Man kills himself.....

[DisgruntledVirus]

After his wife left for work, Michael L. Shirley killed his three children in their home, set fire to the living room and then shot himself, investigators said Wednesday.

Osage County Sheriff Laurie Dunn said Shirley, 52, suffered a shotgun wound in the upper torso but died as a result of Monday morning's fire. Dunn said other evidence determined the cause of death was suicide, but she wouldn't elaborate.

She wouldn't specify how the children died, but she eliminated the fire or gunshot wounds as possibilities. She also declined to say where the bodies were in the house, but said there was no evidence they had been bound or restrained.

She also said investigators still were trying to determine a motive because no note was found inside the house.

The 37-year-old mother, Amy Shirley, told authorities that everything seemed normal when she left for work in nearby Topeka, Dunn said.

"At this point, there is nothing to show the mother was involved in anything that happened to the children or Michael," Dunn said during a news conference.

The Kansas Fire Marshal's Office ruled the fire was arson shortly after the mother and a neighbor found the bodies Monday morning.

Dunn identified the children as 14-year-old Ethan Shirley, an eighth-grader; 11-year-old Ashten Shirley, a fifth-grader, and 9-year-old Caleb Shirley, a third-grader. All attended school in nearby Carbondale.

She said funeral services for the three children will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the school.

Michael Flax, the school's principal, said he knew all three children and that Ethan was on the eighth-grade basketball team.

"They were delightful children, kindhearted, friendly, respectful and popular," he said, adding that the mother was active in school functions.

Dunn said the couple had been married for about 14 years, and that the status of the relationship is part of the investigation.

Wally Roberts, fire marshal investigator, said some type of accelerant was poured throughout the living room, on the floor and furniture. He said the fire went out after about 15 minutes.

Dunn said Amy Shirley left for work in Topeka at about 6:30 a.m. Monday and later received a call from her children's school that they weren't there. After nobody answered the phone at home, she returned to the house with a neighbor whom she had called earlier. The fire was already out when Amy Shirley arrived, Dunn said, and she called authorities around 10:40 a.m.

Scranton Police Chief Jon Reed said the last murder in his town was in the 1970s.

http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/663732.html

I'm all for you killing yourself if you want to, but don't take other people with you....

 

[Insomniator]

humans are crazy

 

[bobdole369]

It's not like those kids were little babies either. I guarantee they didn't go quietly if they were awake and coherent. Wow - WTF man, don't kill your kids on your way out. What a shithead.

 

[Crusty]

Didn't something very similar to this happen around Christmas?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Sad...

 

[richardycc]

99.99% is money related....afterall, it is the root of all evil.

 

[ruu]

If the stupid idiot is going to kill people and then kill himself, at least take his poor wife with him. Now she has to deal with the investigation, the cleanup, whatever the mess was that her husband left behind (which I agree very well could be massive amounts of debt), the realization that her husband killed their children... I'd almost say that she got the worst end of it.

 

[bignateyk]

Well... Here's to hoping that hell exists :beer:

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: Crusty
Didn't something very similar to this happen around Christmas?

Yeah. A guy crashed a party where his ex wife was and killed a bunch of people. He burned himself after setting fire to the place and ended up killing himself. His original plan was to flee the country. Is that the one you are thinking of?