MA - 5 Dead In Murder-Suicide, Abington, 7 Oct 2019

[samgmc]

A family member showed up to pick up 9 year old twins (boy and girl) and an 11 year old girl and bring them to school, only to find the whole family dead in their house in an apparent murder-suicide.

This is an ongoing and brand new case. Looks like it happened last night or this morning. 3 children and 2 adults were killed.

3 Children, 2 Adults Found Dead at Abington Condo Complex

3 children, 2 adults found dead in Abington condo

3 children, 2 adults found dead in Abington condo

This is a local case to me. I live about 5 minutes from the crime scene.

 

[realanastasia]

"Upon arrival, officers found the body of a woman and a man and three children, including twins, District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. The dead include a mother, father and their three children. The victims have been identified by the district attorney as Deirdre Zaccardi, 40; Alexis, 11; Nathaniel and Kathryn, 9; and Joseph Zaccardi, 43."

DA identifies 3 children, mother, father found dead in Abington condo

 

[claudianunes]

This is so terrible. Three kids, oh my God.

 

[realanastasia]

JZ was a children's book author and DZ was an office manager at a marketing firm. I can't imagine his books sold enough copies to generate any substantial income, though (the titles, unfortunately, made me assume that these were strictly self-published works, which Amazon.com confirms [the link is to the page with all of the children's books DZ wrote/illustrated; you can search Amazon for the author's name, too, but you will probably find works by a poet with the same name, who does NOT appear to be the same guy]: Amazon.com: zaccardi - Children's Books: Books).

I won't be surprised if it turns out that financial stress was one of the motivations behind this family's annihilation.

MOO/IMO

 

[SoCalDavidS]

Two adults and three children were found dead with gunshot wounds in an apparent murder suicide in a Massachusetts home Monday, authorities said.

The five family members were found in an Abington, Massachusetts, condominium complex at about 7.30am by a relative who showed up to take the children to school, Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said.

Police confirmed that Deirdre Zaccardi, 40, was found first by the family member, who immediately dialled 911.

The other victims, 11-year-old Alexis Zaccardi, nine-year-old twins Nathaniel and Kathryn Zaccardi and their father Joseph Zaccardi, 43, were found at another location inside the home.

Massachusetts family of five found fatally shot in their home in apparent murder-suicide | Daily Mail Online

 

[enelram]

JZ was a children's book author and DZ was an office manager at a marketing firm. I can't imagine his books sold enough copies to generate any substantial income, though (the titles, unfortunately, made me assume that these were strictly self-published works, which Amazon.com confirms [the link is to the page with all of the children's books DZ wrote/illustrated; you can search Amazon for the author's name, too, but you will probably find works by a poet with the same name, who does NOT appear to be the same guy]: Amazon.com: zaccardi - Children's Books: Books).

I won't be surprised if it turns out that financial stress was one of the motivations behind this family's annihilation.

MOO/IMO

I agree, probably financial stress. Another article I saw said the father had written recently on a fb message that he was "unemployed and going crazy".
Again, why take out the innocent family members?
He's still a family annihilator if it turns out he's
the shooter which is looking like the case.

 

[claudianunes]

I agree, probably financial stress. Another article I saw said the father had written recently on a fb message that he was "unemployed and going crazy".
Again, why take out the innocent family members?
He's still a family annihilator if it turns out he's
the shooter which is looking like the case.

I can understand the desperation when it comes to financial problems, especially if there are children in the picture, but money comes and goes. We need to keep pushing. Killing a whole family doesn't bring any good to the World. It's selfish to decide to take children's lives just because one might think that they're better not living anymore (I guess?). Life is so hard, but it can be great too. Let's just keep trying, please.

 

[Kip]

I hate these cases where a parent murders their child/children. It's awful in its own right. But it also takes away the innocence of the local children. Probably up until this point, none of their friends and classmates even considered for an instant that a parent might kill their child, much less their own family. Now circumstances like hearing their parents fighting might make them think of the possibility.

My daughter was in 4th grade when Polly Klaas was abducted (we lived in the general area) and it bothered her a lot. I had tried to keep the news from my daughter, but there was no way to avoid it with kids at school talking about it and it being on radio and tv news all the time. But at least in situations like that (where there's a bad guy), you can discuss ways to keep safe and minimize the chances of harm from a stranger. But when the bad guy's a parent, what can you tell your kids?

 

[claudianunes]

I hate these cases where a parent murders their child/children. It's awful in its own right. But it also takes away the innocence of the local children. Probably up until this point, none of their friends and classmates even considered for an instant that a parent might kill their child, much less their own family. Now circumstances like hearing their parents fighting might make them think of the possibility.

My daughter was in 4th grade when Polly Klaas was abducted (we lived in the general area) and it bothered her a lot. I had tried to keep the news from my daughter, but there was no way to avoid it with kids at school talking about it and it being on radio and tv news all the time. But at least in situations like that (where there's a bad guy), you can discuss ways to keep safe and minimize the chances of harm from a stranger. But when the bad guy's a parent, what can you tell your kids?

