6 Dead in California Gated Community Murder-Suicide

[ckwood32]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,433461,00.html
:behindbar

[teonspaleprincess]

How sad. That was definately a cowards way out of the situation. The loved ones left behind are in my prayers.

[NewMommy09]

Very very sad. Unfortunately, I suspect we will see many more of these types of situations in the days to come.

I think the worst part about this particular case, is that one of the children was 19 and capable of working and helping the mother support the family. If "dad" wanted out, he should have let his family try to live their lives.

Of course, for all I know, the whole family had talked about this and agreed to "all go together".

I guess I will just never understand this kind of mindset. My family was very poor when I was in grade school. My brother and I slept on an old matress that was pulled out on the kitchen floor at night in a very low rent 1 bedroom apartment. We literally lived off Lynn Wilson frozen burittos, Top Ramen, and Campbells Bean with bacon soup. And you know, those were some of the best times in my life, albeit the hardest.

[PattyCake]

why why why do people do this? If their life is so horrible why take your family out too? OMG! I just cannot fathom the line of thinking of these people. good heavens.

[CaliKid]

Very very sad. Unfortunately, I suspect we will see many more of these types of situations in the days to come.

Sad to say, I think you're right. The recent bail-out is only a quick fix, and I think many people in investment banking will be feeling the pinch for a long time. That said, this man had many other options rather than killing his entire family.

[bamabeauty]

I know it was said that he had no history of mental illness but I have a strong feeling that it must have played a part. I can not imagine any one that was not mentally ill in some way thinking that this was an acceptable solution .

[Bobbisangel]

I can understand the husband reaching a point of depression to where he felt like less of a man...he couldn't support his family and he had lost his identity through not being able to find a job. A man's work is his identity and being able to provide well for his family is high on a man's prioritys. It is what makes him feel worthwhile and like a man. It sounds like he had been looking for work for months. I wonder if he was also responsible for taking care of his mother-in-law?

While I understand a man getting to the point of not wanting to live because of feelings of hopelessness and not being able to see anything changing I can't understand why he has to take his whole family with him. There is no way that we can even attempt to know the mind of a person that was so far down in that black hole of depression. I don't believe that you have to be mentally ill to do something like this. I just think that your circumstances have to be like this for months on end to where you see no solution and have no hope. When you are that far down your reasoning isn't working right and I suppose you might feel that taking your family with you is actually saving them too.

I also believe that we will see more situations just like this. Whether government want to admit it or not we ARE in a recession. People are losing their homes left and right. Unemployment is growing by the second. At any time Social Security could run out of money and I could be without an income. No job is secure in this day and age. Things can be going along fine one minute and the next you have no income and lose everything. We are living in a depressing time and it doesn't look like it is going to improve regardless who gets in the White House.

[JBean]

I have a friend that just did this. Took his own life due to financial ruin. At least he didn;t take his wife and 2 kids with him. But my gosh we had no idea it had gone so sour. This is a terrible time.

[mysteriew]

Many years ago when I was in school, I remember history class where the teacher talked about the depression. The stock market crashed, there was a run on the banks, stockbrokers were taking their lives, others were starving to death, there were no jobs. This is bad, it is almost as bad as the depression. It is scary to think which way this will go. I too think it will get worse before it gets better. And I also think we will see more like this.

[PrayersForMaura]

This is getting ridiculous.

LOS ANGELES — An unemployed accounting industry worker who was despondent over financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday.
The bodies were found by officers making a welfare check Monday morning when the wife failed to show up at a neighbor's home to go to work, Deputy Chief Michel Moore said.
Officers entering the large, modern home in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Porter Ranch found the older woman shot to death in bed, he said. The other bodies were found throughout the house but not in bed.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,433461,00.html

[nursebeeme]

What ever happened to counseling and filing for bankrupt? It surely is getting old! I agree!

[NewMommy09]

I have a friend that just did this. Took his own life due to financial ruin. At least he didn;t take his wife and 2 kids with him. But my gosh we had no idea it had gone so sour. This is a terrible time.

My prayers to you and this man's family. While I am very glad to hear this man did not take his family with him, it doesn't make the situation any less tragic.


I noticed a story today said the oldest son was an honors student with a scholarship. So as I said in my previous post, it's possible he could have helped provide for the family. I'm sure the father had hoped for his sons to all go to college and not have to worry about financial burdens until later in life, I still just can't understand taking life away as a remedy.

[NewMommy09]

I can understand the husband reaching a point of depression to where he felt like less of a man...he couldn't support his family and he had lost his identity through not being able to find a job. A man's work is his identity and being able to provide well for his family is high on a man's prioritys. It is what makes him feel worthwhile and like a man. It sounds like he had been looking for work for months. I wonder if he was also responsible for taking care of his mother-in-law?

While I understand a man getting to the point of not wanting to live because of feelings of hopelessness and not being able to see anything changing I can't understand why he has to take his whole family with him. There is no way that we can even attempt to know the mind of a person that was so far down in that black hole of depression. I don't believe that you have to be mentally ill to do something like this. I just think that your circumstances have to be like this for months on end to where you see no solution and have no hope. When you are that far down your reasoning isn't working right and I suppose you might feel that taking your family with you is actually saving them too.

