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POLICE: MAN KILLS WIFE,THREE SONS By Jennifer Coleman, The Associated Press, Reported in Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11-10-02, P. 11A YUBA CITY, Calif. - A father distraught over the pending breakup of his marriage shot and killed his wife and three young sons early Saturday, then killed himself, police here said. The family's two daughters escaped from the one-bedroom, 900-square-foot house, where at least 11 people from two families had been staying. Officers responded to a frantic 911 call of a domestic argument just before 5 a.m., Yuba City police Lt. Bill Ollar said. Inside, he said, they found a gruesome murder-suicide, a 26-year-old mother and two of her boys slain by bullets to the head and another boy and the 31-year-old father barely alive with the same wounds. The mother was on a couch and the boys and their father on the living room floor. "We believe he got up early and some of these victims appeared to be shot in their sleep," Ollar said. "We believe they were in the process of getting a divorce and that he had recently arrived at the house from Yuma, Arizona, with the three boys." Two of the boys slain with a handgun were 9-year-old twins and the other was 6 years old. The lone surviving boy died before ambulances arrived and the father died shortly after being airlifted to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Ollar said. There was no sign of a break-in or struggle and police believe the father and three sons had been sleeping at the house Friday night. The couple's 10-year-old and 2-year old daughters escaped by fleeing out the back of the house, located in a low-income neighborhood of Yuba City, about 40 miles north of Sacramento. The two averages one homicide per year, but has gone three-year stretches without a killing, police said. Officers also found a 2-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy asleep in separate rooms. The 10-year-old daughter of the slain woman is believed to have made a makeshift barricade using a laundry basket and ironing board to keep one of the boys safe, officers reported. Police said the two boys were children of the owners of the house, who had fled out the front door. The mother and her two daughters moved into the house several months ago, Ollar said. The house was rented by her sister and brother-in-law, Abel and Martha Sanchez, who themselves arrived about five months ago, according to their landlord. Landlord Raul Vaca, who lives across the street, described the family as quiet. He said when the sister arrived about two months ago, he spoke with her briefly and "she said she was separated and had five kids. She was staying there until she could find a place." WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | ||
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