I vaguely remember a situation when I was in 4th grade, when my parents and the teachers at school warned the kids to not talk to strangers and to not accept rides from anyone. I still don't know what was going on back then, but all the kids were freaked out. I walked to and from school and, during the winter months, it gets dark pretty early. One of those days, my brother saw me and started to call me from a distance and I just ran, when I finally looked back I saw that it was my brother and he just asked me "what's wrong? did you think you were going to get kidnapped?". So, I'm pretty sure someone tried to take a kid back then. Anyways, all of this is to say that these things do stay with you for the rest of your life. Even if it doesn't happen to you, it leaves a mark on the people on that community. The kids's classmates are going to have a bit of a hard time, that's for sure.

 

[MsGazette]

I am without words on this one. A local dad here jumped off a bridge and left behind his wife and young children for unknown reasons. I couldn’t fathom that. This is just unreal. Have we received confirmation that it was the father? I think it’s too early for that. IMO

link to the dad’s books:

Joe Zaccardi

 

[claudianunes]

I am without words on this one. A local dad here jumped off a bridge and left behind his wife and young children for unknown reasons. I couldn’t fathom that. This is just unreal. Have we received confirmation that it was the father? I think it’s too early for that. IMO

link to the dad’s books:

Joe Zaccardi

I don't think so, not yet.

 

[human]

I am without words on this one. A local dad here jumped off a bridge and left behind his wife and young children for unknown reasons. I couldn’t fathom that. This is just unreal. Have we received confirmation that it was the father? I think it’s too early for that. IMO

link to the dad’s books:

Joe Zaccardi

The books sound clever.

 

[realanastasia]

New reporting confirms JZ was the murderer: Police rule deaths of family-of-five a murder-suicide and say father was responsible | Daily Mail Online

 

[cass523]

ABINGTON, Mass. - A South Shore community is coming together after an entire family is found dead in their home.

Their next door neighbor says she heard weird noises overnight.

" heard loud banging like four noises, and we jumped up and came downstairs," says Heather McNulty. "We ended up opening the door, we saw our dumpster, the door swinging, and we thought it was maybe just that, banging on the dumpster."

Abington community coming together after tragic family deaths

 

[cherrymeg]

I hate these cases where a parent murders their child/children. It's awful in its own right. But it also takes away the innocence of the local children. Probably up until this point, none of their friends and classmates even considered for an instant that a parent might kill their child, much less their own family. Now circumstances like hearing their parents fighting might make them think of the possibility.

My daughter was in 4th grade when Polly Klaas was abducted (we lived in the general area) and it bothered her a lot. I had tried to keep the news from my daughter, but there was no way to avoid it with kids at school talking about it and it being on radio and tv news all the time. But at least in situations like that (where there's a bad guy), you can discuss ways to keep safe and minimize the chances of harm from a stranger. But when the bad guy's a parent, what can you tell your kids?

This is something that I don't know what to say about. How do you describe a parent losing it and not making your child look at you like you might do the same. When a kid is abducted or even killed by a parent, there is a sense of relief that there isn't some random killer or kidnapper out there. Most kids don't hear about Chris Watts and think, "my parent will do that". The unknown predator might be scarier for a kid.

 

[cass523]

The Medical Examiner has ruled the shooting deaths of a family of five in Abington a murder-suicide.

The Medical Examiner determined Deirdre and her three children were shot to death. Their deaths have been ruled a homicide.

Joseph's death was determined to be suicide by a gunshot wound.

Police say the investigation is still ongoing.

DA: Abington father shot, killed wife and 3 children before killing himself

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Financial stress or feeling like a failure, no matter how severe, isn't why someone harms their family. Maybe they take that out on themselves, but to take it out on their family is about control, narcissism, abuse, and maybe severe mental illness.
To harm your babies like that, you wouldn't have a conscience --- whether you never had one or you've lost it.
There needs to be more research into why some people (and why usually men) do something this horrific. IMO.

 

[MsGazette]

Abington community remembers Zaccardi family with vigil | Boston.com

I also saw an email circulating by a family member that asked that everyone do something kind, share a smile, etc... for someone on October 27th when Deidre would have turned 41. This is just unexplainably sad and tragic.

 

[MsGazette]

BBM - because sometimes you just need some kind of answers for these crazy, horrible things that happen. This one hit too close to home.

The "civil reputable" killer, on the other hand, is motivated by a perverse form of altruism. "His entire identity is in his family," says Richard Gelles, dean of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania and an authority on domestic violence. The father is almost always considering suicide as the only escape from some sort of financial crisis. Murdering his family members, then, becomes a way of rescuing them from the hardship and shame of bankruptcy and suicide. "There is no other solution but the one you find today," wrote Russell Gilman, a Scottsdale attorney who murdered his wife and two kids after the family finances fell apart, in a note he left behind.

Inside the Mind of Family Annihilators