Four dead in possible murder-suicide (Colorado Springs, CO)

[CO Liberal]

Another family brought closer together by a gun - forever. - Wayne

* * * * * * * * * *

Four dead in possible murder-suicide

Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of a man, woman and two boys in a Colorado Springs apartment Tuesday and were investigating the case as a possible murder-suicide.

The victims had been shot, sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Groth said.

The victims were a man and wife and boys believed to be ages 5 and 10, Lt. Rodney Gehrett said. He said authorities believed the man shot the others and then turned the gun on himself.

<more>

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2263832,00.html

[DoNotRefill]

1. Well, at least it was quick....

If he'd have drowned them in the bathtub, they'd have suffered longer....

[Brucey]

2. Wars encourage violence. People learn and act based on

observational learning. During periods of war, homicide and suicide rates increase. People are biological organisms, animals. They are subject to the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, and behavior. It is a sad time for the survivors of that horrible violence. But don't forget that there are many contributors to a society that solves so many problems with violence, including the warmongers currently in office.

[HawkerHurricane]

31. Excuse me?

During WW2, both Great Britain and Nazi Germany both experienced declines in Homicides and Suicides, according to 'Military Secrets of World War 2' by Dunnigan and Nofi. Not counting state sanctioned killings, of course.

[Ergotron]

33. I'm assuming you have data to support this statement?

During periods of war, homicide and suicide rates increase. This is not counting the opposing armies, correct?

[MrBenchley]

3. Another tragedy

This is a national problem too oftne over looked.

"Most people think of suicide as a solitary act, affecting only one person. Yet, the effects of murder-suicides go far beyond the shooter: family, friends, co-workers, and absolute strangers are among those who are gunned down as a result of these acts of desperation. During the six-month period tallied in this study, there were 293 suicides—yet the total number of deaths was 662. More people died from murders associated with the suicide—369—than from the suicides themselves. These numbers call into grave question the common belief that suicide, especially firearms suicide, is a solitary act that affects only the shooter.
The catalytic component in murder-suicide is the use of a firearm. Every major murder-suicide study ever conducted has shown that a firearm—with its unmatched combination of lethality and availability—is the weapon most often used to murder the victims, with the offenders then turning the gun on themselves."

http://www.vpc.org/studies/amercont.htm

[CO Liberal]

4. Local Radio Is Reporting.....

...there may have been an ongoing custody dispute.

[Superfly]

5. I have to ask...

what gun law, factual or fictional (MRBenchley?) would have prevented this?

A person bent on crime, murder, suicide, etc will not stop to think of the laws he/she is breaking.

Guns are not at fault here, CO, but the fucker who pulled the trigger is.

B

[Name removed]

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[MrBenchley]

21. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Keep on telling yourself that (snicker)

[CO Liberal]

8. This Story is Still Unfolding

It's too soon to absolve the presense of a gun of all blame. But if "the fucker who pulled the trigger" didn't have a gun at his disposal, chances are pretty damn good that his family would still be alive right now.......

[slackmaster]

9. Your statement is unprovable

But if "the fucker who pulled the trigger" didn't have a gun at his disposal, chances are pretty damn good that his family would still be alive right now.......

Or not.

[jody]

11. CO, what law would have prevented this sad incident? Can you give

us a hint? :shrug:

We have had many such incidents posted and the gun-control group has yet to pose a single law.

Continued silence only reinforces the belief that the gun-control group doesn't have a clue about what law would prevent such incidents.

[MrBenchley]

15. Actually continued silence only signifies

what a ridiculous and loaded question that is...

Why don't YOU prove to us that the lack of registration, licensing, background checks at gun shows, etc. did NOT contribute to this tragedy?

[Name removed]

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[MrBenchley]

20. Gee fly...I see plenty of worth

in trying to keep crap like this from happening.

[Superfly]

23. Me, too!

But name one law, past, present, or future that would prevent this from happening?

[Name removed]

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[CO Liberal]

29. Continued Silence.....

...indicates I was in a meeting.

[Superfly]

30. Welcome back!

Now jump in this fight!

[CO Liberal]

37. Neither Side Has Posed a Solution Yet, Jody

The solution will NOT come from one side or the other. It will come from both sides working together to FIND the solution.

But that will never happen when so many pro-gunners maintain that nothing CAN be done because that will trample on their rights.

We have to find common ground.......

[jody]

38. I agree but I ask again, does anyone have a suggested law that

will reduce such incidents but not infringe upon a citizen's inalienable right to defend self and property with arms?