I also believe that we will see more situations just like this. Whether government want to admit it or not we ARE in a recession. People are losing their homes left and right. Unemployment is growing by the second. At any time Social Security could run out of money and I could be without an income. No job is secure in this day and age. Things can be going along fine one minute and the next you have no income and lose everything. We are living in a depressing time and it doesn't look like it is going to improve regardless who gets in the White House.


I agree about being in a recession. I read a story today about AmEx cancelling and lowering limits on people's credit lines due to who holds their mortgages and where they shop. Sadly, I think we are still only seeing the beginning of all of this. Here I am, pregnant with my first child, and it's scary. I don't know what the economy will be like when he/she is born next May, let alone, when he/she enters school, or goes to college, etc. I worry about having to care for my parents someday because they will not have Social Security to rely on. Many of my friends and family have been digging into retirement and 401K plans just to make ends meet these days. It's sad indeed.

[CASuzk]

I agree about being in a recession. I read a story today about AmEx cancelling and lowering limits on people's credit lines due to who holds their mortgages and where they shop. Sadly, I think we are still only seeing the beginning of all of this. Here I am, pregnant with my first child, and it's scary. I don't know what the economy will be like when he/she is born next May, let alone, when he/she enters school, or goes to college, etc. I worry about having to care for my parents someday because they will not have Social Security to rely on. Many of my friends and family have been digging into retirement and 401K plans just to make ends meet these days. It's sad indeed.

I was listening this on the radio yesterday it brought back very sad memories of a child who was in my son's cotillion class. She was a darling little redhead and she danced with my son a few times. Her father rented a house in Rancho Santa Fe and while they looked well off, he was deeply in debt. He too killed everyone in his family.

While it is tempting to blame the current financial crises for the Porter Ranch family tragedy, there is always more to these stories than meets the eye.

Stories that making the news now are clarifying what really happened.
The father in this case had a long standing problem with employment due to his difficult nature. He'd sold the family home well in advance of the market drop and instead of reinvesting in another other home, he gambled on the stock market and lost it all sometime ago.

His story is light years away from the family who bought a first house thinking the market would let them refinance before the big bills came due. The father wasn't a truck driver who couldn't pay his bills because gas prices put his job on the line; this was well educated person who was still able to pay his rent and put food on his table. He needed mental help before he needed financial help.

[PrayersForMaura]

What ever happened to counseling and filing for bankrupt? It surely is getting old! I agree!

I know. Why take out your whole family because you can't provide for them? Why not let some friends or the system help?

[ckwood32]

I was listening this on the radio yesterday it brought back very sad memories of a child who was in my son's cotillion class. She was a darling little redhead and she danced with my son a few times. Her father rented a house in Rancho Santa Fe and while they looked well off, he was deeply in debt. He too killed everyone in his family.

While it is tempting to blame the current financial crises for the Porter Ranch family tragedy, there is always more to these stories than meets the eye.

Stories that making the news now are clarifying what really happened.
The father in this case had a long standing problem with employment due to his difficult nature. He'd sold the family home well in advance of the market drop and instead of reinvesting in another other home, he gambled on the stock market and lost it all sometime ago.

His story is light years away from the family who bought a first house thinking the market would let them refinance before the big bills came due. The father wasn't a truck driver who couldn't pay his bills because gas prices put his job on the line; this was well educated person who was still able to pay his rent and put food on his table. He needed mental help before he needed financial help.
Thanks for the interesting post and information. Was this in the news or do you know this personally?

[ckwood32]

There is a thread for this - don't know how to merge.

[MeoW333]

There is a thread for this - don't know how to merge.

I was going to say.. i thought i had read about this..

[LinasK]

Man, the North end of the S.F. Valley is sure getting a bad rep. First the deadly train crash, and now this!:furious: My sister lives very close to both events.

[CaliKid]

The thread for this is here: http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72657.

[CASuzk]

Thanks for the interesting post and information. Was this in the news or do you know this personally?


I'd met the Ian Spiro family at Cotillion but no, I do not know the family who just died.

The information came from interviews on local talk radio with people who had worked with him and other news reports. In this case, there is no question that the father planned out the whole thing.

There have been several of these types of family murders in southern CA. The Spiro family deaths were at first, thought to have something to do with Ian Spiro's time working in British security and on a minor level, our CIA in Lebanon. I've even seen his name on sites connected with "all of the people who died because some super duper cover up by Clinton." Not true, Spiro killed his wife and children and then drove to the desert and took poison.

The other murder-suicide was in the Indio area with a sheriff's deputy who killed his mother in law, wife and three or four children. I think the name was McGraw or McGowan.

[southcitymom]

I have a friend that just did this. Took his own life due to financial ruin. At least he didn;t take his wife and 2 kids with him. But my gosh we had no idea it had gone so sour. This is a terrible time.

Bean - I am so sorry to hear that. It is crushing when a person you care about takes that route out.

[STEADFAST]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/us/08slay.html?ref=business
In a suicide note, Karthik Rajaram wrote that he had considered killing only himself because of his financial troubles, but decided to take his family with him.

[*lore621*]

I have a friend that just did this. Took his own life due to financial ruin. At least he didn;t take his wife and 2 kids with him. But my gosh we had no idea it had gone so sour. This is a terrible time.

How tragic. I'm so sorry JBean.