Dad guns down wife, 2 sons in apparent murder-suicide (Addison, Illinois)

Evidence suggests that UNNAMED DAD gunned down his wife and two son before taking himself out. These "what a good guy Dad was" quotes are beyond stale at this point. Reporters: please make an effort to educate yourself on the issues. Unless you live in a crowded tenament, the neighbors have NO IDEA what went on behind closed doors or what somebody was really like beyond their public face. So stop wasting everybody's time with drivel.

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-four-found-dead-addison-nov25,0,3662231.story

Four found dead in Addison home
Art Barnum, Vikki Ortiz Healy, Andrew L. Wang, Alejandra Cancino and Lauren Harrison WGN News
November 25, 2009

ADDISON, Ill. - A woman called 911 for help this morning from a house in west suburban Addison, and police arrived to find her dead downstairs and the bodies of a man and two boys upstairs believed to be her husband and two sons.

A source said authorities believe it was a case of murder-suicide. But Addison Police Chief Tim Hayden said at an afternoon press conference that investigators were still looking into the cause and motive.

He declined to release the names of the dead, but added "most likely they are the family that lived at the residence" in the 200 block of South Wisconsin Avenue.

Hayden also declined to say whether the family died of gunshots, though he said shell casings were found near the bodies.

Police received the woman's call at about 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the house a few minutes later. "The caller made a statement to the effect she needed help," Hayden said. "It was a call for help ... with urgency."

The two-story home's doors and windows were locked, and officers had to force their way in. The family's vehicles were parked in the driveway.

Police do not believe the community is at risk.

"Preliminary investigation indicates this was not a random act of violence, but an isolated incident at this location," said Addison police spokeswoman Officer Megan Freeman.

John Langton, superintendent of Addison Elementary School District 4, said children from the house were enrolled in district schools, but he could not confirm their names or ages because the DuPage County coroner's office has yet to identify the bodies.

Police had no records of prior incidents at the Wisconsin address, Hayden said. They are still trying to locate next of kin. The DuPage County coroner is expected to conduct autopsies Thursday.

Rick Graziano, a friend of the family, said the father coached his own son and Graziano's son, both 11, on an Addison Recreation Club youth baseball team. The family also has a 7-year-old son, he added.

Graziano said he knew of no domestic strife in the family. They were "normal, the kind of old cliche you never would have thought something like this would happen to," he said.

The father coached baseball for the past five years, said Steve Nelms, vice president of the Addison Recreation Club.

"He's probably coached hundreds of different kids," Nelms said, adding that club officials never witnessed violent, impatient or other questionable behavior in his dealings. "It's so counter to his personality. He was just everything for his kids. Everything he did."

Just last week, the father dropped off paperwork from last summer's team, which allows club officials to begin planning teams for next year.

"He was in a good mood and kind of joking and kidding around," said Nelms, "It's just tragic that this can even happen."

The older boy was a jovial kid; he may not have been the best athlete, but teammates nominated him to play in the league's All-Star game last summer.

"He was just a happy kid, always with a kind word, polite," Nelms said. "He recognized adults and treated them with respect."

Nelms said he took the day off of work to break the news of the deaths to his 12-year-old, who sometimes ate lunch with the older boy in the school cafeteria.

"There's no explaining it without being a psychologist or anything like that," Nelms said. "The community's losing a great family, regardless of how it ended."