Couple loses job, so man kills wife, their five kids, self.

[Aragorn]

What causes people to do stuff like this? It's one thing to take your own life, but to take others with you too? I hope there's a special place in hell for them.


Complete AP story via Yahoo News

LA man upset over job kills wife, 5 kids, himself

LOS ANGELES – A man who fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself Tuesday had earlier faxed a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and together planned the killings as a final escape for the whole family. "Why leave the children to a stranger?" Ervin Lupoe wrote, according to KABC-TV.

The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a call from a man who stated, "'I just returned home and my whole family's been shot."

Officers rushed to the home in Wilmington, a small community between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about 8:30 a.m., apparently within minutes of the killings. Officers could still smell the gunshot residue in the air.

.....

Ana Lupoe's body was found in a downstairs bedroom with the bodies of the couple's twin 2-year-old boys. The bodies of an 8-year-old girl, twin 5-year-old girls were found alongside Lupoe's in an upstairs bedroom.

It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year. Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence.

.....

n the letter he faxed to a TV station, Ervin Lupoe claimed he and his wife both had been fired and that she suggested they kill themselves and their children, too. Police described the fax but did not release the details.

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[SeerSGB]

Unforunately, I suspect stories like this will get more and more common as the recession drags on and more and more families face tough times.

 

[T'Baio]

Brokers falling past the windows.

 

[Plecostomus]

Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence.
.....

Easier said than done. There is a stigma in some circles about getting a "handout" as opposed to earning your way via work.

I had a hard time going on unemployment, and really the amount they give you is a piddle. In my situation though my wife is still employed.

Loosing two incomes, having a house and five kids can seem overwhelming. In short this man was in his mind loosing everything... and he snapped. No one likes working a career and having everything snatched away after working your ass off.

Well I'm not justifying what he did at all, there is help for people in situations like that... I'm just offering some possible insight into what he may have been thinking.

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CNN says the man was "fired with cause" by his company, which is now cooperating with the police. It'll be interesting to see what the "cause" was... I've known some rather petty supers over the years who have fired people "with cause" rather than laying them off simply because they relish the power they have over the lives of others.

 

[Ashu]

These economic conditions is just enough of a trigger for some people to snap, unfortunately.

 

[TheBrew]

Well, I would call it a double-suicide/murder (or whatever) since it was the wife's idea. Plus I do recall his former boss telling him to "go kill himself", which makes this even more interesting.

 

[the Dagman]

Just tragic.

I can only guess what was going through the minds of this couple. Cast adrift jobless in this economy without anyone to help them, no family or support structure in their lives, and they snap. It's just sad. I can see how it would break someone, especially with five little mouths to feed. I feel so sad for people like this, and even more so for their children.