopping centers.

The source did not know whether Parente, of Garden City, New York, had actually used the money for any legitimate investments.

The source, who knew Parente for more than 15 years, described him as "serious, somber and conservative."

Parente told investors he was generating returns of more than 13 percent even in down markets, according to the source.

Investors were not given investment statements and were not charged a management fee, but Parente did provide notices informing investors that he owed them money, according to the source.

In other developments Friday, police said Parente bought a set of knives from a Crate and Barrel store in Towson, and one of the knives is believed to be the one Parente later used to take his own life.

Baltimore County police said that knife is being tested as evidence in the murder/suicide case. Investigators say they found a receipt for the knife in the hotel room where the deaths took place, and the time stamped on the receipt was 5:25 p.m. Sunday.

Police have said Parente's wife, Betty, 58, and daughters Catherine, 11, and Stephanie, 19, were killed by asphyxiation and blunt force trauma Sunday afternoon.

Authorities said Parente took a call about midnight Sunday from his elder daughter's college roommate asking whether she was returning to her dormitory. Police believe Parente's daughter was already dead. He told the roommate his daughter was spending the night at the hotel with the family.

Also Friday, other details emerged about some of Parente's other clients.

One of Parente's investors was Queens lawyer Bruce Montague, and Montague's office has heard from 10 Parente clients whose investments are unaccounted for. Together, those clients had invested about $7 million. Through a law partner, Craig Gardy, Montague said he is missing $450,000.

The clients are from New York, New Jersey, California and Florida, according to Montague's office. The office has referred those clients to the FBI.

Gardy said Montague, who considered Parente to be a personal friend, remains too devastated about the deaths to provide details himself, but he authorized his partners to speak on his behalf.

The scenario as given by his partners was that after the Bernard Madoff scandal broke last fall, Montague got "cold feet" and repeatedly asked Parente for his investment money back.

On April 16, Montague tried to deposit a check from Parente for $245,000. On Tuesday, April 21, when Montague's bank notified him the check did not clear, he called Chase bank, where Parente's funds were held.

Montague was told Parente's account was empty, according to Gardy, and it would be useless to deposit other checks received from Parente.

Then Montague called the New York attorney general's office.

He called the attorney general's office again after he learned about Parente's murder/suicide.

Gardy said Montague believed he was investing in real estate notes -- short-term, high-interest loans made to developers, for example, who wanted to circumvent conventional bank loans.

Montague did not receive monthly or quarterly statements. Gardy said Montague believed he was making money on interest from those loans and would sometimes get a check when the note was paid off.

The FBI is continuing its investigation. Spokesman James Margolin said a number of banks are being contacted. He would not identify them.

Funerals for Parente's wife and daughters are scheduled for Tuesday at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Garden City, New York. The funeral home handling arrangements said a separate, private service will be held for William Parente.