A New York family of four was found dead in their Westchester County home on Thursday in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.
Officers discovered the bodies of Tom Liu, 46; his wife Dorothy Liu, 42; and their children Tennyson Liu, 7, and Adeline Liu, 4, said Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner, reported CBS.
Police believe Tom Liu used a knife to kill his wife and young children before turning the knife on himself in their home on Romer Avenue.
Grutzner said Friday that Tom, who worked as a project manager and business analyst, was under “under a considerable amount of stress.”
“At this point in the investigation, evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Liu used a knife to cause the death of his wife and children and then used that same knife to take his own life. While we do not have a motive, interviews indicate that Mr. Liu was under a considerable amount of stress. There are no reports of domestic violence prior to this incident at the home,” he said, reported the Daily Mail.
Responding officers were conducting a wellness check after receiving calls from the children’s schools that they had been absent and that their parents were not answering phone calls.
On Friday, schools in Pleasantville, which has a population of less than 8,000, were offering counseling to students and staff.
Neighbors said the family showed no signs there was anything wrong.
“I find it almost impossible to believe,” their neighbor Gloria Taplin told the New York Post. “I never saw any negativity on Tom’s part at all. I saw them together all the time. They went out together did things together, shopped,” she added.
“We know them very well. They’re just—this is the nicest family,” said neighbor Brian Skarstad.
Louise Beach, another neighbor, said “There’s no way to even process it.”
“The loveliest family. They moved in, I guess, a year and a half ago. Just sweet, warm. She was so smiley… The father seemed lovely,” Beach said. “The kids were—they all knew our names, so they would call out from across the street. They were really sweet… Always just so beautifully taken care of.”
‘Throughout the entirety of this investigation, the only information we found was that they were a wonderful, involved set of parents with two incredibly active and amazing children,” Grutzner added.
