# Aw hell; Family of 7 dead in apparent murder-suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 27, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260 "2009-01-27T18:39:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/1 "2009-01-27T18:39:06Z")
[What the fuck!](http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstories/?Family-Found-Dead-Inside-SoCal-Home=1&blockID=196883&feedID=1198) Well, I can’t vent my disgust and anger with this kind of shit well enough on a forum to truly convey how I feel about it. Just gotta say, if the father did do this…fuck you dipshit, and I hope there really is a hell for you to burn in for eternity. :(:mad:☹ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/2 "2009-01-27T18:41:07Z")
I cannot read your link. Can you post some more details so I can google the story? ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/3 "2009-01-27T18:49:19Z")
Hm it works for me. Basically, the father called a news station to say his family was dead. Then he (and the news station) called 911. When police arrived, they found him and his family dead. 7 people - 2 adults, presumably the parents, and their 5 kids. An 8 year old girl, and sets of 5 and 2 year old twins. Just…shit. ☹ [LA Times link](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/01/4-children-moth.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/4 "2009-01-27T19:11:52Z")
Let the jokes begin! ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/5 "2009-01-27T19:21:53Z")
Anyone else immediately think of Dylan’s The Ballad of Hollis Brown? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/6 "2009-01-27T19:27:53Z")
> [@Monster104](#): > > Just gotta say, if the father did do this…fuck you dipshit, and I hope there really is a hell for you to burn in for eternity. Well, I understand your sentiments, but do you really think that this was a case of a person who was living a nice life and then just decided–out of the blue–to become a “dipshit,” to use your words–and kill his family? Do you really think that he was a normal guy who had everything going for himself and his family, who just suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to kill his family? You need to enlarge your sociological view of the world, and dig deeper before putting forth RO. Society is complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/7 "2009-01-27T19:35:30Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well, I understand your sentiments, but do you really think that this was a case of a person who was living a nice life and then just decided–out of the blue–to become a “dipshit,” to use your words–and kill his family? Do you really think that he was a normal guy who had everything going for himself and his family, who just suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to kill his family? You need to enlarge your sociological view of the world, and dig deeper before putting forth RO. Society is complicated. You know, it almost sounds as if you are making excuses for the father/murderer. Society is not so complicated that was can’t be outraged when an adult kills defenseless children. Just a couple weeks ago we had a similar case here in Kansas. Mom was at work, and got a call from her kid’s school that they hadn’t shown up that day. So she calls a neighbor and goes home, and the two of them walk into her house where her husband has killed the kids, set the house on fire, and shot himself. This particular dipshit didn’t die quickly though, he shot himself in the torso and died of smoke inhalation from the fire. Much more lingering and painful. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/8 "2009-01-27T19:37:12Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well, I understand your sentiments, but do you really think that this was a case of a person who was living a nice life and then just decided–out of the blue–to become a “dipshit,” to use your words–and kill his family? Do you really think that he was a normal guy who had everything going for himself and his family, who just suddenly decided that it would be a good idea to kill his family? You need to enlarge your sociological view of the world, and dig deeper before putting forth RO. Society is complicated. While I agree with what you’re saying and understand where you’re coming from, I think it’s quite alright to call someone who murders 2-year-olds a dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/9 "2009-01-27T19:41:59Z")
Well, that almost makes room for those new octuplets… ---
**Author:** ![ptr2void](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ptr2void/32/3406_2.png) [@ptr2void](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ptr2void)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/10 "2009-01-27T19:56:58Z")
> [@](#): > > “work-related issues.” Sigh. Sadly, this is likely to be seen with increasing frequency ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/11 "2009-01-27T20:58:56Z")
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned suicide? I fear the all-too-common ‘recently unemployed man kills wife and kids’ scenario will rear its ugly head more and more in the coming months. Obviously these people are unwell, but I still feel a balance still needs to be struck – between women becoming empowered, entering the workplace and commanding respect, and men learning that they are not their jobs, that staying home and raising kids or earning less than their wives isn’t a mark of shame, that they do not _have_ to be breadwinners to have value. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/12 "2009-01-27T22:39:22Z")
The ultimate selfish act, carried out to the nth degree. Surely it’s got to be a mental defect? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/13 "2009-01-27T22:45:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Whatever happened to good old-fashioned suicide? I fear the all-too-common ‘recently unemployed man kills wife and kids’ scenario will rear its ugly head more and more in the coming months. Obviously these people are unwell, but I still feel a balance still needs to be struck – between women becoming empowered, entering the workplace and commanding respect, and men learning that they are not their jobs, that staying home and raising kids or earning less than their wives isn’t a mark of shame, that they do not _have_ to be breadwinners to have value. I think that the scary and sad mindset is that you’ve lost your job, you’ll lose your house and your car and everything else and the thought of someone else later taking your wife and raising your kids is a bit too much for them to handle. These would seem to me to be the actions and thoughts of someone who’s desperate to keep something for themselves, the one thing they value most. Not that I sympathize, I think it’s terrible, but that’s probably where a lot of that is coming from. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/14 "2009-01-27T22:46:52Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > The ultimate selfish act, carried out to the nth degree. Surely it’s got to be a mental defect? No one in their right mind murders their kids or commits suicide. Obviously it’s a mental defect. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/15 "2009-01-27T23:08:23Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > You know, it almost sounds as if you are making excuses for the father/murderer. Society is not so complicated that was can’t be outraged when an adult kills defenseless children. I’m not making excuses for anyone. Do you think anyone in their right mind would condone such actions? Outrage is for people who are sane and who do something horrible for some personal gain. Nobody kills his own children (and then himself) for some kind of personal gain. The fact that this happened is not an occasion for outrage, but for trying to figure out how a person could come to such a state of mind. What point is there in cursing a person who has committed suicide? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/16 "2009-01-27T23:21:23Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > I think that the scary and sad mindset is that you’ve lost your job, you’ll lose your house and your car and everything else and the thought of someone else later taking your wife and raising your kids is a bit too much for them to handle. These would seem to me to be the actions and thoughts of someone who’s desperate to keep something for themselves, the one thing they value most. I think it might be something else - you’ve lost hope and want to end your life, but you realise that doing so will drop your family deep into horrible shit - it might make sense (to a person already in that very damaged state of mind) to try to spare them that suffering in the same way you intend to spare yourself suffering. I’m not defending it, or even saying it makes proper sense - I just think maybe sometimes it’s not done out of selfishness or spite, but out of very, very misguided concern. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/17 "2009-01-27T23:52:05Z")
In [this article](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7854915.stm)from the BBC: > [@](#): > > In the fax sent to KABC-TV, the man allegedly claimed he and his wife had been fired from jobs as medical technicians and she suggested they kill their children and themselves. Although the article also said that when he called 911 himself, he said he had come home and found the family dead. So the fax may have been passing the buck. Or it could be a mis-report. It’s early days, yet. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/18 "2009-01-27T23:53:30Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > No one in their right mind murders their kids or commits suicide. Obviously it’s a mental defect. Cuckoo to the Nth. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/19 "2009-01-28T00:01:08Z")
It won’t take much to learn if the wife/mother was involved in shooting the children. She’ll have powder residue on her hands if she fired the gun. Fuck, I don’t care which of them is responsible. You want to die? I think it’s a bad idea, but I’ll grieve for you. You want to take others with you? That’s where you lose all my sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260/20 "2009-01-28T00:10:56Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Let the jokes begin! Apparently this story is not funny because the people are not Belgian… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aw-hell-family-of-7-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/483260.md?page=2)