I'm sorry, but the only suggestion I've heard is to ban arms and that immediately alienates a citizens right of self defense. That's just not acceptable to the majority of US citizens.

Those on the pro-RKBA side joined by some gun-control proponents agree that we need more aggressive enforcement of gun laws, more prosecutions of those charged with gun crimes, and longer or maximum sentences of those convicted of gun crimes. But our efforts are muted when someone like Fiendstein goes on national networks and blows her trumpet for AWB. Now we have Metzenbaum stirring the pot for AWB. Scary Brady is certainly going to have plenty of money to spread her vitriolic anti-gun sermon across the US. Is Karl Rove funneling money to those three to keep us Democrats divided and to scare away the independents? Damm, with friends like them, we Democrats may never return to power.

Political fortunes can turn overnight and we cannot afford to let RKBA drive masses of voters into the arms of the Republicans. The US doesn't need four more years of AWOL and his bloody band of thieves.

[Superfly]

16. That is laughable

the "presense of a gun" shares in some of the blame?

How about "the presence of a criminal/murderous psyche" holds all the blame. The gun couldn't have killed anybody without that...

[MrBenchley]

22. Peddle it to someone dumb enough to believe it

[Name removed]

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[MrBenchley]

26. Nope

That's reserved for dimwits who think Mary Rosh is a scientist and that "unorganized" means "well regulated."

[CO Liberal]

49. I Agree That The Gun Is Only a Tool.......

....but it's the tool that makes a shooting possible.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Another murder-suicide just occurred in Florida

A despondent father and three of his four kids:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-murdersuicide09162003,0,2053524.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

Father had worked for ATT and WorldCom -- lost his job and his wife. Terrible story.

[jody]

14. And if Bryan Randall didn't have an auto, the incident would not

have happened according to many of the gun-control group.

What law would have prevented this sad incident.

[Ergotron]

34. CARS KILL PEOPLE! BAN CARS! From now on everyone walks!

We must ban these assault vehicles...it's for the children, after all!

[jody]

42. Why are you gun-control proponents avoiding the reply by Blacklash?

Do the facts in the newspaper article cited about a vehicle being used for suicide and attempted murder destroy your mantra "guns are evil doers"?

If your theory about guns as a tool causing murder, suicide, and accidental deaths don't fit the facts for all tools, perhaps you need to consider a new theory.

[Ergotron]

32. Would it make you happier if he had used a knife, or poison?

Do you seriously believe that the root of all his problems was a gun?

[CO Liberal]

35. A Gun Made This Possible

According to local news reports, police were called to their apartment on a domestic violence complaint just last week. The father was arrested, and later released.

If there had been a way to legally confiscate his guns and hold them until he successfully completed a court-approved anger management program or to put his name on a "no-guns-for-you" list to prevent him from purchasing a gun, this probably wouldn't have happened. And four more people would be alive in Colorado Springs tonight.

[slackmaster]

39. There was a way to legally confiscate his guns

His wife could have moved herself and the children out of the house, obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband, and then told the police if he failed to dispose of his firearms.

Sometimes victims have to take care of themselves. CO Liberal, can you suggest a different system that would require less drastic action on the part of potential victims but not make it too easy to disarm a citizen for capricious reasons?

[CO Liberal]

50. Latest Reports Are She Was Doing Just That

The couple was separated. The mother and kids had moved into the apartment last month.

I'll post additional information as it's made available.

[slackmaster]

53. Thanks for the update

It's starting to sound like the guy was determined to get at her no matter what she did.

[CO Liberal]

56. Latest Reports on Local Radio (KVOR, Colroado Springs)

They were married for about ten years, and separated last month, when she and the kids moved into that apartment.

He was arrested last Thursday at the apartment, charged with Domestic Violence.

He bonded out of jail on Friday.

She was seeking a restraining order against him, because he had made repeated threats against her and the kids.

He worked as a prison guard, and had guns.

[slackmaster]

57. "Seeking" a restraining order???

I don't know the situation in Colorado, but here in California anyone who is having a domestic violence or harassment issue with a spouse, ex-spouse, lover, ex-lover, family member, roommate, etc. can go to Family Court and walk out with a temporary RO in less than two hours any business day. Usually no more than your word is required as evidence. The TRO prohibits the restrainee from having guns. It's good until a hearing for a permanent RO, which is usually about 30 days.

He bonded out of jail on Friday.

Maybe bail was set too low in his case.

He worked as a prison guard, and had guns.

So a TRO would have severely hampered his ability to work, but nobody can claim they didn't know the guy was armed.

