8 dead in Utah murder-suicide after wife sought divorce

[Stevicus]

8 dead in Utah murder-suicide after wife sought divorce (kold.com)

ENOCH, Utah (AP) — A Utah man fatally shot his five children, his mother-in-law and his wife and then killed himself two weeks after the woman had filed for divorce, according to authorities and public records.

Police also revealed during a Thursday news conference that officers investigated the 42-year-old man and his family a “couple of years prior,” suggesting possible earlier problems inside the household. Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames did not elaborate.

Investigators were aware of the divorce petition but didn’t know if it was the motivation behind the killings, Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut said.

The killings rocked the small town of Enoch in southern Utah about halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It’s in one of the fastest-growing areas of the country, and communities of new homes on big lots are made up primarily of large families that belong, like most in Utah, to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church. Many residents work and do business in nearby Cedar City, a city of about 35,000 that serves as a commercial hub for Enoch, which doesn’t have its own downtown.

I think what struck me about this was a statistic mentioned in the article. There were 17 family mass killings in the U.S. in 2022.

Family mass killings have become a disturbingly common tragedy across the country. In 2022 there were 17 of them, according to a database compiled by USA Today, The Associated Press and Northeastern University. Ten were murder-suicides, and 14 were shootings. The database defines a mass killing as four or more people slain, not including the assailant.

The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were mourning with the Enoch community. It called for further steps to reduce gun violence, now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.

The home where the victims were found was decorated with Christmas lights and located in a neighborhood of newly built single-family houses on a ridge overlooking Enoch. It has a view of houses with snow-covered roofs and mountains in the distance. Half the surrounding block was cordoned off by police tape.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

There are negative things I feel like saying about the guy, but I find it more appropriate to focus on the victims in remembrance and push against these kind of things in a non-emotional way.

 

[Aštra’el]

There are negative things I feel like saying about the guy, but I find it more appropriate to focus on the victims in remembrance and push against these kind of things in a non-emotional way.

That is a very disciplined approach.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

There are negative things I feel like saying about the guy, but I find it more appropriate to focus on the victims in remembrance and push against these kind of things in a non-emotional way.

He's dead, too, so what is there to say now. It's just a tragedy all around. I bet he had a long history of abusive behavior and "fell through the cracks".

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

He's dead, too, so what is there to say now. It's just a tragedy all around. I bet he had a long history of abusive behavior and "fell through the cracks".

Could have even been the reason for wanting a divorce, though I can't know for sure.

 

[Heyo]

8 dead in Utah murder-suicide after wife sought divorce (kold.com)



I think what struck me about this was a statistic mentioned in the article. There were 17 family mass killings in the U.S. in 2022.

On one hand it is good if people take family serious, on the other if someone thinks he failed in life and has to end it (including the family) if it doesn't work out is definitely taking it too serious.

 

[Stevicus]

On one hand it is good if people take family serious, on the other if someone thinks he failed in life and has to end it (including the family) if it doesn't work out is definitely taking it too serious.

I can see where many might feel pressured in uncertain times, along with a fair deal of anxiety and stress - especially with a pending divorce. But I don't know what causes people to break like that and go on a rampage.

 

[Heyo]

I can see where many might feel pressured in uncertain times, along with a fair deal of anxiety and stress - especially with a pending divorce. But I don't know what causes people to break like that and go on a rampage.

It is, of course, pure speculation when I assume the reason in extreme expectations (probably of religious nature) but isn't that what some Christians teach? The man is responsible for the family and marriage is 'till death? He achieved the later and took responsibility for the former.

 

[Left Coast]

It is, of course, pure speculation when I assume the reason in extreme expectations (probably of religious nature) but isn't that what some Christians teach? The man is responsible for the family and marriage is 'till death? He achieved the later and took responsibility for the former.

Actually in the LDS church people marry for eternity. There is no "til death do us part" for them. They believe they'll continue being married to the same person in the next life.

 

[Heyo]

Actually in the LDS church people marry for eternity. There is no "til death do us part" for them. They believe they'll continue being married to the same person in the next life.

Even more reason for murder/suicide if threatened with divorce.

 

[Mock Turtle]

I can see where many might feel pressured in uncertain times, along with a fair deal of anxiety and stress - especially with a pending divorce. But I don't know what causes people to break like that and go on a rampage.

Of course I don't know the situation in this awful tragedy, but I would think that the anger he felt (for what?) and as to how he targeted it, must say something as to this was the only way, at the time, that he felt as to how he could express himself. And guns often just make it so much easier to achieve.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Some additional reading on statistics:

Utah murder-suicide underscores frequency of family killings