FWIW I know a petty officer in the US Navy who is subject of a restraining order. They had to restructure his job duties because he cannot possess a firearm even when he's on base. He DID comply with the requirement to get rid of his guns BTW. The guy is not violent but he stood and did nothing while his fiancee assaulted and battered his former girlfriend at a bar. She got ROs against both of them.

A restraining order can sometimes be a useful instrument but it's no better protection against a truly dangerous person than any other piece of paper. It physically restrains only people who are not so consumed with violent rage that it overrides their respect for the law.

[MrBenchley]

54. Say, slack....

In the Emerson case, the RKBA crowd argued that their poster boy shouldn't have been made to get rid of his guns just because he had a restraining order against him....

[Ergotron]

41. A troubled man with anger management issues made this possible.

How 'bout we try placing the blame where it belongs. This man failed to exercise personal responsibility for his behavior. The gun did not cause him to kill his family any more than a car caused a drunk to drive.

[Pert_UK]

46. And so when individuals fail to exercise responsibility we do what?

It doesn't do anybody any favours if you return to the standard mantra of "if he'd behaved responsibly then this wouldn't have happened".

How many people behaving irresponsibly does it take before you agree that just MAYBE something other than blind trust is required when allowing the public to own guns?

Nobody blamed the gun - the gun made it farsically easy for this guy to kill his family and himself. In a perfect world we could have predicted this and given him help and counselling to soothe the troubled man.

In the absence of being able to infallibly predict human behaviour perhaps we should consider methods to prevent unpredicatable humans from using weapons like guns.

[jody]

55. Pert, I'm ready to "consider methods to prevent unpredicatable humans from

using weapons like guns."

What do you have in mind? :shrug:

[Pert_UK]

78. Hey, I never said I had the answers!

I'm just trying to get people to acknowledge that guns in legal hands do sometimes cause problems, and that these problems are significant serious to kick off an open, informed and sensible debate about how the issue is addressed.

My views get attacked in two ways here.....first of all, people say "But these gun deaths would never happen if the owner behaved like a responsible person". When I point out the fact that too many legal owners have shown an inability/unwillingness to be responsible I get attacked with "But it's a freedom under the 2nd amendment".

I don't fight the 2nd attack because I don't know enough about it, but I would like people to acknowledge that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

[Spoonman]

60. Total horseshit

A Gun Made This Possible

By this illogic, cars *make* speeding possible, or women *make* prostitution possible.

How could any rational person construe this interpretation of the event?

Seriously think about it. Your stating that because there was a gun in the house, this piece of shit killed himself and his kids.

Does the name Andrea Yates ring a bell? I guess the bathtub’s mesmerizing and glistening porcelain somehow made her drown her children.

[Pert_UK]

79. I see that you're having some language difficulties......

There's a distinct difference between:

"A gun made this possible" and "A gun made this happen".

Consider your speeding "argument"......

"A car made speeding possible" = the man wouldn't have been able to break the speed limit without the mechanical help of a motorised vehicle. POSSIBLY.....you could say that the car made it easier - there are other methods to speed, and he could have maybe done 35 in a 30 zone on a bike, but it would have been hard work.

"A car made this happen" = the man was in the car and something beyond his control e.g. a stuck accelerator meant that he broke the speed limit.

"A gun made this possible" = the man, despite his obvious murderous intentions, would have had a LOT more difficulty killing his wife and kids and himself if he didn't have a gun.

"A gun made this happen" = I don't really know what to put here.....maybe the gun had a bizarre hypnotic effect on him that CAUSED him to kill his family......it's not easy to come up with a sensible scenario, which is why we don't claim that guns CAUSE events to happen.

[Pert_UK]

36. I cannot believe what people are saying on here.......

Look....

No anti-RKBA person is seriously suggesting that the gun CAUSED this crime. I don't think that anybody is even seriously suggesting that the absence of a gun would have definitely prevented this from happenning - if someone is absolutely determined to kill a whole bunch of people, then they'll find a way to do it.

So what's the point?......Well, having a gun made this massacre trivially easy. If there had been no access to a gun, the perpetrator would have needed to spend time and effort to create the same effect.

Guns are a uniquely convenient tool for wreaking wholesale death and injury. I cannot understand why the pro-RKBA crowd often refuse to acknowledge it. Of COURSE, he could have used another weapon - name ONE that is as easy to acquire, use, conceal, transport, which has an equal capacity for killing, is similarly accurate,is as difficult to avoid or defend against and which has no other intrinsic purpose outside of killing.

[slackmaster]

40. Do you see the consequences of what you are suggesting?

If there had been no access to a gun, the perpetrator would have needed to spend time and effort to create the same effect.

If by "the same effect" you mean dead bodies, then you seem to be saying it would be preferable if he had put them to death slowly rather than shooting them.

[Pert_UK]

43. Spectacularly illogical, Captain....

That is a non-sensical, utterly bizarre comment which definitely DOES NOT follow from my comments.

My comments were CLEARLY claiming that a gun makes it quick, easy and simple to commit multiple murder. In order to achieve the same effect without a gun, the perpetrator would have needed to do something like construct a bomb, homemade flamethrower or similar. This takes time and effort and some basic skills. The time it took JUST MIGHT have led to the guy being caught before he acted, or him cooling down enough to rethink his plan. Using a gun takes no time or effort - it can be an impulsive act that the perpetrator lives (or doesn't) to regret.

"then you seem to be saying it would be preferable if he had put them to death slowly rather than shooting them."

I didn't seem to be saying that at all.......the time reference was purely around the planning and physical effort required to commit multiple murder without a gun. Your comment is bizarre.

BUT, let's take your comment for a moment..........

Would you like me to conclude that it's better to give murderers guns, because otherwise their victims might suffer?

Here's the point.....it's easy to make judgements with hindsight. What you are doing is supposing UP FRONT that individual X is going to commit murders, regardless of other factors. It's almost pre-determined. If the murder is going to happen anyway, then it's best that the victim dies swiftly and painlessly, so it's best that the murderer uses a gun - if the gun hadn't been there, the murderer would have had to stab/burn/poison their victim.....

What I am saying is that individual X might not ever commit that crime AT ALL if there were a few more obstacles in their path. Many crimes are impulsive or committed under the influence of drink, drugs or temporary psychosis. OK, X may well reach for whatever weapon is to hand, but if there isn't a gun there then the chances are that the consequences will be less severe, and potential victims have at least a chance of self-defense. Alternatively, if X has to go looking for a suitable weapon with which to commit the crime, then there is every chance that their murderous "impulse" will have reduced by the time they've found one.

[slackmaster]

44. You make up in spirit what you lack in imagination

In order to achieve the same effect without a gun, the perpetrator would have needed to do something like construct a bomb, homemade flamethrower or similar.

How about poisoning them or putting them all in a car and driving head-on into an oncoming semi or train?

Would you like me to conclude that it's better to give murderers guns, because otherwise their victims might suffer?

No, and it's certainly not what I intended to suggest.

What I am saying is that individual X might not ever commit that crime AT ALL if there were a few more obstacles in their path.

How many obstacles would be enough?

Alternatively, if X has to go looking for a suitable weapon with which to commit the crime, then there is every chance that their murderous "impulse" will have reduced by the time they've found one.

You have written a testable hypothesis. Maybe someone else has thought of it before and you can find data to support it.

[Pert_UK]

45. What you lack in understanding you make up for in obfuscation...

:-)

Firstly, my flamethrower comment was basically taken from a pro-RKBA post the other day, where I was told that it was so easy to make a flamethrower that people would move from domestic shootings to domestic flamethrowering if guns were taken from the equation. My position is that this is bollocks -> Americans aren't so determined to kill each other that they'll start making new weapons, as per everywhere else, people attack each other with whatever comes to hand....

"How about poisoning them or putting them all in a car and driving head-on into an oncoming semi or train?"

Poisoning - requires some planning/preparation e.g. purchasing the poison. If you've already got it, what are the odds that you could get all 4 people to consume sufficiently deadly amounts without any of them suspecting/detecting the poison? Poisoning is hardly an impulsive crime.

Car crash - OK, if you get a murder/suicide urge whilst driving along with all your intended victims with you, then fair enough, you could impulsively kill them all and yourself. If not, it requires planning in order to get all the intended victims into your car, something they are unlikely to do if they perceive that you're in a murderous rage.

"Would you like me to conclude that it's better to give murderers guns, because otherwise their victims might suffer?

No, and it's certainly not what I intended to suggest."

What else was I suppose to conclude from your remark? You basically asserted that it would have been worse for the victims if the murderer hadn't had a gun (didn't you? I might be misunderstanding you here, but at least it's not on purpose).

"How many obstacles would be enough?"

Well gee, that's a tough one.....one of those "impossible to answer" questions. I honestly don't know. However, consider the following:

- a man in a violent, drunken rage
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to a knife
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to poison
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to a gun

Who would be more likely to cause the most damage? I can't PROVE anything here, but intuitively, who would you rather meet? Who is more dangerous?

Yes, I know, if you're determined to kill someone you'll do it anyway, but if you've just temporarily lost the plot isn't it better that you sober up in an environment which doesn't include access to a gun?

"Alternatively, if X has to go looking for a suitable weapon with which to commit the crime, then there is every chance that their murderous "impulse" will have reduced by the time they've found one.

You have written a testable hypothesis. Maybe someone else has thought of it before and you can find data to support it."

I don't believe that my hypothesis is testable. The only way whether you can be sure that someone was ever going to actually kill, is if you wait for them to do it.

Why is it that the pro-RKBA deride statistical evidence that suggests more guns = more violent deaths, but then demand similar evidence when it suits them? What would satisfy you, anyway?

I suppose we could interview 1000 prisoners who are in jail for domestic abuse and ask them, "If you'd had a gun, would you have used it?", but I don't think that there's any way we could frame the survey or results which would satisfy all sides in this debate.

My point is that people do sometimes fly into a violent rage, due to drink, drugs, psychosis, pressure and other reasons. In such situations I claim that there is a far lower probability of serious results if that person doesn't have access to a gun.

Your point seems to be that either the person would wreak similar havoc regardless of whether they have a gun, OR that we can't tell one way or the other.

My position seems to yield only potential benefits, whereas yours offers nothing above the status quo.

[slackmaster]

47. You and everyone else keep avoiding the only answer that works

Well gee, that's a tough one.....one of those "impossible to answer" questions. I honestly don't know. However, consider the following:

- a man in a violent, drunken rage
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to a knife
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to poison
- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to a gun

You forgot one:

- a man in a violent, drunken rage with access to a car

There is an answer and it's the same in every case:

If you are in a relationship with a violent or potentially violent person the best solution is to GET OUT before you get hurt. Dear Abby and every other advice columnist and every psychologist I've ever discussed the issue with says the same thing every time.

I extracted myself from a relationship with an unstable person this year. She had no gun but as her stalking and harassment escalated her assurances that she was a nice, peaceful, non-violent person became less and less credible. It took some effort on my part. I had to try several different solutions including calling the police before I got her out of my life, but I did it.

[CO Liberal]

51. She HAD Gotten Out

If you are in a relationship with a violent or potentially violent person the best solution is to GET OUT before you get hurt. Dear Abby and every other advice columnist and every psychologist I've ever discussed the issue with says the same thing every time.

The couple was separated. The mother and kids had moved into that apartment about a month ago. Just last week, the cops were called to the apartment and the father was arrested for domestic violence.

[slackmaster]

52. She wasn't out far enough, was she?

She needed to be some place that he didn't know about.

[jody]

58. If the husband was "arrested for domestic violence", then the judge

should have issued a restraining order and law enforcement should have then searched his house and confiscated all firearms. The court and law enforcement were culpable in this murder.

Society is guilty as sin because government funds were probably spent on questionable projects while high priority projects like domestic abuse suffered for lack of funds.

Again it shows that we need better enforcement, not more laws.

The bottom line is that most people really don't give a damm about their neighbor's problems and would watch or turn away to avoid getting involved. With lack of law enforcement, court, and social concern, that seems to make a solid case for RKBA.

[CO Liberal]

59. To My Way of Thinking......

...it seems to make a case for fewer guns.

[slackmaster]

61. Simplistic and unworkable

This is a case where a KNOWN dangerous person was known to have guns and nobody did anything about it. Guns do not distribute themselves and cause random violence as if they were gas molecules. Most gun owners and most guns are not problemmatic. We aren't effectively addressing the individuals who are known to be bad news.

[CO Liberal]

62. And.....

....those who fight each and every attempt to control guns prevents us from "effectively addressing the individuals who are known to be bad news".

[jody]

63. CO, in context of this case, please expand on your recommendation

"for fewer guns". That sounds like a ban to me.

[CO Liberal]

64. No Ban At All, Jody

I have maintained all along that there are soem people who should never be allowed anywhere NEAR a gun. I'm talking selective distribution - not an all-out ban.

[jody]

66. How would such a system work when the murderer was in law enforcement? eom

[CO Liberal]

67. Let Him Carry a Gun at Work - But NOT OFF PRISON GROUNDS

That way, he could keep his job and society is kept safer.

[jody]

71. I believe federal law prevents him from carrying a gun at work. Is it

possible that law enforcement and the courts turned a blind eye to the threat because he was one of them?

[CO Liberal]

72. Not Sure

This story is still unfolding. If that turns out to be the case, there is a problem that need to be addressed.

[Pert_UK]

80. So it's the FAMILY'S FAULT?????!?!!!?

How stupid of me........

Rather than saying, "Hey, people keep misusing these gun things and killing people...perhaps we need to consider a rethink on gun strategy" we should be saying, "Well shit, it's that woman's fault for not running away".

Guns are perfectly safe in anybody's hands, provided no stupid idiot comes withing 2 miles of them when they're angry.....

[RoeBear]

48. And they would have been...

...just as dead without the gun being available.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7271751%255E2,00.html

"POLICE found a man stabbing one of his children to death when they arrived at a domestic dispute this afternoon that claimed the lives of four people.
Police said officers discovered the man killing the child in the driveway of a house in Wilberforce, a small village near Windsor northwest of Sydney."

Sick twisted people will always find ways to carry out their sick twisted schemes.

[Romulus]

68. what no knife ban?

or licensing/registration scheme?

[MrBenchley]

69. So why not let the gun industry cash in on it, eh, roe?

The RKBA crowd is disgraceful.

[CO Liberal]

65. From Today's Denver Post

4 die in murder-suicide

Prison guard shoots estranged wife and sons, then himself

By Erin Emery
Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau

COLORADO SPRINGS - A Colorado Department of Corrections officer who had separated from his wife shot and killed her and his two sons, ages 5 and 10, before taking his own life, according to El Paso County sheriff's officers.

Lolita Raghunandan, 32, was found in the living room of her east Colorado Springs apartment, 7135 Independence Square Point. Sons Akash, 10, and Rene, 5, both students at Evans Elementary School, were found in a bedroom with their father, Rutendra Raghunandan.

A gun was found near the father.

Just days before, Rutendra Raghunandan had been arrested after breaking into his wife's apartment and roughing her up. He was jailed briefly but freed on bail Friday. By Monday, his wife and sons were dead.

<more>

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1636313,00.html

[slackmaster]

70. And you still prefer gun control to criminal control?!?

The guy should never have been let out on bail IMO. He was obviously a danger to his family and society in general.

[CO Liberal]

73. I Prefer Gun Control AND Criminal Control

They go hand-in-hand.

[MrBenchley]

74. Don't forget the Emerson case

where the RKBA crowd argued vehemently there was no reason to disarm folks exactly like this guy.....

[CO Liberal]

75. From the Casper Star-Tribune

Family slain in Colorado Springs; murder-suicide suspected

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - A man apparently killed his estranged wife and two young boys before committing suicide within four days of being released from jail on a domestic violence charge.

Rutendra Raghunandan, 32; his wife, Lolita Raghunandan, 32; and their two boys, Akash Raghunandan, 10, and Rene Raghunandan, 5, were found Tuesday morning in an apartment.

The couple had separated, and the mother and boys had moved into the apartment less than a month ago as part of their trial separation, sheriff's Lt. Rodney Gehrett said.

Rutendra Raghunandan, who was a prison guard for the state Corrections Department, was arrested Thursday and was released the next day on a personal recognizance bond after allegedly breaking into the apartment and assaulting his wife, Gehrett said. He was charged with burglary, assault and domestic violence.

<more>

http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=213932

[slackmaster]

76. What a senseless waste of life

I'd hate to be the judge who granted a PR bond.

[CO Liberal]

77. Judges In CO Get Voted On Every Few Years

Somehow I get the feeling this one won't be retained next time.......

[CO Liberal]

81. The Latest From The Denver Post

The article indicates that this was all planned out and premeditated. - Wayne

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Murder-suicide confirmed in El Paso autopsy

Corrections officer's note blamed charges

By Eileen Kelley
Special to The
Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS - An El Paso County coroner's report concluded that Rutendra Raghunandan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after shooting to death his estranged wife and their two young boys.

Authorities with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that the 32-year-old Department of Corrections officer killed his his family either late Sunday or early Monday, just days after his arrest on suspicion of burglary, domestic violence and assault.

The bodies of Rutendra Raghunandan, his wife, Lolita Raghunandan, 32, and their two sons, Akash and Rene, were discovered Tuesday morning in an apartment Lolita Raghunandan had recently rented. The coroner's report said Lolita Raghunandan was shot six times. Akash, 10, was shot five times, and Rene, 5, suffered one gunshot wound, sheriff's officials said Wednesday.

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http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1638800,00.html